The fire next time: Escaping from miserable and oppressive marriages to men, Radha and Sita (Shabana Azmi and Nandita Das) find happiness with each other, in Indian director Deepa Mehta's sensual and compelling 1997 film, Fire. Out of India by Pinky Vincent

A group of brave lesbians in Calcutta battle for recognition in a culture constricted by orthodox and fearful thinking

Sandwiched between Calcutta's intellectual vibrancy and orthodox customs lies the shunned minority of minorities. Swept away in the embarrassed recesses of the city's conscience, a handful of women cry to Providence and society to listen to their heart's desire.

They are doomed for being what they cannot help but be under Article 377 of the Indian Constitution that penalizes people for being homosexuals. Therefore, Calcutta's lesbians have two options-reveal their sexual identity and be coerced to marry immediately or repress their sexual orientation and suffer from lifelong guilt. However, six indomitable women have created a middle path-Sappho-an emotional support group, which also offers confidential phone counseling.

And how does "polite" society react to the assertive decision of such women who have decided to depend upon their own resources to come to the aid of their more disadvantaged fellow women?

Sneers. Well, mostly.

If one considers the local media to be the mirror of the city, then consider what Sheena, a member of Sappho, has to say: "We ask the newspapers to carry our ads and the men humiliate us. 'What do you do?' they ask."

"The media has no problem publishing ads for sex chat lines but a lesbian support group seems to be a different ball game. Can't they see that lesbians can be socially responsible individuals, too?" asks Priti, another Sappho member.

"We were compelled to get references from the British Council Library and other non-government organizations. Tell me, are we aliens?" asks Sheena. "Of course, not that lesbians don't make news. But it is more to quench the perverted curiosity of some readers rather than for awareness."

While it was no cakewalk for the six gutsy women when they revealed their sexual identities, Malvika admits that they did not encounter tyrannical family members. However, there is no easy compromise, leave alone fairy-tale endings, for lesbians coming out of the sexual closet in conservative families.

During the interview with Malvika, who spearheads Sappho, 29-year-old Tara walks in. "Last year my marriage was decided against my consent. When I told my family that I was a lesbian, my parents gave an ultimatum-either I marry or I leave the house," says Tara.

Tara chose to leave her family's house rather than marry, and found refuge at Malvika's. Tara's shocked mother was hospitalized. "Tara asked me to tell her mother that she wanted to meet her," Malvika says. "But her bedridden mother refused because the family would be ostracized."

If Tara's treatment appears to have been adopted from an 18th-century history book, then Malvika reminds us that the battle for recognition of lesbians in Calcutta has just begun. Sappho was in fact established as an emotional support group when three pairs of women found themselves desperately looking for other couples to share their predicament in the city. Finally, Malvika and Akanksha contacted Sangini, a lesbian support group in Delhi, the capital of India, and it was a series of coincidences and good fortune that found Mallika, Nupur, Sheena, and Priti get in touch with Malvika and her partner.

"No, we are not a sex club," Malvika makes it clear. "But we do hold workshops on safe sex and we call over counselors from Delhi and Bombay to help us." Sappho also offers phone counseling, and the wish to remain anonymous is respected. But to become a member of Sappho, interested women must reveal their names.

"The help-line is also meant for parents and friends of lesbians," adds Malvika. "The parents are so confused themselves. We ask them to read literature on lesbians and speak to us before they jump to conclusions about their daughters."

"We want to offer psychological support to women who do not have friends to depend on. Sappho also believes that economic independence is the instrument to break from the bondage of sexual conformism," says Sheena.

Avers Dr. Nilanjana Sanyal, a practicing psychotherapist and a faculty member of the department of psychology at the University of Calcutta, says, "Most lesbians suffer from feelings of rejection and insecurity. Sometimes, they do not even have the conviction about their personality disposition. In this situation, an emotional support group helps to fill the void."

"The first step to deal with your sexuality is to say to yourself 'I am not a freak of nature,'" which is Sheena's advice to lesbians in Calcutta. And like lesbian poetess Sappho of ancient Greece, immerse yourself in the ecstasy and tribulations of love for a woman-without shame.

Pinky Vincent is a journalist and a copyeditor in India. Her areas of interest include gender issues, career, travel, and health. You may contact her at writerindia@rediffmail.com.

ands." -filmmaker Deepa Mehta