Monday, July 13, 2009

Really happy and gay?

Barely a week has passed by since Section 377 has been repealed and the protests and petitions have already started flooding in. Different religious groups are furious at "going against nature's way" and want the Indian Supreme Court to take back its decision.

On the other hand, newspapers have started reporting the first few gay marriages in India. Quite a stir all around.

But wait. Who said anything about marriage? All that the repealing of Sec. 377 means is that intercourse between same sex couples is now not illegal. (Incidentally, do you know all those 'other' indulgences of yours were also illegal? heh heh!). homosexuals all over India celebrated. But, I really believe that this was only a minor victory for them. The war is yet to be won.

India is a state of contradictions. While our ancient history suggests that we were a very tolerant and broadminded nation, our recent past shows quite the opposite. Everything that was once celebrated, is now either taboo or spoken of behind closed doors. Yes, still. Just because you, me and a few urban friends of ours sit together sipping mojitos and discussing anything under the sun with panache, does not mean that we are the majority.

We still remain an extremely conservative society. With moral police raising hell over women wearing sleeveless shirts and hanging out in pubs, do you really think that gays will be smiled at warmly and accepted easily?

Lets get real. Picture a boy/girl from a regular town in India trying to tell his/her parents about his sexual orientation being different from the expected. We are very very far from the stage where the parents will be accepting. If there are accepting parents that's less than a handful. In a country where parents still threaten suicide if their child wants to marry someone of a different caste, I seriously doubt there'd be a day any time soon when they'd accept their child's same sex preference. More likely force the poor son/daughter to get married soon as of course the Indian parent firmly believes that marriage cures all ills.

Crazily enough, several of my colleagues seem to think that "this whole gay thing is just another example of copying the west". I swear, that was a direct quote to which several guys nodded their heads in agreement. A senior VP of not stands out not for his work but because word leaked out that he's gay!! The snide jokes abound.

I feel happy that the government at least now recognizes that it is not illegal and thereby indicates that it is not an "abnormality", but feel sorry that it is still a very long and hard road to acceptance for all our gay friends out there.

Godspeed.

Honk honk!

My best friend hails from a country other than ours and has been brought up in a land where everybody follows traffic rules - to the 'T'. Hence it hardly surprises me when he's absolutely baffled with the traffic "condition"(for want of a better word) in India.

Ask the average Indian city bloke about traffic rules and we'll come up with using signals while driving and perhaps sheepishly admit that one shouldn't overtake from the left. And that's what the educated bunch have to say!!

"What about lanes", I'm asked? "Yeah well, what about them?", is my reply. "Fast lane, slow lane....you know...." Well, my friend doesn't seem to understand that how can people relate to the concept of fast and slow lanes when there isn't any lane followed to begin with! I mean, on what should be a two lane drive, we have three and in between every gap is squeezed a bike or an auto rickshaw! As for fast and slow, well, typically the slowest auto is on the "fast lane" while the car in a hurry makes his way from the left! Talking of which, the whole Indian principle of driving, my friend, is about "making your own way".

As for zebra crossings, he wonders why he's the only bloke who stops at them when someone's crossing? Well, why indeed? I seriously wonder why the government bothers on painting them all over when not a single driver regards them. People at zebra crossings are as safe as anybody else jay walking.

My friend is even more puzzled. Nothing to be puzzled about. In a country where a driving license can be obtained by paying Rs. 200 to the guy who comes for the test and without even setting foot in the test vehicle (trust me, I was offered this when I'd been for my test), how can you expect anybody to know anything about traffic rules? When I'd been for my driver's license, I never had to learn anything apart from a few road signs and prove that I could drive and reverse the car well.

Even the driving schools teach you only how to drive the car. Not a thing more. Typical approach to teaching - just teach as much as is required to pass the test! But, I won't digress to the topic of teaching - that deserves a separate post!

Well, so now my friend has learnt to drive the Indian way - curse, swear and make your own way. He's stopped grumbling and we all live happily ever after.....!