The Pleasure of the thorn

“I am gay” I said.
Amma paused for a moment and flipped through the examination paper she was evaluating. I looked at her with empty eyes as my heart raced. That wasn’t the expression I expected or wanted from her.
“Amma” I called out in a feeble voice.
She lifted her head and…

The forgotten Queer politics of Tamil Nadu

[This essay is based on the text of my speech delivered on Sept 13, 2014, at Valluvarkottam, Chennai, at the rally asking TN Government to amend Section 377]

Violet skirt

Five

My sister handed me her violet coloured silk skirt and a black scarf. I wore the skirt and draped the scarf across my chest. I picked up the half a foot clay Golu doll from the cricket set. I always liked him, his smile was hidden by the thick moustache drawn above his lips…

Me and my pepper-spray

Prologue

After a discordant event on the way to home late one night, I decided to get something for self-protection. And naturally my first thought was to get a pepper-spray. Ever since I gave that yellow spray can a place in one of the cup holders in my…

Melancholy dreams

I was tired, my body ached and my mind was numb. I looked at the system clock; it was quarter past one. I was still at work, way beyond my working hours. I shut my laptop, dumped in my bag, grabbed my car keys and walked towards the lift.

Random rental lament

Finding a house for rent in Chennai is an Herculean task. One has to give up their self esteem if they want to get the right house of their choice. And that too won’t happen without few compromises.

That is not the answer

I heard them argue again. Their voices travelled through the closed doors, walls and, the ceilings and reached my room in the first floor. I started palpitating, my usual reaction during such incidents. I was twenty one and I don’t remember reacting any different even during the previous…

The gender scale

I asked “Are you a man or a woman?”

“On a scale of one to ten, where one being man and ten being woman, and if you decide a person’s gender based on their likes and roles, I score a six” came the reply.