Meet Hyd’s Patruni Sastry, India’s first-ever drag queen married to heterosexual woman
Hyderabad: Every day is Valentine’s Day when you meet the right person, they say. Patruni Chidananda Sastry, a drag artist from the city and his wife Raja Rajeshwari Devi can relate to this cheesy yet true line. He is pansexual and she is heterosexual and they defied the odds to walk down the aisle. Patruni […]
Hyderabad: Every day is Valentine’s Day when you meet the right person, they say. Patruni Chidananda Sastry, a drag artist from the city and his wife Raja Rajeshwari Devi can relate to this cheesy yet true line. He is pansexual and she is heterosexual and they defied the odds to walk down the aisle.
Patruni is India’s first-ever drag queen married to a cisgender heterosexual woman. The couple’s love story is no less than a classic Bollywood movie.
It was during Pride month in 2020 when Patruni noticed an unfamiliar account showing up at his live shows on Instagram. Months later, they bumped into each other at a family function.
“Even then, I didn’t know that she was the one showing up at my live shows on Instagram. One of my relatives kept a little too much kumkum on my forehead, making it fall into my eyes. Raji immediately offered me a towel to clear my eyes. I felt some kind of warmth and knew she would follow me through life’s journeys and root for me,” said Patruni, adding that he eventually came to know that the fan on Instagram was Rajeshwari.
However, after a few months of dating too, he was hesitant about revealing his sexuality.
“One day, I sent her a text that I’m pansexual. The next day, she responded to me with links about pansexuality and a question: “Is this what you meant?” She said it doesn’t matter what your sexuality or gender is. I may not fully understand these words, but it only matters whether you love me and wish to be with me,” shares the 30-year-old gender-fluid drag artist, who founded a website Dragvanti to read and share news, interviews, articles, memes, quotes and knowledge on the Indian approach to drag.
The couple got married in August 2020 amid the first lockdown. When he made his relationship public, he says some of his queer family questioned his queerness. They thought he was hiding his sexuality and gender. But the couple made it through.
“My wife accepted me for who I am. We have different interests but we keep trying to learn something new about each other every day. We share sarees and make-up too. She attends my performances and live shows now and then,” said Patruni who kickstarted the drag scene in the city in 2014.
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