377: The Hypocritical Societal Perception

This afternoon was not as usual as it generally uses to be. Neither was there a numbed mind in a boring lecture of control system design where you have no idea of what you are doing nor was a short afternoon nap unknowingly turned into a deep slumber, devoid of intricacies of this world for a while. As I was scraping through the web to get some books for my kindle, the incessant urge to press that home button to refresh my Facebook feed every five minutes was taking its habitual course. Memes, political warfares, treacherous propaganda, right-wing sympathisers immediately followed by left wing, that’s all I have been coming across in my feed for last few months.
Today wasn’t anything different. The difference in opinions led to altercations in the comments. If the post that I am currently looking at is about the failure of demonetisation citing almost all the notes were returned back to the banks then the post just below that would be how it increased the number of taxpayers by a big margin. If one would talk about how activists are being bullied by the government on the pretext of urban Naxalism, other would vouch for equality before the law and hence, bat for letting the legal proceedings take their due course. Heavy downpour, no roommates to talk with and this highly predictable news feed. It seemed all familiar and constant.
But you know that something remarkable has happened when your news feed is filled with rainbows, outbursts of happy emojis and most surprisingly, unanimity in expressing the support for the decision. The Supreme court bench of five judges unanimously denounced the Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code and rightfully so. It was heart-whelming to see almost everyone going ecstatic over this even though the majority of them weren’t directly affected by this. This was overpowering! When was the last time I saw everyone singing in a unanimous tone without caring whether it directly affected them or not? I can’t recall. Probably on the abolishment of Triple Talaq? Well, let it be anything but this kind of unison along with selflessness isn’t something we see every day.

While scrolling down the news feed, I came across a bunch of people who were self-admittingly very happy about the decision and it was just a few months ago when they had clearly expressed their disgust over so-called ‘HOMO-HOMO’. Mr. X has been a very good friend of mine. He has got a heart of gold and has always helped me out whenever I reached out to him. So, one day I was just casually discussing with Mr. Y that how kind-hearted gentleman X is. I was citing references of how he helped me out each time, be it assignments, tutorials or a casual stroll around 2.2 with uninhibited sharing of problems with each other. Y stopped me midway and blurted out his unsolicited two cents, “He isn’t that nice to us. He is being nice to you because he is gay and he might have developed feelings for you, you know quite a possibility. You know those homo-homo people? They are always like this. They are always very nice to same-gender ”. I was shell-shocked!
I couldn’t decide whether I should laugh over their stupidity or ask an explanation about how being nice to same-gender guarantees homosexuality. I could just reply in shock, “What!” What I meant was that how on earth are being nice to same-gender was related to homosexuality! But what Y perceived was that I was doubting his knowledge and hence, his declaration of X being gay. Flaunting his knowledge about the sexual orientation of all the people on the campus, he struck again, “Yes, I definitely know. Mr. A is his partner. If you doubt me, you can get the same reconfirmed by another friend of mine. I am telling you, believe me. Try to stay away from him. it would be good for you”.
I still remember what I replied, “Do you realise that this attitude of yours is exactly why he is not nice to you? He is nice to me because I have always been nice to him. He helps out me because that’s what I do when he needs the same. He is nice to me because he is kind human being first having a heart that is devoid of complexities and way nicer than most of you self-gratifying straight ones”.
It’s amazing to see how quick are people nowadays to perceive things and announce their judgement. Once you get to see their judgemental trickery, you would be ashamed of belonging to the same species. How the hell what people prefer to choose in their personal lives concern you? Have you ever refused sitting with a colleague because you are vegetarian and he likes mutton? Had you done that, it would have been laughable. Right? Well, the same is applicable to all the personal choices that a person makes in his/her life. Who are you to despise and pity them if they like someone of their own gender? If you can’t stand in solidarity for them, at least keep your unsolicited opinions to yourself. Yes, you are today lost in the crowd going gaga over this historic decision. For today, you have succeeded in masking yourself but for how long can this dual characteristic be kept under the carpet? Stop being a hypocrite!
I don’t expect much from this society as of now given how the demography is still dominated by too-much-family-values and self-proclaimed sanskari (cultured) old-aged people. The self-designated custodians of values and culture feel as if they have the monopoly over deciding what is right and what is wrong. Dear value-keepers, it won’t take long for you to go to the coffins along with your values including regressive ones. But I don’t feel the current generation is that much tolerant and has got patience. They would rebel and turn their backs to you tearing your societal constitution into shreds. It’s coming and coming sooner. That would be the day I’d consider that the Supreme Court’s order has been actually enforced.

