On 2 July 2009, the Delhi High
Court de-criminalized homosexual intercourse between consenting adults,
throughout India. It felt good to know that we as a
country are ready to recognize the gay community.
However, around
seven months or so ago, I realized that it is not just the legal recognition that the
community is fighting for.
I had decided not to right about
this. But the recent controversy around the gay rights in California, brought
back some old memories and so I thought of sharing my story.
I have altered some aspects of
the story to ensure privacy of my friend. Let us name him XYZ.
There is a park near my home
which I try to visit at least thrice a week. Since I have lived in the same
locality since childhood, most of the faces at the park are familiar.
I ran into XYZ just as I was
leaving the park one day. I had never seen his guy before. He is the sort of
person who is hard to miss. He is about 6‘3” tall, very fair and looks like he
is a regular at some gym.
Over the next few days, we
graduated to smiling at each other when we passed each other.
A few days later, we had our
first conversation at the juice center just outside the park. A consultant by
profession, he was originally from Delhi and had moved to Mumbai a few months back.
XYZ and me were at the juice
counter having small talk, when a group was just leaving the park. Since I know
the group, I sort of waved a blanket good bye to everyone. To my surprise, a
few of them completely ignored the greeting and proceeded out of the park.
Probably, they were engrossed in
their own conversations; I thought to myself.
XYZ asked me,’ Do you know why
they did not return your greeting?’
I did not know what to say, so I
just waited for him to answer his own question.
‘It’s because you are standing with me’
Over the last few days, I had
realized XYZ was gay. It did not affect my behavior with him. Why should it?
His sexual orientation is of absolutely no consequence to me.
‘Have you seen anyone ever
talking to me?’
Knowing that he was new to the
city, I did not particularly expect him to have friends here. Somehow, the fact
that people could be avoiding him just never struck me.
‘So now, they will not talk to
you when you are with me’
OK. This was plain bizarre. Come
on. People are not that crazy. Or were they?
‘I have been a member of this gym
since over 4 months now. I used to work out in the evening’
He went ahead and told me how the
gym members made him miserable. If he entered the weight training section, all
the men pretty much vacated it the moment he entered the area.
They sniggered quite openly at
him when he was working out and the men usually left the locker room when he
walked in. Out of sheer dread, he had not even tried the steam room. He had
paid up for a whole year, but he had stopped going to gym about a month or so
back.
I felt nothing but abject pity
for this man.
He went ahead and told me how he
had met his partner. Both the men had decided to tell their families about each
other. His parents in Delhi had disowned him. And currently they were dealing
with his partners’ family in Mumbai. The outcome did not look positive there
either.
It was not like they were
children who had lost their way. It was a realization, a choice. And yet, no
one was willing to accept their decision.
I started thinking about just how
lonely they must be feeling.
Can you imagine your family
disowning you? Can you ever imagine that your family would ever say that they
rather have no child ? If family doesn’t understand, then
who will?
I started thinking about the
group who had apparently ignored me. What could they possibly have against this
guy? The sexual orientation of one person should not matter to anyone else. Or
is it because it is something they are unable to deal with? Can’t comprehend?
Is it because they think it is not natural?
The sexual orientation of the
person is such a personal choice. The Rigveda, one of the four canonical sacred
texts of Hinduism says 'Vikruti Evam Prakriti'. It means - what seems un-natural is
also natural. Historical literary evidence indicates that homosexuality has
been prevalent across the Indian subcontinent throughout history, and that
homosexuals were not necessarily considered inferior in any way.
I doubt if people consider the
gay community to be inferior in any way. While legalizing gay marriages is important, a social approval and acceptance would definitely go a long way to make them feel a part of the society. What they need is not be frowned upon or discriminated against. What we need now, is a change in mentality.
A few years ago, I was invited to the union of two friends, two men.
ReplyDeleteI may be naive, but it seemed natural for me. Two friends, who want to live happy together, what is wrong.
During the meal, one of my friends made a speech. He thanked all the people, tell us how our presence was important to him and he talked about tolerance. I cried and it’s not usual for me.
I thought that the most important was the joy and the happiness of others. I discovered during this speech, the pain my friends had to live their happiness. What a paradox.
For the parents who deny their child, remember, the primary goal is to have happy children.
Finally, for those who avoid gay, you have to know that being gay is not a disease ... it is not contagious.
Xavier
Actually there is nothing wrong!... that is what the point is. People just act so immature and insensitive. Yes - tolerance is the key here.I wish people wud develop some amount of sensitivity while dealing with the gay community
DeleteAin't it true for everything wrong in this world? We (read everyone) think that only their opinion, belief and desires are the right ones, may it be religion, sexual orientation, culture or nationalism. & this is what gives birth to most of the confrontations.
ReplyDeleteYeah, today it is about "Vikruti" vs "Prakruti". But who knows tomorrow it may be "You" vs "Me". I hope it never comes down to this and we decide to be more accommodating for the views and beliefs of others.
I completely agree - the secret here lies in accomodating every opinion,belief,desire of everyone around us even thought we might not subscribe to it... ppl need to give room. am reminded of this quote I find really apt. Its called the 'Gesalt Prayer' by Fritz Perls:
ReplyDelete"I do my thing and you do your thing.
I am not in this world to live up to your expectations,
And you are not in this world to live up to mine.
You are you, and I am I,
and if by chance we find each other, it’s beautiful.
If not, it can’t be helped."