| PAY WHAT YOU WANT CV-19 FUNDRAISER FOR WOMEN SEX WORKERS, TRANS/ NON-BINARY FOLK ARTISTES, MENSTRUATING INDIVIDUALS, PAHADI FOLK, and UNDERREPRESENTED or MARGINALISED COMMUNITIES IN INDIA|


'Petunia' was released on International Women's Day 2018, to speak up about dual standards, and oppression of sexual autonomy faced by women in South Asia. Three years later, the song has been streamed almost 120k times (on Spotify) across various countries. For that, I am eternally grateful.

Today, I make this song available for you on bandcamp in hopes that together we can fundraise money for my motherland -- my India.
The pandemic is devastating people from all sections of society and my country is suffocating. Hospitals are having to literally turn treatable people away as there is a severe dearth of medical oxygen.

Countless national and international organisations are trying their best to raise money for and to provide CV-19 relief in the form of O2 cylinders, rations, and supplies to various cities, hospitals, and people. I urge you to donate to that.

However, In this period of immense tragedy, there are a few Indian communities that have been and remain marginalised, oppressed, or underrepresented in some form. These include but are not limited to women, sex workers, trans/non-binary folk artistes, people with HIV, etc. trying to survive on the outskirts of society or unable to have access to medical hospitals. There is an IMMEDIATE and URGENT need for life-saving PPE, shelter, and food rations for my countryfolk in these communities.

There is no minimum donation limit and you may choose to download the song for free, but 100% of all sales of Petunia via Bandcamp will be split equally and donated to the following localised charities which have been identified as being in Urgent need by Mutual Aid India.

1) Food Assistance for Transgender Community in Tamil Nadu: Grace Banu
Grace Banu is raising funds to provide 500 transgender folk artistes, HIV+ trans folx, and rural trans communities in Tamil Nadu with food relief. These communities have been left with no wages during the second wave, making it impossible to pay rent or afford food. Each kit costs Rs. 3000 or 29.31GBP

2) SafePeriod: Help those who menstruate have a hygienic cycle
Only 36% of India’s 336 million menstruating population use sanitary napkins. And with the Covid-19 crisis, this number has gone down rapidly.
Menstrual hygiene has been forced to take a backseat during the times of Covid-19. Struggling to get even one meal a day, many menstruating individuals have gone back to practices of using ash and hay covered in rags during their period. Plus, adolescent girls and individuals from poor backgrounds have lost access to pads supplied to them in school, which have been shut since the first lockdown was imposed.This puts women, girls and other individuals at risk of contracting cervical cancer, Hepatitis B and various infections of the reproductive and urinary tracts, to name a few. Just ₹400 or 4GBP for a kit of reusable pads, can help one person with proper menstrual hygiene. The kits contain multiple pads/inserts. The pads in the kits are made of reliable cloths such as bamboo charcoal and unbleached Corra cotton and come with PUL leak-proof layers that enable the pads to last many monthly cycles.

3) Support Uttarakhand Remote Areas During Covid: UTTARAKHAND WELFARE ASSOCIATION
This COVID aid campaign aims to reach out to remote areas of Uttarakhand, in the Himalayas where hospital access is a matter of hours and hours of travel. The goal is to provide Oxygen support via Cylinders, Concentrators, and Oximeters to needy people in emergency. This will help control aggravation of symptoms, to provide them support during travel, & until hospital or medical help is accessible.

Thank you for your support.
In return for your contribution you not only get to own a piece of my music that I poured my heart and soul into, but most importantly help support the initiatives outlined above.

Please feel free to reach out to me via email or Instagram for any questions, comments, or words of encouragement!
Hello@nysza.com
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