India's Youngest Performing Drag Queen Has a Betta Who Is Her Mama

In a backstage dressing room, two drag artists gave each other a final touch-up between posing for selfies.

The star of the evening was 19-year-old Nitish Anand, aka Tish, performing for the first time in his drag persona—”Shabnam Be-Wa-Fa". Shabnam for his school teacher and her beautiful saris, bewafa to sass it up. Her stage was Delhi’s upscale queer-friendly club, Kitty Su, and she was introduced by prominent drag queen Betta Naan Stop, who is also her drag mother.

The concept of an aspiring drag queen turning to a more established queen for guidance, support and makeup tips gained popularity in the Indian scene via RuPaul’s Drag Race. The mentor-apprentice relationship is celebrated among artists learning the tricks of the trade.

"I don't follow American drag shows," said Anand, an online intern at the queer-friendly resource group Nazariya. "For me, it was Betta, and her drag sisters Lush Monsoon and Kushboo. I was inspired by them. Luckily, they took me in. They have taught me everything."

Anand began dressing in drag for LGBTQ+ awareness events. He met Betta, aka Prateek Sachdeva, a 25-year-old professional dancer and choreographer from Noida at one such event. True to her name, Betta has been unstoppable since her first packed performance last year, at a post-Pride Parade party at Kitty Su.

The two have been inseparable since they met. “It's like any other relationship between a mother and daughter—we care for each other, the mother looks out for the daughter," Sachdeva said.

Anand, who after his May 3 debut is the youngest drag queen currently performing in India, said "I am constantly learning from Prateek, he looks out for me. When I first met him, I saw that there was no resemblance between Betta and Prateek, and that was so awe-inspiring.”

"At his age, I was a mess,” said Sachdeva, who introduced Anand to makeshift green rooms, last-minute bookings, and costume troubleshooting. Anand was originally inspired by his favourite American comedy series star Hannah Montana, played by pop-singer Miley Cyrus. He loves that she is two different personalities at once. He added that drag lets him celebrate the “little bit of femininity in me.”

"Betta helped me realise my longing while teaching me the most important lesson of performance-based art: ‘if we are performers, we need to please strangers’."

Anand lost his mother at a young age. He reflected that "Shabnam has a deep soul. While in drag, I resemble a touch of my mother's face and a little bit of Betta's hair—and that is truly me."

The two plan to produce some mother-daughter performances to showcase their relationship. They are leaning towards some iconic numbers by ABBA, and we can’t wait.

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