Prima Donna brings firecracker ammo to WSF

MUMBAI: The World Social Forum got some serious firecracker ammo with Prima Donna, a spectacular drag queen show, on Sunday night.
No one present will forget it in a hurry. Anti-globalisationwallahs, lefties, pseudo-lefties, can''t says and all gave their tired slogans a rest and mingled with the sheer-funwallahs.
Prima Donna is a jaw-dropping songdance-striptease show performed by a Malaysian dance troupe called Sexy Divas.
With peacock plumes, stockings and rocking music, it could give the corporatised Paris-by-nightwallahs a cool run for their money. It was a face (and stiletto''d leg) of liberalisation you''d be a chump even to try to argue with.
What''s more, Sexy Divas includes transsexual and homosexual performance artists, people living with HIV\AIDS, sex workers and ahem, HIV consultants. AIDS campaigns and the empowerment of the marginalised don''t get more Pow! than this.
Ineffably attractive, they oozed panache. Our effete Page Three ''namunas'' could pick up some tips from Regina Ibrahim, in flaming red lipstick, sparkling earrings, and a spaghetti strap gown smothered in sequins.
Her songs and rapier repartee in a bass, smoky voice, held you in its thrall. The troupe brought the house down. It was hard to remember it comes from an Islamic nation.
They were a far cry from India''s hijras —a highly exploited lot, with whom the middle class interacts only to chuck coins at them at the traffic lights, to erase them from their mindscapes.
Indeed, the audience included sex workers from Sangli who had been brought there by the NGO Sangram, and the show altered some perspectives on marginalisation.
One of them, Shabana, exclaimed, "Bahut hi achcha laga. Show ke baad woh HIV positive aadmi ko maine gale lagaya, do pappi diya." (I loved it. After the show I embraced the HIV positive man and gave him two kisses.) These people are totally marginalised. But if we support them, they can become strong."
Khartini, who heads the troupe, works with an organisation called Pink gender and sexuality.
A consultant on HIV\AIDS issues for 18 years and the chair of an international network of sex workers, she feels HIV\AIDS awareness campaigns have significantly helped raise the profile of gender minorities to make them more acceptable in society.
Says Khartini, "Especially in Asia, where there is high illiteracy, people prefer to use cultural means and entertainment to get their message across. People are tired of being lectured at seminars. For us it''s important to create awareness. After all, we are not asking for special rights, just the right to be equal in jobs, treatment like anyone else."
Like transgender people in many cultures, Regina supports her family. "I have financially supported six sisters to get educated and married. It''s easier for my parents to accept what I do when I show them a videotape of my shows and my fans, and my paintings—I recently had a solo show of my paintings."
Says their manager Tan Dicky, "I manage the careers of men,women and transsexuals. I find the transsexuals easiest to deal with. Men and women are plastic, needing to be praised all the time. Women often demand first class treatment. But transsexuals are more concerned with putting on a good show."
Regina''s parting shot? "We have proved that if you work hard, you can get there.We deliver.We make people happy. Take us for what we are. Maybe the time has come to wake up and smell the coffee —and discover it''s really nice."