Trans-Formation: Stories of Love, Resilience, and Belonging

Teesri Duniya Theatre is proud to present Trans-Formation: Stories of Love, Resilience, and Belonging, the theatre’s first public event dedicated to uplifting and exploring the experiences of the South Asian Trans community. What does it mean to be trans within the South Asian community and beyond? This event aims to create a much-needed space to be properly critical of the gendered, and often misogynistic, culture present in South Asia —without diminishing the deep love and connection many feel for their backgrounds. Through storytelling and dialogue, we seek to reconcile this critique and love.

The event is directed by Siya Pandit and will feature presentations from Mina Iyer, Sumair Sattar, and Kamal Pandya. The presentations will be followed by a talk-back session with an opportunity for speakers to answer questions from the audience. Join us for an evening of performances, open dialogue, and connection, as we celebrate Trans South Asian voices.

Speakers: 

Mina Iyer is a registered Social Worker and practices psychotherapy with individuals and couples. He is passionate about working with people with complex forms of attachment wounding as they learn how to develop secure and connected relationships to themselves and their loved ones. His practice is informed by his profound interest in all material related to love and romantic relationships, particularly Trans love. Like many of his clients, Mina is deeply committed to learning how to love himself. He is currently writing about the highs and lows of choosing to stay in one’s integrity, and the absolute love and heartache that comes with following one’s intuition.

Sumair Sattar is a transgender Muslim writer and speaker based in Toronto. Born and raised in Karachi, Pakistan, he immigrated to Canada with his family in 2007. His work explores themes of queerness, gender expansiveness, family dynamics, and fatness. When he’s not writing, he works as a product manager, implementing technology solutions in public healthcare. He is passionate about food, coffee, and pandas.

Kamal Pandya is a writer, comedian, and refugee of Britain’s unending colonial wars; he is now living on the unceded, unsurrendered Territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation. He has performed at Yuk Yuk’s, Absolute Comedy, Vancouver’s Queer International Film Festival, Indian Summer Festival, the Terry Fox Center, the Palais du Congress, the NAC’s Fourth Stage, and, most recently, with the Fireworks Program of Teesri Duniya Theatre Company in Montréal. He is currently working on his play, “The Arrangement, the Marriage, and Me”, under the careful guidance of Writer and Dramaturg, Vishesh Abeyratne.