What A Queer Incident (Part 2)

It was taking forever to reach Azad Maidan. I wondered if ants would race us and go ahead too at one point! "Uncle, can we go faster? I am getting late?" I said irritation apparent in my tone.

            "Arre, how fast? (Yeah right) Don't you see the traffic? (almost empty roads!) If I drive any faster, we would only meet with an accident," he said and continued mumbling in a rough tone with a hurt ego. There was no point arguing with him because if this was fast for him then probably anything more than this would be next to flying!

            Suddenly, it dawned on me that I couldn't have blamed him either. He was paralyzed by his fear and prejudice. We all are pulled down with some fear and prejudice and it’s always hard to break free from the shackles of such emotions in which we build our comfort zone. Three years back, I had my qualms about people being homosexual, after a certain point too!

            "Why do you ask when you know everything?" Emma (my lesbian best friend) asked, on that sunny afternoon after our class, hurt clearly apparent in her miffed voice.

            I seriously didn't know what wrong had I done this time! It seems I had passed one of my anti-homosexual remarks!

            "Listen Emma, I think you are over reacting. I didn't even know if it was an anti-gay remark,” I justified.

            "Wow, over reacting? Look at him! Men are such insensitive jerks," she yelled with tears starting to well up in her sweet doe-eyes. I turned looked at my girlfriend for her support. But she was nodding silently in agreement with Emma too, giving me a dirty look which was enough to make me feel like I was standing nude in front of them.

            Now I know why angry girlfriends and distraught wives accuse their counterparts to be insensitive jerks! It was so hard for me to understand! Apart from my stupid secret fetish of seeing two girls making out in front of me, I didn't know what homosexuality was then, to be honest!

            "Listen Emma, I am really very sorry. You know I would never say anything intentionally in a million years to hurt you. It was for others, not intended towards you. So, how does it matter," I pleaded guilty with her.

            "It matters. That's my community and that's who I am. You make all those statements today, I am sure tomorrow you will bully and break friendship if a guy friend in your circle turns out to be gay! You still don't know what it means to survive in a homophobic society. Being a homosexual is not a lifestyle choice, its an orientation!"

            

           She was right. i didn't know homosexuality was biological. But even with all the lack of knowledge, I might have just maintained a distance, breaking friendship or crushing someone's emotions and confidence by bullying? Never in a lifetime! My upbringing wasn't so cheap!

"Hey hey, don't cry. It makes me feel terrible (they exactly knew when to leave the tear bags open and flowing! This is where i always used to lose with my girlfriend too). I promise I would go and do the much needed research about this. I agree I have not been the best to deal with this even though I played all cool about it initially," I tried pacifying her, pouring my heart out. I was shocked, to be honest, how sensitive could this be to all my fellow homosexuals. I really needed to get my facts straight.

            "OK, I will help him in it Emma. He really is trying,"” and continued commanding me "until then, whenever you get a stank eye look from me, you know you need to shut up instantly, before you get the feeling that you are standing nude in front of us, which I don't think would be a bad idea either," my girlfriend said with a naughty smile curling up on her lips, in the last few words! Even Emma had a feeble smile (phew).

  What would men do if there weren't girls? I correct it- what would people do if they didn't have partners of either sex?

            Over the next few weeks me and my girlfriend researched about homosexuality, sometimes even without clothes (ok, that's a lie. We were 15 and shit scared of the 'virginity clause'). She took it on herself the sweat breaking task of getting the smallest detail she could lay her hands on. Really smart girl! It was only then that i got to know that even Massachusetts and Canada University of Psychology had removed homosexuality from the list of disorders. It was no more considered a 'disorder'. That's why the term orientation (biological inclination) was introduced!

The cab stopped with a jerk waking me up from my slumber thoughts. It had reached me to Azad Maidan. There was a party after the verdict on section 377, if it was positive (in our favor). But, we knew it would be decriminalized, anyway. After all, India was getting over its homophobia as i had. We were to celebrate the landmark judgment but before that I knew I had to face 'The Emma Monster' of why-were-you-late. I got down preparing myself for the best excuse, as it took me twenty minutes to reach Azad Maidan from my college would be 'bullshit, I hate lies,' for Emma. Just then my cell buzzed. It was a message. I paid the cabbie and checked my cell. It read-

We lost it ya. The verdict is negative! After all these years! It’s all over.

  I was bewildered! I looked up from my phone, at the crowd in Azad Maidan, in search of her.

-TO BE CONTINUED-

What A Queer Incident..!!

     This is my first article and I always wanted to project a bold, fresh perspective on things even if it garnered criticisms and remarks like ‘it’s the new age youth’s thinking’, ‘carefree attitude’ or ‘recklessness and western outlook’. However, according to me it is nothing but a rationally logical and liberal thinking. Here goes my article on the recent section 377 that caught furor like a rolling ball of fire!



     It was the infamous 11th December 2013 (11-12-13), when section 377 was re-instated! I was stuck in FC lecture and ma’am was babbling on ‘Human Rights’. How ironical!

     Hearing the word ‘human rights’ my mind had drifted off to another boring lecture, another sleep controlling hard attempts at staying awake, another dimly lit class on the second floor of my classes some years back. The class was stacked full with budding yet naive 15 year olds. Very soon, their pheromones and testosterones would be all over the place getting the better of their emotions! There, sitting beside me across the aisle, was this hep girl (like any other girl of her age), who was least interested and staring at every possible nook and cranny of the class! To be honest, I was a little conscious thinking she might check me out too in one of her ‘nook and cranny endeavors’ and I wanted to sit in the right position to come across with the ‘hunky and manly’ appeal yet peak at her now and then without her notice! Who doesn't do that at that age?

     The teacher’s tormenting babble was over and we were given a short break. I knew I had to talk to her now before she gets up and goes. “Hi,” I said.

“Hi,” she replied.

“I know you are a lesbian,” I said with an unquivering voice and smile on my face to come across as confident, though I thought I would be replied with a slap!

“What?” she roared.

“I said I know you are a lesbian,” I repeated again. Like this was any easier for me! I shouldn't have been over smart enough to bring this up I wondered!

“What the fuck dude, you don’t even know me! And what makes you say that?,” she demanded.

“I know you enough to say you are a lesbian. In this two hours of harassing lecture, you didn't even notice ‘any guys’; not even me,” I said, to which she rolled her eyes and looked amazed that I was tracking her eye movements. I continued, “You instead checked out some three girls sitting in front of you and couldn't take your eyes off one!”

     She looked around suddenly with a pensive look crossing her face (to my relief, it meant I might be right) and spoke softly yet firmly, “get over yourself, narcissist! Stop stalking me. I am not presumptuous and uncouth like you. Even you were noticing that guy who entered late. So, does that make you bisexual?”

“Whoa, two new words I learned today! So, you did notice me. Maybe, you are a bisexual after all,” I said with a smirk.

“Maybe,” she replied back with a smirk, making my conviction only stronger! We both started laughing; and that’s how our lifelong friendship started!

     I was hauled back to our class with a screeching bell to say the lecture was over. I let out a sigh of relief and packed my bag to rush to Azad Maidan where my ‘maybe’ lesbian friend was waiting for me!

-TO BE CONTINUED-