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In the middle of an enigma

PhotoS: S. Subramanium and V. SUDERSHAN

Keeping the flame burning A still from last year’s ‘Rainbow Pride Walk’ at Jantar Mantar

Speaking to R. Raj Rao at the end of a long, enervating day can be rejuvenating. He talks of things important and intimate with the ease and natural charm of a raconteur. No airs of a professional wordsmith, no diatribe of an activist, just a simple expression of his clear thoughts. Having just co-edited “Whistling in the Dark” with Dibyajyoti Sarma – published by Sage – he happily admits things are easier for practitioners of alternative sexuality here than many places in the West and the Muslim world.

Yet, he is not mushy, making sure he does not lose sight of the reason. Having spoken to 21 men with the same sex predilection for the book, Rao says, “India is one of the best places for people beyond the matrix of heterosexuality. I will have to give some credit to Hinduism. It is non intrusive. However, it is easier for men who have sex with men (MSM) than for openly gay people. Our society provides so many same-sex places like the street corners, the paan-beediwallah, the bars, etc., where females are virtually non-existent. All of India is like the army, or a prison where men and women are sexually quarantined. Nobody raises eyebrows if two guys go looking for a flat or two girls are room mates. However, it is easy for wrong reasons. People are just ignorant. They are not appreciative or tolerant. In a way it works out well for many men. The politics of heterosexism takes place. And they feel why do we have to come out?”

Rao, however, feels there are no easy stereotypes of homosexuality in the country. “One easy stereotype is of kemp behaviour, of men with pronounced female exhibitionist behaviour. But during the interviews with participants for the book, I came across people from all sections, the working class people, the typical middle class guys and even academics, painters, etc. While for one of the interviewees from the working class, sleeping with a guy did not come with any guilt feeling. He was not averse to charging money either. Rather it was a reinforcement of the patriarchal hierarchy. The same guy would not accept his wife’s female lover. On the other, were men who had not been ‘outed’ and even managed to have multiple lovers. Many of them were happy with the state, they loved their wives, longed for their lovers. Others did have a guilt pang.”

What this book has done for Rao and for his readers is to break some stereotypes. “Well, the gay people are not necessarily more promiscuous. However, I would say, many of them have multiple partners because of the circumstances. In a heterosexual marriage, children bind the partners together. In gay relations, there is not that cushion. Not many gay men look for long-term relations knowing where to get off if things go wrong. And yes, being comfortable with one’s orientation has nothing to do with one’s class or religion.”

Speaking with the ease of a seasoned narrator, Rao feels strongly about people ‘coming out’. And feels the events like the upcoming Gay Pride march in New Delhi on June 28 (This year will start around 5.30 pm at the intersection of Barakhamba Road and Tolstoy Marg in CP, and will end at Jantar Mantar.) go some way in creating greater awareness, though not necessarily greater appreciation of the alternative lifestyle. Of course, Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code rankles the seasoned academic and novelist whose cult novel ‘The Boyfriend’ has been translated into French and Italian. “Indians have a myopic sense of history. Section 377 is rooted in a distant past in the Victorian era. We need to move on.”

Talking of moving on, having painstakingly put together the 260-odd page book for which he had to request, cajole, convince many of the interviewees, Rao is now busy with his next novel, “Engineering College Hostel”. Full steam, straight ahead.

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