ID: Maya (and I) at the Ark Foundation for the Arts in Vadodara. The frames on the wall illustrate a set of early events and exhibitions at the foundation, which both of us loved noting and discussing, especially those names and works familiar to us individually and others that piqued our interests.

I transitioned into the new year with much vulnerability; vulnerability as felt intimately through its elaborate conception in the writings of Judith Butler and alongside a set of immersives with the people of Vikalp, especially Maya Sharma. And I want to hold these frames—epistemic and experiential, political and personal, global and subjective—a bit longer and more closely as I ask: what constitutes a milestone in the life of a lab that has always also been an infrastructure of knowing and making with: vulnerability? As I mark this question for myself, I want to leave you with the following juxtapositions from my recent winter break. These notes are akin to threads from last summer but condensed in form to amplify wilful proximities.

(December 24, 2025-January 3, 2026)

Among Queers and Queens, and with our many sharings and laughs all throughout the night, my heart is full. The effervescence with which Maya holds space for us is inimitable, bringing the words and worlds of Footprints of a Queer History (2022) to life in more ways than one. Yesterday, Preya read selections from Zaverchand Meghani’s Niranjan (1936) with Maya, Simin, and I following along and adding our annotations. We let ourselves get lost in the text, in queer language and nuance, in acknowledging the stubbornness of time, in desire and its expressions read out loud. Saturday’s engagement was a brilliant one-on-one with Maya. Our discussions began with Dr. Ambedkar’s essays in From Subjugation To Emancipation (2025) and continued with buying a copy of Grace Banu’s Basthi (2024) for the center’s library. With Minakshiben, we also organized Maya’s images folder of transition stories; talked some more about her movements, dreams, and related materials yet to archive; listened to Joan Nestle speak; and ended with snippets of Betty Grumble's performance with a loving, personal shout-out to Susan Potter. In the last few days, I've had the honor to listen to Maya recount and reflect on the experiences of queer-trans organizing both locally and in the country; learn; type up notes for the organization; hear Indira lay bare the contours of this labour; and just be and dream among some incredible elders and peers—or as Maya said to me, "These are the times that I feel grateful to that indefinable something someone.”

About

Felt Notes are monthly dispatches about the work of the Just Futures Co-lab, and the co-labouring worlds of research and teaching in art, design, and the digital humanities that it scaffolds, furthers, and amplifies. The letter writing translates the ever so negotiated nature of this space at Srishti Manipal Institute and the discourse and scholarship on equity and justice I produce with students and wider academic and non-academic community members through critical pedagogy; archival and database constructions; interactive digital storytelling; and inquiries into queer- and trans-feminist digital technologies and knowledge infrastructures.

I hope reading this letter and its upcoming segments are a meaningful experience for you. If you aren’t subscribed yet, you may do so here. If you are already subscribed, I would love for you to share the link with friends and trusted networks as we make sense of our relationships to technology as well as our relationships to each other via technology. If you would like to write or co-write a letter in the future or share any announcements, please feel free to get in touch with me, and whilst you’re here, please also check out the Felt Notes Archive. 

Kush Patel