The year of 2009, ignited some hopes in the mind of Aman, of marrying his love. Being born and brought up in a well to do aura, he was then a successful entrepreneur, when he first met Jyothi, who use to own a flower shop near the North over bridge in Kochi. Aman was an introvert, who always had problems with his batch mates, found solace in the arms of Jyothi, who shared the same wavelength of thoughts with Aman. Their favourite meeting place was Marine Drive, where once they had went for a romantic boating. Now it has been over 5 years that they met, but never thought of tying a knot and getting married. They knew that the Indian society has not been liberalized yet from the chains of caste and culture, and also had a clear idea of the aftermaths of their marriage. Aman’s parents have been insisting him to get married from over a long time, and now when he has stepped into his thirties, the idea was intoxicating his veins. Jyothi on the other hand being an orphan, the city never cared.
Aman’s parents were too busy in building up their empire, when they dumped their only son in one of Kochi’s most prestigious boarding schools. He had the least intimacy with them, more of which he had with the warden. He was academically brilliant but was very shy during the school days that he even refrained from going to the boy’s toilet. He used to feel insecure and embarrassed when the guys of his class used to crack adult jokes on girls. He was always comfortable with girls and never gave ears to the taunting, by his fellow mates and also by some of his teachers. He always seized the female roles to be enacted on stage, just to get a chance to be in girl’s costumes. It was when, one day some rogues of his class sexually harassed him that Aman realized that he was just a poor girl confined in a boy’s body. That incident left an ineradicable mark on his mind forever.
As he grew, he felt more and more alienated by the society. He started considering himself a taboo and cursed the heavens for creating him odd. He used to cry alone at nights and also tried committing suicide, but was always rescued by one or the other. Last time his parents took him to a psychiatrist’s clinic, but it didn’t work out much for Aman with a closed mouth. His parents knew that he had some problems but never tried to go deep into the roots. He tried reading many philosophical books, and it worked. Soon he was able to drift his mind from pessimism and took over his family business. But sometimes when the thoughts over brimmed, he used to go for a ride on his lady-bird bicycle towards Marine Drive. It was on such a melodramatic evening that he met Jyothidas, a guy from the lowest strata of the society and hence a sex worker by choice. It was on the bench facing the sea, that they got to know each other and became close thereafter. It was with the help of Aman, that Jyothi renovated his flower shop and started doing some serious business. They also started working with NGOs which helped and supported the LGBT communities to come forward and create an identity of their own.
Watching the sunset, Jyothi remembered how Aman had brought crackers when Delhi High Court quashed section 377 of Indian Penal Code, 1860 and decriminalized homosexuality. Same sex marriage has not been legalized yet in India, but the story of Veena & Savitha of Uttar Pradesh, has cemented their ideology to an extent. Aman and Jyothi moved to a rented apartment, after his parent’s immediate death in a plane crash in Lagos. At first it was difficult for both of them to get over such a mishap, but it was indeed a soothing feeling for them to know that though homosexuality is not widely accepted, the Indians, including Alex Mathai, their apartment owner, have started being tolerant towards the LGBT people.
Amidst the pile of divorce cases in the country and giants like US discoursing about legalizing homosexuality, their living together relationship has been successful so far. It seems the framed painting of Khajuraho which dangles down from a nail of their bedroom wall, is waiting for the Apex court to approve, so that they can give a name to their affiliation...
NB: This short-story is in response to October 16, 2013- BlogAction Day topic “Human Rights”
Courtesy of: http://www.blogactionday.org
