Almaarii, Mumbai (2026)

24/12/2021

My closet is a grey brick wall with a few bricks missing on one side and a sprawling French window opening to a lush green lawn on the other as it represents the two ends of my q***r existence. The closed-off wall represents how, for the longest time, I refused to open up about my s*xuality to most of my family but, brick by brick, they have taken the effort and let me come out to them in my own time, extended support when I needed it the most but I still shut off most people out of fear. The green and thriving part represents how I'm out to my social circle, very out loud and proud online, am part of q***r communities both online and offline and how my q***rness is a cornerstone of my personality. There is a thick rope that extends from the inside to the outside of the closet to show how gay people have turned to me for support and I've been there to help them, all the while still being very much stuck in my own sort of closet.

The inside is sort of pastel and soft with a forgotten bouquet of flowers next to a stack of old books piled up.

I'm wearing a large red and black plaid shirt, it's a stereotype but it's a comforting one that lets me cocoon myself without question. I sit on the edge of the French window with a laptop, wanting to live in my online reality all the time but I know that I cannot escape the grey wall unless I break it completely.

Sherina, 25
Bi-Cis

Illustrated by

***rart ***rillustration ***rcloset ***rartists ***rartistsofinstagram ***rartistsofcolor ***rartistsnow

23/04/2021

✨Workshop Alert!✨

🍹Welcome to this very exciting space (we are very excited)! Zinedabaad and Almaarii have planned a workshop for those of you who want to explore 'space' that is both your closet, or even, not your closet. There are no rules!

🍹Sign up for this workshop if you feel like you need a jumping point made for and by q***r people to explore, to understand, to create with us. You will engage in excercises and will also learn to make a basic zine!

🍹We have a limited seat capacity of 20 seats and the seats will fill on a first come first served basis. If you have registered and cannot make it, please let us know. We will give your seat to the next person on the list!

✨Find the link to sign up on the bio!✨

If you have any queries, please do get in touch with us at [email protected] and [email protected]

OR on Instagram and

23/04/2021

The Home Where I Find Comfort and Hopelessness in Both the Same Room

My almari consists of a kitchen top with gas burners and 4 shelves with open stock pantry where I can cook and bake; beside it is a oven and a refrigerator-I have always felt accepted and loved when I cook, bake, paint, read my books ...oh yes I will have paint supplies and book shelf with some of my clothes ... seriously speaking a s*xy bikini which I want to wear without being uncomfortable of my body. There is a shelf which has hope potion bottle which gives me hope for a good future.

My almari has free WiFi and a Netflix subscription which I always love to watch with my headphones on , it has a bathroom and a toilet..because hygiene is everything. My almari has a small door to life, a window with acceptance is questionable written on it...do I really want to get out of my closet?...yes one day I want to because I want to be able to love myself the way I am be comfortable in my skin , and accept and empathise with other people.

I always look at the window and the door but the problem arises with people accepting me the way I am or not, being scared of being alone, handling pressure of the world, finding love.. education, a job, a career...there is so much more...I think I am just not ready...but I want to come out of this almari.. beacuse no matter how much comfort it gives it gives me confusion and suffocation too.

T, 18
Bis*xual, Female
Student

Illustrated by .xaniya

***rclosets ***r ***rindia ***rasia

07/04/2021

Hideaways

It was a question I wasn’t asked often
Talk about your closet, they said.
Well I really don’t have to say a lot
Cause that’s where I bury my dead.
For I have never given it great importance
It wasn’t the greatest part of my life
For a person who couldn’t imagine being loved
It really wasn’t a strife
My closet wasn’t a small one though
It could give Narnia a run for its money
And though it starts with a graveyard
Well, it’s much more than that honey.
My closet is like my dream space true
Where I run away to hide
And though I say it’s not my greatest part
It’s still a thorn by my side.
Boys or girls it didn’t matter
Neither did women or men
For me I felt it would enough
If they could choose to love me then.
My closet’s a space not of disgrace
But of thinly veiled apathy
Cause sometimes you feel with such zeal
That your feelings are drained empty.
I found a few, who I at least could
Trust and call my friends
And though I look for love I’m grateful enough
For at least that pain to finally end.
You don’t need to accept me
Or pity me. Goodness, don’t sympathise
For darling dear that’s kind of a jeer
And I wouldn’t call it wise.
But if you to take a peek,
Take a hike
Walk inside my closet
Past the tombs of them previous me’s
And that’s when you would find it.
A road so wide that leads away
To all kinds of great adventures
And me tucked in my comfort own
In my own little ventures
All that fantasy all those dreams
I did choose to create them
Those book shelves you see, just let them be
They’re the keys to my freedom
For I am a lonely soul who’s broken whole
A mere hopeless romantic
And my closet, of little comforts of mine
Where I’m the artist free and ecstatic

20, Bicurious
she/her
Illustrator-animator in training

Illustrated by .jay

07/04/2021

Hideaways

It was a question I wasn’t asked often
Talk about your closet, they said.
Well I really don’t have to say a lot
Cause that’s where I bury my dead.
For I have never given it great importance
It wasn’t the greatest part of my life
For a person who couldn’t imagine being loved
It really wasn’t a strife
My closet wasn’t a small one though
It could give Narnia a run for its money
And though it starts with a graveyard
Well, it’s much more than that honey.
My closet is like my dream space true
Where I run away to hide
And though I say it’s not my greatest part
It’s still a thorn by my side.
Boys or girls it didn’t matter
Neither did women or men
For me I felt it would enough
If they could choose to love me then.
My closet’s a space not of disgrace
But of thinly veiled apathy
Cause sometimes you feel with such zeal
That your feelings are drained empty.
I found a few, who I at least could
Trust and call my friends
And though I look for love I’m grateful enough
For at least that pain to finally end.
You don’t need to accept me
Or pity me. Goodness, don’t sympathise
For darling dear that’s kind of a jeer
And I wouldn’t call it wise.
But if you to take a peek,
Take a hike
Walk inside my closet
Past the tombs of them previous me’s
And that’s when you would find it.
A road so wide that leads away
To all kinds of great adventures
And me tucked in my comfort own
In my own little ventures
All that fantasy all those dreams
I did choose to create them
Those book shelves you see, just let them be
They’re the keys to my freedom
For I am a lonely soul who’s broken whole
A mere hopeless romantic
And my closet, of little comforts of mine
Where I’m the artist free and ecstatic

20, Bicurious
she/her
Illustrator-animator in training

Illustrated by .jay

05/07/2020

Haraam Closet
Growing up in a muslim household, I was surrounded by guidelines for everything. I was warned to stay away from things that were forbidden. Amidst these rules and boundaries set to control me, I quietly transformed below, reading Bell Hooks and Sara Ahmed, questioning those ideals. The differential treatment between me and my bother showed me a space where conversations about s*x and the body couldn’t exist. My closet has evolved over time, it holds my secrets, allows me the freedom to explore my body without judgement. It is a tranquil space where I can sit and revel. It adds color in my closet and in my life and lets me recharge and unwind at the end of my day.
Jesmin, 23
Ciswoman, Pans*xual
Artist, Photographer
*xual ***rasia ***r

09/05/2019

Almost Empty
'My closet has dark mahogany double doors – one of which hangs from its hinges; one wall bashed in, splinters impaling the remnants of a pillow inside, light streaming in from the window nearby, the last surviving shelf at the very bottom houses two folded blankets- one orange and one pink’. .
Chayanika, 21
Cis-Woman, Pans*xual
Student
Illustration by .pencil / Alisha Huang

***r ***rasia

09/05/2019

Garden to Orchard
When I try to visualize my closet, I see a garden with all my q***r and less q***r friends and family in it and a sense of comfort and home fills me.
It’s a modestly sized garden, it’s not as big as an orchard but it will get there one day. It’s a beautiful place with lush green ferns and overgrown grass everywhere. We sip chai, talk about the world outside of the garden, occasionally we get food for each other and some nights we just lie under a clear sky to count stars. They help me with my garden and I with theirs and our gardens grow beautifully becoming home to more people. .
But it wasn’t always this way. A few years ago, the loneliness of existence and shame of s*xuality and gender expression were my only companions on that dry patch of land I now call my garden. However, now this little garden is more than home. It grows beautifully each day in front of my eyes. And while the world outside grows more and more chaotic, I am still grateful for this genuine or false sense of security this garden provides to me'.
Praveen Kumar, 25
Non-Binary, Gay
Artist /Software Developer .
Written and Painted by
***r ***rlivesmatter

*xual ***rasia ***rindia ***r

09/05/2019

Tardis Blue
My closet has all four walls painted in Tardis blue, the upper wall has a galaxy painted on it, with a white soft light hanging in the centre. It can accommodate 5 to 6 people and a cat.
The sloping roof is a little low, but the room is high enough to crawl on your knees. It has mattresses on three sides and a bookshelf on the fourth side decorated with fairy lights. The first wall has pictures of me and my friends and the second wall has a poster of the 12th Doctor from Doctor Who in the middle and a poster of Christina Yang and Meredith Grey ( Grey's Anatomy), a poster of the Slytherin house flag is on the sides.
The third wall has a big window with curtains flying, and it's night time outside and we're all listening to music and doing our own thing. I am painting and my friends are reading, one is writing and another is standing and yawning stretching his hands out. Another is drinking coffee, working on her laptop, and the cat is on the bookshelf.
Mx Dan, 26
Panromantic, Gender Fluid
Educator
***r_rave
Illustrated by
***r ***rlivesmatter
*xual ***rasia ***rindia ***r ***reye

Almaarii

24/12/2021

23/04/2021

23/04/2021

07/04/2021

07/04/2021

05/07/2020

09/05/2019

09/05/2019

09/05/2019

Address

Website

Alerts

Contact The Establishment

Shortcuts

Share

Category