Chapter 96
Sneha’s Diary
Hi Georgie,
I have always believed
that the best way to enjoy life to explore it. I had always wanted to travel to
many places and meet new people, do new things and cherish all that experience
that will make me a better person. Joining this LGBT movement has been that
soul searching kind of an experience for me.
Being from the
software background, I have been asked to handle the website making and
handling the payment gateway for accepting donations and stuff. Since we wanted
to enter the politics right from the grassroot level, we are going to fight the
forthcoming municipal elections on 12th june. We first want to win people’s hearts by
solving their basic problems of roads, bridges, water, sanitation, etc. and
then move up the ladder of politics.
The other day
Sunita didi had come to my home to share her grief. She still couldn’t believe
that her husband was into guys too. She was shocked when I told her that I was
thinking of fighting the local elections on behalf of the LGBT movement. I
tried explaining her that Aditi’s father shouldn’t have been put in jail for
sex with a man, but he surely deserved it for cheating didi. After a lot of
contemplation, and no discussion with Aai Baba, I have decided to take the
plunge and do my bit to help the movement to the LGBT people what they deserve.
Tonight I will put posters made by my
Rahul in the whole society. It will be kind of a shock to everyone that
Kulkarni’s daughter is doing all this! But I know what I am doing is right.
I made my sweet
Aditi Puran-Poli and Thecha and some really tasty Shikaran which is like banana
milkshake! I make some really awesome food, Georgie! Someday I will make lovely
dishes for Kavita Amma, Rahul and his partner.
Chapter 97
Sneha’s Diary
By 1.30 PM
there were more and more concerned society uncles and aunties coming in to tell
me that what I was planning to do was not appropriate as per the Indian culture
and that I shouldn’t support “those” people by standing in elections supporting
their agenda. Our neighbour- Deshmukh uncle- suggested that I should stop all
this nonsense. Otherwise no Marathi Brahmin man in his right mind would ever
marry me! All I could do was look at these elders and see how biased we are
against an orientation that we normally aren’t comfortable with.
Around 4.00 PM
I received a call from Vikram Chandra Pawaskar- the incumbent leader from our
constituency. His style of talking was typical like we see in movies. He first
congratulated me on my bravado and then emphasised how good it is to see women
power coming up in the politics to change this country. He continued his
bullshit for a few more minutes before subtly warning me to step down from the
upcoming elections against him. He said that anyway I wouldn’t win because of
the cause I was supporting. So I better save my honour by withdrawing my
candidature.
The more the
number of obstacles that are thrown in my way, the more determined I am becoming
to fight the cause that I have taken
up. The nail in
the coffin was when I received this mail from some snehadidimyhero@gmail.com at around 7.00 PM-
“Sneha didi,
I am very very
proud to know you. I am extremely happy to see that you are standing for a
cause that has been asking for attention since ages, but people shy away from
supporting it. I am not going to disclose my name for obvious reasons but I can
tell you that I am a teenager who has been living in the closet for many years and
have been finding it difficult to come out of the closet because I am not sure
how my conservative parents will react to it. They might even beat me like
hell. I stay in your complex only and I am wearing the garb of a macho while I
feel like a girl inside. Anyways, all the best for your fight for LGBT. I am
with you, anonymously of course.”
Later I had a
word with Vandu about my decision and she supported me like hell. She shared
with me stories of how comfortably people in US are allowed to live their own
life in their own terms. Of course I requested Vandu to not discuss this matter
with Aai and Baba. She shared a few pics of her pregnant self. There is this
super glow on her face. My sweet didi is about to be a mother. I am feeling so
overwhelmed right now that I can’t stop myself from crying.
Georgie, gotta
go now. I don’t want my tears to smudge your beautiful pages. Good night!
Chapter 98
7th May 2012
Today the core team of our LGBT movement met at Aangan Hamara to
discuss how we are going to handle the upcoming LGBT parade on 13th May, the
mass-coming out on 17th
May and fighting the upcoming municipal elections.
I put across the
team my willingness to stand against Vikram Chandra Pawaskar in the upcoming
Kalyan Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) election. Dikshita, an Econimics
Major, is going to fight from Borivli. Soumya, a journalist at a major
newspaper in Mumbai, from Kandivli. Aslam from Kurla. Vrajesh from Powai and
Rahul from Sion. Aslam suggested the name “Youngaystan Hai Hum” for our
political party. We all liked it. Rahul promptly suggested a tagline for the
party “The Rainbow that India has been waiting to witness”. Just then Rahul
secretly held Aslam’s hand with love and affection. L That hand should have been mine na, Georgie? L
We all tried to
convince Saahil to contest for the elections too, but that poor homophobic soul
declined the offer but suggested that he will try to do his best by writing
stories and stuff and will use his recent popularity to help our cause. He
shared with us the high level plot of a story that he had conceptualised about
the life of a teenager who is
trying to come
out of the closet. Maybe he has started reading Gay literature to come out of
his homophobic shell.
There are a few
LGBT NGOs from whom Rahul had collected the details of the people in the
community who would join us in such parades. He also had a list of contacts from
media who would help us cover the event. I checked the list of people who I had
to contact in the Kalyan Dombivli region for the march. There were only 30
names in the list. I SMSed them immediately and informed them about the march.
Then in the evening I talked to them and explained the motto of the parade.
Before
dispersing from Aangan Hamara, I talked to Soumya and Dikshita about their love
for each other and how will they be together inspite of the societal pressures.
They said that they have not yet come out of the closet and that they are going
to use the 17th May to
disclose it to their parents. They said that chances are high that their
conservative parents will disapprove of their love, but they will find a way
out.
Btw, Aslam’s
father is working at a high level in police department. He took the baton of
handling the permissions and stuff needed for the march to be held on 13th May. Aslam is
lucky to have broad minded parents who have accepted his homosexuality and want
him to live the life that he wants to. Lucky guy he is!
Rahul is going
to mail us the posters that we will need for the march and we are supposed to
meet directly at Azad maidan in South Mumbai on 17th May at around
10.00 AM.
Tomorrow I will
go and meet the gang from my area who will be a part of the parade.
Georgie, all of
a sudden my life has changed so much na! Like for example a few months ago was
just sitting in front of the PC in office and talking to people I didn’t like
and making softwares I didn’t like making and was getting paid not as much was
I deserved. I was fed up of everyday commute. I was kind of not even aware of
the LGBT people who were living lives in such suffocation. Earlier I used to
shirk at the eunuchs and shoo them away. Now I won’t. Now I totally empathaise
with them. Hey Georgie, what if I contact the local transgender community and
ask for their support? Huh?? I want as much support as possible to make an
impact in the whole upheaval for universal rights.
Too many things
to do tomorrow. Good night. Oh btw, I am gonna drop an SMS to Saahil about the
lovely concept of the story that he has thought of. Ok chalo bbye good night,
Georgie!
Chapter 99
Hi Georgie,
right now it’s 9.50 PM and I am sipping Jack Daniels; mostly neat! Today in the
morning at around 11, I met some 13 guys and 1 girl who are going to join the
march 5 days from now. The girl’s name was not in the list but somehow she got
the information through our network and decided to be a part of our movement.
This is the kind of enthu I want to see. We met at a restaurant near Dombivli
station. Out of those 14 people only 6 were homosexuals and the rest were
hetero. I was very happy to find like minded people who are heterosexuals but
still want to fight for a greater cause of universal rights. This is how our
country will see a change when not only the oppressed fight for their rights,
but also the sane and responsible upright citizens who feel the pain of other
human beings.
So we discussed
how they had handled the LGBT parades in the past and how we should be equipped
to handle the upcoming one. I realised that even though I was the core member
of our new party, these guys and girl had more necessary experience in handling
such events. I felt a little dwarfed. Nevertheless in such events it’s the
experience that counts more than the age or position. Vidhita Goswami, the
other girl from our Dombivli group, suggested that we go to CST station
directly by train and not by foot as I was suggesting
because it made
no sense to walk a distance of 45 kms when no one is going to notice us on the
road. We decided that we could make a charter kind of to help the voters in the
upcoming municipal elections make an informed decision ie to vote for me.
Vidhita suggested many points that could be a part of the charter. At one point
I even wanted to step down and let her take the gauntlet of facing Vikram
Pawaskar in the elections. I liked the clarity of her thought and the
conviction with which she wanted make a difference in the society.
Just as we were in the middle of our discussion, a couple of eunuchs came to the restaurant asking for money. The supervisor at first tried to shoo them away but the stubborn eunuchs chose to stand their ground that they wouldn’t leave before they get at least 20 rupees. The supervisor gave them 20 rupees after some haggling and then the eunuchs went away. Something clicked in my mind and I ran to meet those eunuchs and invited them to be a part of our discussion. Rest of the customers were just looking at me when I requested the transgenders to be a part of our group and suggest what we could do. I explained them who I was, who we were and what our party “Youngaystan Hai Hum” party was planning to do. I could see discomfort rising in the customers nearby who started to get up choosing not be a part of such weird environment where even eunuchs were considered equal. The hotel owner not comfortable with his other customers leaving because of us personally came to our table to see if we had finished our snacks and requested that we should vacate our place for others. I got the message and gave him a stern look. I was about to burst out of anger, but chose not to as from now on every person in my area was a VOTE for me and not an enemy. I guess the politician in me is taking birth.
Again today, I
received a mail from snehadidimyhero@gmail.com
at around 7.00 PM-
“Hello Sneha
didi. It was real pleasure meeting you today at the restaurant. I was overawed
with the kind of ideas that you bring to the table and the enthusiasm that you
have for this cause. I will be with you till the end of this struggle to get
LGBT their rights in this country. Be strong and be the idol that I and
thousands like me are looking for."
Still not sure
he who he is. But at least now I know that he is amongst those 14 I met today!
In the evening
while coming home via Phadke road I saw teenagers cuddling each other and
enjoying the company of their prospective life partners. I stood there for some
time and accidently my eyes focussed on a girl who looked like a younger
version of me. I tried but couldn’t help take my eyes off her and her boyfriend
who looked a simpleton like Saahil. All of a sudden their eyes met mine and out
of embarrassment I didn’t know what to do and so kept walking towards them and
suddenly smiled at the girl and blurted “don’t leave his side. He will keep you
happy forever.” That made them smyle. And mee tooo. I mised mi chance becose of
whatever reasons – my stupedity or arogance or whateva, but I genunly felt that
that that younger versiun of me shouldn’t make tht misteke.
I am feeling
low tonit my cute dairy. I want sm partnerrr. I wnt some love… some1 to care me
…
rate nowe,
Georgiet, I am down 7th
nit peg of Jacky Dannys and then I am nut sire what I ill rite. Ok?
Love yaa
forever my gerojeeieee… I lov yyaaaa.. saahul… rahi…kavita…I lv all.. mummmmma
apapppaa…bandu… jinu…kash… vero… sahil…adu...
Chapter 100
Saahil’s Diary
I don’t know
how to pen down these things. I am totally at a loss of words. I want to say
sorry to Sneha and Rahul. But I will never be able to do that.
Sneha and Rahul
were shot dead in front of the Café Coffee Day near our old age home. Some guys
from Hindu and Muslim fascist groups was involved in this killing. Apparently
Rahul had locked horns with those fundamentalists over the issues of LGBTQ
rights. Rahul, a gay himself, vehemently tried to defend the universal rights
of gays, lesbians, bisexuals, transgenders and queers. But a section of the
society was totally against this and wanted to take revenge for his viral video
on Gay Pride Parade. They had warned Rahul a number of times, but he had stood
his ground that what he did was right.
They ransacked
the old age home on 20th
May. On 22nd Sneha and
Rahul had gone for a cup of coffee at a nearby CCD. Just as Sneha and Rahul
were coming out of the CCD, 3 guys with their faces covered shot at them from
close range. They put 8 bullets in Sneha’s head and
9 in Rahul’s
head. I wonder what was Sneha’s fault in all this? Why was Sneha punished? Just
because a section of the society feels that they are born to clean the dirt
from this country? Fucking motherfuckers
asshole idiots
killed an innocent girl and a person who was asking for the right to live his
life the way he wants.
I guess it’s better
to be born as an animal that has the freedom to do whatever it wants than be a
human being who is chained by the narrow-minded barbs of society. I am not sure
how many Rahuls will have to die before the law of this country understands the
universal right to live a fucking good independent fearless life. Fucking
bastards!
Their funeral
was attended by many grannies and grandpas from Aangan Hamara who felt that it
was they who should have left for heaven instead of those young souls. In the
evening there was a candle march. What is the meaning of candle marches? I
never understood what good will happen with such marches. I wish people of this
country followed Hitler and not Gandhiji! Laaton ke bhoot baaton se nahi
maante.
Kavitha Amma is
now going to move in with us, i.e. my family in Powai. It was Rahul’s and
Sneha’s wish that they adopt Amma if they ever plan to live together. Now I
feel it is my responsibility to fulfil their wish of adopting the lovable
Kavitha Amma. My sweet parents wouldn’t have any problem with this decision of
mine.
I have stopped
thinking about marriage. Whatever has been destined, will happen. Till then all
I can do is keep my parents and Kavitha Amma happy.
With Sneha and Rahul gone forever, I end my diary here. Jai Jinendra.
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