"Through love’s great power to be made whole
In mind and body, heart and soul –
Through freedom to find joy, or be
By dint of joy itself set free
In love and in companionhood:
This is the true and natural good."

- Vikram Seth, 2014

The poet wrote these lines after a review petition was rejected in the Supreme Court of India, regarding its verdict on Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code. This is the context of the poem and it is pertaining to the LGBTIQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer) issues in India and abroad along with the discrimination the community faces. But largely the lines quoted above, are about love. And love as the poem suggests, is a wonderful thing that bestows great power and joy to the person experiencing it.
It is no coincidence then, that the Auckland Pride festival is held in February around Valentine's Day, the season of love. Love after all is a universal feeling and doesn't understand age, nationality, race and even gender. It transcends all these boundaries and limitations.

Mumbai Monologues which is a part of Queer@TAPAC and the Auckland Pride Festival is one such labour of love by Agaram Productions. It is an English language production, a collection of freshly written monologues and original songs and live music. The production has already garnered some great reviews with the snippet it presented at the Pride Gala. All these are reason enough to watch the live shows from the 12th to the 16th of February at TAPAC (The Auckland Performing Arts Centre).
Here are some more. Go, watch Mumbai Monologues for love, the love you feel for Mumbai and India and satiate that yearning. Go, explore a little bit of the bustling megalopolis that is Mumbai and fall in love with it. Go, soak in the voices that you might not hear otherwise and understand something new. Go, with a partner and enjoy an evening of live and enriching entertainment. Go, listen and feel a thousand unsaid words erupting in unison with every passing moment in, Mumbai Monologues.