Gaylaxy Mar-Apr '11 Issue

An Indian Gay e-zine

www.gaylaxymag.com

MAR - APR 2011

GAYLAXY

Vol II Issue II

empowering expressions

THE TV9 EPISODE

Your One-Stop Party Destination in

BANGALORE

Leisure Credits

Editor’s Note Volume 2 | Issue 2 | Mar-Apr 2011

2

011 will probably be remembered as the year of revolutions. Just four months into the year and the world has seen quite a few of them already. The common string in all of these is that ordinary people came out to protest and various social networking sites played a crucial role in disseminating information and garnering support; what you may also call as online activism, which then transformed to protests on the ground level. Closer home, LGBT community was also witness to such online activism after the telecast of the news segment 'Gay Culture Rampant in Hyderabad' by TV9 Telugu.

On 1st of April, a gem of a movie called 'Memories in March' was released. Unfortunately, not too many knew about the movie because of a lack of promotion and the movie stayed in the plexes for only a week. If your are among one of those who couldn't catch the movie in the plexes, then try watching it online at dingora.com or wait for the dvds to be released. For the time being, you can go through Agnivo Niyogi's review of the movie.

In this issue, we bring to you in detail the whole TV9 “sting” and the reaction it received from the LGBT community.

Phunk Factor gives you simple tips that could make your date a memorable one. Agnivo Niyogi writes about a breakthrough scientific research which could one day lead to homosexual couples having babies with the genetic material of both of them! We talk to Arvind Narrain regarding the ongoing Sec 377 case and bring you some detailed insights. After winning the best film award at the 13th London Asian Film Festival and successfully touring Sydney and New Zealand, a jubilant Onir talks about his upcoming movie I AM. Tollywood – Bengal's film industry- has another gay themed movie called E KON SAKAL ready for release. We bring you an exclusive interview with Saikat - the lead actor of the movie.

And before I sign off, let us remember Prof.

Siras and pay our homage to him. It's been a year now since the death of the professor, but the case remains unsolved and goes on to show how a homophobic society can wreak havoc into one's life.

Editor-in-Chief: Sukhdeep Singh Editors: Siddhant Pattanaik Sukanya Mahata Team of Writers: Rohan Noronha Dibyendu Paul Agnivo Niyogi Contributors: Louis Jonval Victor Hadi Hussain Phunk Factor Arijit Dr. Himadri Roy Joseph Sunil Talukdar Ashish Kumar Art Ratna Deepika Design: Peeyush Jain Pawan Koserwal Mukesh Prasad Web: Apurv Gupta Marketing & Advertising: Divir Tiwari Published from: Kolkata, India Email: editor@gaylaxymag.com Website: www.gaylaxymag.com

8 For business and advertising enquiries, Contact us at :

adv@gaylaxymag.com

Love, Sukhi

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MAR-APR ‘11 VOL 2 ISSUE 2

Inside this issue

FEEDBACK Mailbox COVER STORY The TV9 Episode G-NEWS G-News

Pg 5

Pg 6

Pg 10

SCIENCE & HEALTH

Baby’s Day Out

Pg 11

Ask Bhola Da

Pg 13

CURRENT AFFAIRS

The Legal Battle Tamil Nadu: Sexual Minorities in Focus TETE-A-TETE “I Want People to Live a Life of Dignity” E Kon Sakal EVENTS Parallellines RELATIONSHIP Dating: Dos and Don’ts The Enigma Called Love

Pg 14

Pg 16

Pg 17

Pg 19

Pg 21

Pg 23

Pg 25

MAR-APR ‘11 VOL 2 ISSUE 2 LIFESTYLE Rusty Needs His Shots Dil Dosti Etc De La Cuisine PERSONALS Coming Out of the Closet

Pg 26

Pg 27

Pg 29

Pg 31

The Community Unites

Pg 33

Anal Fixation

Pg 34

Mystique Mahatma LEISURE Let The Cards Speak

Pg 38

Memories in March

Pg 40

LITERATURE Poem Fiction: Forbidden Love in a Coal Mine

Pg 36

Pg 41

Pg 42

NGO NGO List

Pg 45

Feedback Leisure

MAILBOX Gaylaxy: Thank you for pointing it out. It has been rectified now and you can download the Sept '10 issue from the archives now.

Nice magazine and all my best wishes to you...I liked it very much.

-Jayant

Awesome Sukhdeep. @GaylaxyMagazine Hey excellent issue!

– @ami_adriana (via twitter)

–Pavan Kota I guess everyone faces some challenge in coming out. As for my case, I am a single parent's child..as in my father passed away when I was just a month old.

For me it was very important to come out because till that time there were very few things which I didn't share with my mom, whether happy or sad. The very fact that I was in love made me come out to her, although the initial reactions were really sad. She went into a phase of depression and went on to the extent of saying that it was the second shock of her life after my father's death. 8-9 years have passed, things have smoothened but still she is not very happy with the way I am. Honestly, I feel relieved that I came out because I thought it was my duty to let them know so that they don't expect anything out of me as in marriage and family life, but it was never ever a step to “rectify” myself from the so called “disease” and seeking her help.

– Arnab Biswas (on Coming Out of the Closet)

#WOW @GaylaxyMagazine Awesome magazine you publish! #LGBT #PRIDE #INDIA. -@IranLGBT (via twitter) @GaylaxyMagazine Hey excellent issue!

-@triliana (via twitter) The magazine is very nice. I read it and it's so nice...thanks for providing us such a good magazine.

-Sam Looks great! Let me know if I can help with content or ideas -@FullStopIndia twitter)

(via

Dear Editor, The link to Sep-Oct'10 issue is giving Aug10 issue's download.

Please rectify the same. Otherwise, the magazine is very good....with lot of content not only for gays but for non-gay interest as well especially the Science & Health section and Lifestyle.

Keep up the good work.

-Chintu Sharma

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Cover Leisure Story

THE

EPISODE From initial shock to final victory, Sukhdeep Singh details how the various events unfolded

P

rivacy today is a thing we all strive for and ferociously try to protect. With photo uploads and status updates, minute-by minute tweets on social networking sites, there is hardly anything that the world around us doesn't know about us. Add to this the reality shows like Big Boss, where

each second of your daily life is beamed on television, the notion of privacy seems to be an antiquated one. And if all this wasn't enough, we have the TRP hungry 24x7 news channel that will make news of anything and everything, just to be the first one to report and at times can be more entertaining than the saas-

bahu serials telecast over the television. Amidst all this, we still hold to some private moments, still want to live a “private� life away from the glares. If you are thinking as to how far can a news channel stoop to sensationalize things and invade the privacy of individuals, you don't have to look far, TV9 recently showed

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Cover Leisure Story us all and left the world shocked.

The News Telecast In a news segment titled “Gay Culture Rampant in Hyderabad” telecast over TV9 Telugu on 22nd February, the news channel boasted of “investigating and finding the truth” about gay parties in the city. Needless to say, the seven minute video stunk of homophobia. It showed footage of a few parties and said, “Meeting drinking and partying like this on weekends has become a ritual to the gay men in this city. Taking private party permission as an excuse all the gay men unite and party.” As if drinking or partying is a sin, the presenter went on to say, “It might sound astonishing to hear but this is the reality.” Probably what was more “astonishing” for them was the fact that gay men could gather and party like any other people. The

“sting” operation had yet not b e g u n .

S t a t i n g planetromeo.com as the most famous site among gay men they claimed that at any given point of time more than 200 people from the city can be found online “who login, message, chat, meet and celebrate using this site”. As if sounding a warning to its viewers, it claimed: “Software Employees and students are most users "who fall prey” to this GAY CULTURE. Sexy pictures, fashionable clothes, thrilling behavior and being able to communicate properly are the weapons used by a gay man to attract another gay man.”

The most shocking part was to come next, when it telecast the pictures and personal details of a few people by logging into the dating site. Not satisfied with their “sting” yet, they showed a few profiles, giving details of their name and working place.

Claiming to have “trapped”

one such guy, they played a recorded conversation with him and extract details of his workplace, sexual preferences and body stats by appearing as a genuine user of the site.

Calling it as a “lifestyle which is against natural way" they conclude by passing their verdict as: “While some do it for new pleasures, some get spoilt by friends, others do it for the crave of money. The remaining are wowed by the lust some of them have changed it into a business by capturing teenagers mind and get them into the hell, getting them into anti-social lifestyle.”

The Response The complete report was no doubt made with a single p o i n t a g e n d a o f sensationalizing the topic and evoking strong emotions from a society largely ignorant of the topic and still coming to terms to accepting alternate sexuality. So it did not matter

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Cover Leisure Story to the channel or the people behind the report that homosexuality had been decriminalized by the Delhi High Court around a year ago, or that it is nothing unnatural.

The whole LGBT community was left aghast at not only the homophobic tone and gross misinterpretation of facts, but also by the manner in which privacy of individuals was invaded; not to say the complete disregard of any ethics or code of journalism.

In today's world of online activism, the first response to the video was also online.

Facebook, Twitter or Orkut, everywhere people were expressing their anger and outrage over the report through their updates and tweets and exhorting others to send protest emails to the channel. Many had changed their profile picture to one that read “Put me on TV9 too” or “It is my planet, no one can scare me away!” LGBT community of India (and world) sprung into action and started flagging the video on the popular video sharing website Youtube.

Within 24 hours, the videowhich had been put up on TV9's Youtube channel- had been taken down from the site.

Aditya Bondyopadhyay, on behalf of Adhikaar- a c o m m u n i t y b a s e d organisation working for the protection and promotion of the human rights of LGBTs in India- sent the channel a legal notice the very next day. The

As a mark of protest, many people changed their profile picture to one of these

notice asked TV9 to air an apology “to each and every individual who has been maliciously and unethically targeted by the channel, as well as to air a news article apologizing to the entire LGBT c o m m u n i t y o f I n d i a …”

According to the guidelines laid down by the NBA (News Broadcasters Association), the notice had to be replied back within 7 days.

Amidst all this, there were reports of one of the persons, whose details had been shown in the video, attempting suicide. The international community was also left aghast at the news report, which was no less than the “expose” conducted by the tabloids in Uganda- an extremely homophobic country. The “sting” was condemned worldwide. So while Gaydar Radio condemned the report on air, Gaysir- a Scandinavian dating site- posted a link condemning the “sting” in support of the LGBT community of India.

In a bid to register their

protest, there were protests and demonstrations planned in all major cities outside TV9's office. Three days after the report was aired on TV9, the first protest was held on 25th February in Mumbai. With letters of protests and white roses in their hands, the protesters went to TV9's office in Andheri East. Most of the protesters waited outside the office, holding banners and placards while seven representatives went ahead to talk to the highest authority present (Mr.Srinivas Reddy) to personally convey the reason behind this protest. But the refusal on their part to accept any responsibility and trying to defend the report by calling it an “accident” came in as a shock. In a report on the protest held in Mumbai Pallav Patankar writes, “According to Mr. Reddy, the raw footage was a part of their archive and was a part of the "Nigah" collection. He mentioned that he also heads TV 9 Telegu and the telecast on TV 9 was an ACCIDENT and an ERROR. He

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Cover Leisure Story mentioned that he was unaware that the raw footage was actually edited and put into their server and by mistake they actually telecast it.”

Denial was what the protesters were met with in Delhi too on 28th February, where the channel initially refused to even accept that it was the TV9 office! Later, after handing over their protest letters to the channel, they protested on the road outside the TV9 office. Protest was also held in Bangalore in front of the Gandhi Statue on MG Road on 28th Feb. Hyderabad too witnessed similar protests.

TV9 on its part maintained a silence and said that they were preparing their reply for the notice.

The Victory Ta k i n g s u o m o t u cognizance of the matter, NBSA issued a Show Cause Notice to TV9 on 24th February and asked it to file its reply in 14 days, and later scheduled a hearing on 15th March. In its defense, the channel said, “The Programme was intended to warn the society at large and the concerned families of the murky affairs in the gay culture, since, a large number of youngsters visit such places where even persons with regular sexual orientation were being made to [wrongfully] indulge in gay relationships,” and also admitted that “ln retrospect,

The Programme needlessly violated the right to privacy of individuals with possible alternate sexual orientation, no longer considered taboo or a criminal act -Justice (Retd) S. Verma TV9 believes that while achieving its objective it could have kept the image and the principles of the persons interviewed in a masked manner by not revealing their true identities. TV9 feels it could have exercised better discretion... " Refuting the arguments of TV9, Justice (Retd.) S Verma pointed that there was no expose of any alleged criminality and further added that the site planetromeo.com, though open to public, provides details and pictures of its users only under a “members only” area and thus cannot be said to be in the public domain. “…the Programme needlessly violated the right to privacy of individuals with possible alternate sexual orientation, no longer considered taboo or a criminal act; and the Programme misused the special tool of a "sting operation" available only to sub serve the larger public interest.”

Thus, holding TV9 guilty of violating various clauses of the Code of Ethics binding on the Members of NBA, Justice (Retd.) Verma passed his order directing the channel to pay a fine of Rupees One Lakh to NBSA and within seven days of receipt of the order, air an apology “run on TV9 news channel the following text (static) on full screen in legible font size with voice over [in slow speed] for 3 [three] consecutive days beginning the Monday next after receipt of this Order, expressing regret for the said telecast between 20:00 hrs. and 21:00 hrs. in English and between 15:00 hrs and 16:00 hrs in Telugu [accurately translated]: TV9 apologizes for the story "Gay Culture Rampant in Hyderabad” telecast on this channel on 22nd February, 2011 from I5:11 hrs. to 15:17 hrs, particularly since the story invaded the privacy of certain persons and was in violation of the Code of Ethics & Broadcasting Standards of the News Broadcasters Association. Any hurt or harm caused to any person thereby is sincerely regretted.”

No amount of apology or fine on TV9 can compensate the mental agony that these men had to undergo. But this should send out a strong message to everyone that such sensationalist and gross misrepresentation of the LGBT community will not be tolerated.

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G-News

India G-NEWS

µ A new biography

of Mahatma Gandhi by Pulitzer award winning autor Joseph Lelyveld has caused quite a furore in India after initial reviews of the book in western media said that the book suggests that Mahatma Gandhi was a bisexual and had a German lover.

µ The 2nd edition of KASHISH Mumbai International Queer Film Festival will be held from May 25-29.

µ The Central government filed a petition in Punjab and Haryana High Court saying that it does not favour reservations for eunuchs in central government jobs. µ Chief Minister M Karunanidhi declared April 15

th

as Thirunangaiyar Dinam (Transgenders

Day).

µ BBMP (Bangalore Mahanagara Palike), in a bid to stop transgenders from begging on street, will be spending 28 Lakhs to help them set up their own small businesses.

µ Dunno Y...Na Jaane Kyun has been selected at Israel’s prestigious Tel Aviv Film Festival and is the first Bollywood entry. Last year the festival saw a turnout of more than 7000 people with 20 international guests. Kapil Sharma and Yuvraaj Parashar have been invited as guests to interact with the audience.

David Norris has formally announced his µ plans to file candidature for the presidential post of Ireland. If elected, he would become the first openly gay head of state.

µ English cricketer

Stephen Davies has come out of the closet, becoming the first person from Cricketing World to do so.

µ Moving away from its image of a conservative society, Pakistan has employed three eunuchs as data entry operator.

µ Kevin Keller- the gay character in Archie comics that was introduced recently will soon have a mini series of his won.

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Science & Health Leisure

BABY'S DAY OUT Agnivo Niyogi writes about a new scientific breakthrough which can make it possible for homosexual couples to “sexually reproduce” and have babies with genetic material of both of them

O

ne argument that activists of LGBT rights always face while propaganding their views among people is the criticism that the concept of homosexuality is against the values of traditional Indian family and that homosexuals cannot procreate. Even if they do adopt or go for surrogate parenthood, the offspring is not of the same “blood”. While social scientists will answer the query about the erosion of family ties with increasing number of openly gay people, I, as a biology student, can just try to draw the attention of people towards new researches which have successfully attempted to make genetically identical biological offsprings of gay men.

Stem cells are not unheard of.

Although you may not be acquainted with the nitty-gritty of the concept, most readers, I guess, are not completely in the dark about the term. But for those who aren't, I wish to summarise what stem cells are in brief before moving to the main issue.

Stem cells are the cells in our body characterised by the property of self renewal and differentiation. All other cells can be obtained from a single

stem cell so they are called Totipotent. Once a cell lineage is formed from a stem cell, the cells cannot revert back to any other form. For instance, a liver cell line will never function as a heart cell line, although evidences of de-differentiation have been shown in recent works.

The hematopoietic stem cells (stem cells that give rise to blood cells) generally occur in the bone marrow, and these have been used extensively in the stem cell research, to get an insight into what really is the mechanism of differentiation of these cells.

Coming back to the topic, it has always been said sexual reproduction in homosexual partners is unheard of.

However with latest scientific breakthroughs it is no more an impossible feat.

According to the biological definition, sexual reproduction stands for the union of the male pro-nucleus and the female pro-nucleus. To be more specific, it is the union of the genetic material carried by the gametes of the two partners.

The apomixes must be followed by growth of the embryo into a full-fledged organism. This leads to the creation of an offspring genetically similar to both the parents.

The problem of hindrance to apomixes in same sex couples can be solved with the stem cell technology. For this a new technology was put to use.

That is called dedifferentiation. Differentiated somatic cells of the body can be made to reverse the process of differentiation and become a pluripotent stem cell and give rise to a host of other cells. The stem cells thus produced are called induced stem cells.

Induced stem cells are produced using several transcription factors and other chemical agents from somatic cells like fibroblast cells of the skin. These cells then can be made to differentiate into the germ cell. Gametes produced by respective germ cells can then be fused and an embryo shall be born. This can be implanted in a surrogate mother to give birth to a biological offspring with characters from both the parents.

Let us discuss this in an example. Say I and Deepak are partners. We want a baby. Say I want to be the father and Deepak wants to play the biological “mother”. In that case, fibroblast cells from Deepak shall be extracted and made to undergo dedifferentiation into an induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC).

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Science & Health Leisure This iPSC can then be induced to form egg cells or ovum.

Since a father's job is to donate a sperm, I do not have to donate any fibroblast cells but stay contended with donating sperms. Fertilisation of egg and sperm take place following normal rules of Nature. The embryo can be implanted into a surrogate mother for further development.

However a problem arises since genetic makeup of men is XY. So there is a probability that YY zygote may form following fertilisation. Hence these embryos will not survive.

In case of lesbian couples, one partner donates the fibroblast for synthesis of sperms and the other donates the egg (which is her own normal product) for fertilisation.

This procedure sounds interesting and also incorporates great deal of knowledge of the life sciences and the latest advances made in biotechnology research.

However, the whole procedure comes with its share of expenses and might not lead to desired results always. But that's the beauty of research in sciences.

People will always cry hoarse about ethical issues, about undoing God's way of procreation, disturbing the order of Nature. But if we stagnate scientific experiments, progress of civilization will stall and God will never forgive us for that.

I wish this technology becomes a reality soon and homosexuals in India can choose to produce offsprings who are biologically their part.

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Graphic Art by Ashish Kumar Art www.gaylaxymag.com

Science & Health Leisure

ASK BHOLA DA

H

ello brethren! Hope you all had a wonderful time since we last talked.

The world has been struck with great tragedy in the form of earthquake, Tsunami and then the nuclear disaster. Before we begin talking on any other issue, let us pray for the victims in Japan.

Now, remember your lessons on personal hygiene and cleanliness that were taught to you in school? Well, cleanliness and hygiene are very important, it not only keeps you fit but also makes you desirable. I won't be teaching you to wash your hands or bathe regularly, but would be talking about sexual hygiene and cleanliness issues hardly taught in schools, but affecting almost every man and woman.

Now, as much as you may love that juicy piece of meat, an unclean penis is as big a turn off as those stinking socks. The smell is caused by what is called the smegma. Let's answer a few questions about it.

Question: Bhola Da, I observe white granules below my foreskin and it often smells. What is it?

smegma?

Bholada: Well, first of all, the most immediate effect of smegma accumulation is a smelly penis, which I am sure neither you nor your partner will like. While smegma may act as a lubricant, if not cleaned, it degenerates into a bad smelling and unhealthy substance. If not washed, in extreme case, it may form a hard and rigid ring. Scientists also believe that long accumulation of smegma may aid in penile cancer, though the extent of it is still debated.

The fact remains that if not cleaned regularly and properly, it can be a health nuisance and go on to show your utter disregard for hygiene.

Bholada: These white granules are what is known as Smegma. Smegma is a combination of the dead cells of your foreskin and skin oils and is produced in both men and women. While in men it gets deposited on glans penis below the foreskin, in women it gets collected around the clitoris. There is nothing unnatural about it, just as your body produces sweat and oil, so does it produce smegma.

Question: If Smegma is produced naturally by the body, does it have any positive effect on the body?

Question: How can I get rid of it?

Bholada: Just like you take a bath regularly,

Bholada:

Smegma acts as a lubricant between the foreskin and the glans penis.

Smegma production varies with age. While as a child, there is little production of smegma, it increases as one reaches adolescence and is most prominent between the age of 20 and 40.

This is quite natural, as this is the period when a man is most active sexually, and the function of smegma is to provide lubrication between the foreskin and the glans.

your glans penis also needs to be washed regularly to keep it clean and free from smegma. While bathing, retract your foreskin and wash the tip of the penis (glans) with luke warm water. DO NOT apply soap or shampoo directly, as they might cause dermatitis by removing moisture.

Remember, sexual hygiene is equally important to stay healthy and fit. A little care on your part shall go a long way towards a healthy sexual relation.

Question: Is there any adverse effect on my health due to the accumulated

h h Have any query? Write to us at editor@gaylaxymag.com 13

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Current Affairs

THE LEGAL BATTLE Sukhdeep Singh talks to human rights lawyer Arvind Narrain about the ongoing case on Sec 377

W

ith the advent of April, the day when the Supreme Court starts hearing the various petitions in the Sec 377 case is also fast approaching. Since the last hearing of the case, a group of 19 parents of LGBT children from different parts of the country and different spheres of life have come together and filed a petition before the Supreme Court saying that “Section 377 is a threat to family values, as it directly affects the rights of the Applicants to safeguard their families from illegal and arbitrary intrusion from the state authorities. Section 377 invades the sanctity of the f a m i l y , h o m e o r correspondence and allows for unlawful attacks on the honour

and reputation of both parents of LBGT persons as well as LGBT persons themselves.”

Another petition has been filed by a group of thirteen mental health professions saying that “by forcing them to hide their sexuality, this law caused mental stress and anxiety to LGBT persons." With this, the number of petitions in support of the Delhi High Court verdict decriminalizing homosexuality reaches six, as against thirteen petitions opposing the verdict.

Talking to Gaylaxy about the ongoing case, noted human rights lawyer Arvind Narrain explained that the mental health professionals will be making three primary arguments. “The mental health professionals will argue that scientifically, homosexuality is

not a disorder. It is a part of human being, in which case, it makes no sense to criminalise something which is in-born trait of human being. The other argument that they are making is the notion of intimacy, that intimacy is very important for all human beings and when we criminalise certain kind of intimate acts, basically we are penalizing certain people and letting them know that they cannot participate in this part of the human experience. The third argument that they are making is that the law has an adverse mental health impact.”

On their part, the parents would be arguing that Sec 377 is a threat to the notion of family as every person is entitled to respect for one's family life without letting

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Current Affairs other's interfere in the family matter. However, Sec 377 empowers the State to interfere within the family affairs. Another argument that would be put forward is how, due to the criminalizing effect of the law there is shame and stigma around the matter due to which children have kept an important part of their life a secret, leading to a kind of separation in the family. “They will conclude by saying that Sec 377 is really a threat to the notion of the Indian family in terms of peaceful enjoyment of family life and the ability to build relationship, which is what family life should really be all about,” said Arvind.

Voices Against 377, another appellant in the case, shall raise the question of d i g n i t y, s t a t i n g t h a t discrimination is an issue of assault on dignity. “An assault on dignity is different from the issue of class, where there is an economic deprivation. Here it is really about humiliation, which is the core of the entire problem, and what the law sanctions is such a kind of daily humiliation,” added Mr. Narrain. The focus of Naz India Foundation will be the manner in which Sec 377 impedes the fight against HIV/AIDSa world epidemic now.

On the other hand, Arvind pointed out that the strongest argument in the armour of those opposing the 2nd July judgement would be of morality, which would be based on both religious and supposedly social view. So one

In India the core thing what we have is secularism, which is one of the basic pillars of Indian constitution, which means that law cannot be allowed to embody the view of any one particular religion line of argument could be that religious scripture prohibits homosexuality and thus it would be immoral for the law to go. “But no religion is uniformly homophobic, every religion has within it the spaces,” he pointed out. The other line of argument would be that morality is governed by the opinion of the majority and the law should reflect the public of the country. “The strongest argument would be t h e m o ra l i t y a r g u m e n t , because what is morality is a tough question to answer,” he opined.

On being asked whether the recent case in USA where courts held that religious groups have a right to protest against homosexuality could be used as an example to over-turn Delhi High Courts 2nd July ruling, Arvind said, “Religion in India has a place, but can the religion be embodied in the criminal law, which is applicable to all the citizens? Can the religious view of any community be embodied in the criminal law?

It can't because in India the

core thing what we have is secularism, which is one of the basic pillars of Indian constitution which means that law cannot be allowed to embody the view of any one particular religion.” Delving deeper into the topic, he pointed out that this particular case in USA involved a religious group protesting outside a funeral shouting anti-gay slogans and USA being a strong contender of freedom of speech, the courts have held that though one might be offended, one might be hurt, they must protect the freedom of speech. “Contrary to this, in the Indian context what we are talking about is embodying the views of religion in the criminal law, which goes against the very principle of secularism in India,” he added.

As April 19th approaches, both the sides are getting ready with their arguments and would be filing their replies. But if you are hoping for a final verdict on that day, then you might just be getting a bit too impatient as the hearing in itself will take some time. “19th is when they (the Supreme Court bench) have asked to file a written submission, so all the parties will file in their written submission. Then they will begin hearing the matter, which means they will start hearing all the nineteen parties. So obviously they won't be able to hear all the parties that day. So it could go on for some time,” told Arvind.

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Leisure Current Affairs

TAMIL NADU: SEXUAL MINORITIES IN FOCUS

T

amil Nadu has been in the forefront of transgender rights. 15th April was celebrated as Transgender Day in the state. So it didn't come as a surprise when two of the well known faces of the community declared their intention to fight the state elections. While Kalki Subramanian expressed her desire to contest with a DMK ticket, Rose Venkatesan- TV chat show host- wanted to contest these elections for DMDK. On being asked as to what prompted the desire to contest state elections, Rose told Gaylaxy, “I have done grass root activism in Tamil Nadu and I think instead of requesting or begging the government to be given the rights, it is better to take part in the governance itself.” Giving her reasons to support DMDK, she said, “I wanted to align with a party that is against the ruling party, is in support of minority rights as well as in line with my principles and my expectations of a proper party.”

While transgender people shall no doubt

get more of her attention, Rose promised to work for sexual minorities as a whole and push for their rights. Apart from sexual minority issues, a lot of other issues also hold dear to her and she would be working for them all. “I don't consider myself as a supporter or member of just the transgender group. I am a proper woman also in many ways. I am totally in support of women's right, minority rights; and I am also in support of rights of socially backward or oppressed people,” she said. Industrial growth, scientific research, development work, cleanliness and hygiene are some of the other issues she vowed to take up.

Rose wasn't given a ticket this time, but that doesn't seem to have dampened her spirit.

“I haven't been given a ticket, but that doesn't discourage me… I would like to be a powerful voice for minority rights within the party.” Tamil Nadu went to poll recently. Whether it is the DMK or DMDK, sexual minorities and their rights will surely be in focus in the state.

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Tete-a-Tete

“I WANT PEOPLE TO LIVE A LIFE OF DIGNITY” Sukanya Mahata talks to Onir regarding his upcoming movie I AM How is the promotion of I AM going?

Well, it is very hectic. We are going to so many places and meeting so many people. The movie is releasing on 29th April. It comprises of four short movies about four people, Omar, Afia, Abhimanyu and Megha. It touches subjects like sperm donation, child sexual abuse and homosexuality. The film has actors like Nandita Das, Juhi Chawla, Manisha Koirala, Sanjay Suri and Rahul Bose.

What was the inspiration behind the movie?

Rabindranath Tagore once wrote these immortal lines:

“Where the mind is without fear, And the head is held high… …Into that heaven of freedom, my father, Let my country awake” I have such a vision for my country. I want people to live a life of dignity and take decisions without fear. My protagonists share a common dream – a desire to regain their lives, to regain an identity which has been taken away from them; a desire to be accepted, as who they are; a desire to be heard.

How was the experience of having more than 400 people contribute and produce the movie?

The funding of this movie was actually an experiment. I did not want funding from traditional sources. Instead, I knew there are people who want to get involved with movies like I AM by giving their time or money. I wanted to see if it could be possible. So, I put up a Facebook post asking people to donate money or volunteer for the movie. Within one and a half months, we had all we needed. We made a movie where all our volunteers were co owners of the movie. There was active participation from all the people.

Of all the characters in I AM, which character do you relate to, the most?

I relate to two of my characters. First is Megha, a kashmiri pandit, who happens to return to her home after a long time and feels lost. There is an identity crisis as there is nothing she can relate to. Same is the story of my life. I used to live in Bhutan, but because of the political conditions prevailing at that time, I had to shift to India. It has been 18 years, and I have not seen my home since The second character I can relate to is Omar, who is gay. He has this deep sense of anguish at not being accepted and recognized. He does

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Tete-a-Tete not have any rights and is discriminated against in his own country.

How was your recent visit to The London Asian Film festival and Sydney Film Festivals?

The 13th London Asian Film Festival proved to be really special for us. I AM won the best film award and Juhi won the best actress award for the movie. It was very heartening to see our movie being appreciated.

We toured New Zealand and all over Australia when we went in for the Sydney film festival.

We got a great response for the screenings. A major milestone was the distributors agreeing to release the film on the same day as in India, which they usually don't do for small movies.

You have lived in Bhutan, India and Russia. How has each place influenced you?

It was a very crucial time in Russia's history, when I was there. The economy was suffering from a huge depression. A very strong economy crumbled just like that. People were very poor and the disparity of income between the rich and the poor was unimaginably high. It was a time of crisis for the mighty eastern bloc.

Democracy did not prove to be very good for Russia.

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Tete-a-Tete Leisure

E KON SAKAL

Susanta Pal Choudhury's new film 'E KON SAKAL' is soon going to be released and features eminent actors like Supriya Devi, Indrajit Chakraborty, Chandreyee Ghosh, Saikat Das, Sudip Mukherjee, Sayak & others.

Dibyendu Paul caught up with Saikat Das, who plays the lead role of 'Chandan' in the film while also giving the Music for the film, to get his take on the making of the film as well as his experiences and expectations from it. He also speaks about various social issues which have a close connection with this film.

Chandan's natural effeminate behaviour and decides to send him off to the hostel. Chandan gets marginalized and confined in the hostel. In the mean time, Chandan gets sexually molested by his seniors too.

The very incident leaves a deep impact on Chandan's p s y c h o l o g y. H e r e m a i n s confined to the hostel. Despite the sexual abuse, Chandan is able to come to the normal flow with the help of passionate Jeet. A friendship is in the making and they start getting attached to each other.

However, it remains short lived.

Chandan's father gets transferred to Kolkata, drifting

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him away from Jeet.

Sixteen years pass in between. Chandan, deserted by his parents, lives with his Grand mom. Chandan's Grand mom is totally different from the whole league, though she doesn't have a clear idea about the existence of alternative sexuality. The most interesting part of the story is when Chandan meets Jeet at his work place. In the course of the story, Jeet makes him feel his intensity of love in several ways. But Jeet is a self realized bi-sexual. His confusing bisexual nature places him in a relation with Manashi too.

Manashi happens to be

Courtesy: Sangita Communication

Dib: Can you throw some light on the plot of the film?

Saikat: Actually, there is a s t ra n g e a n d i n c o r r i g i b l e mindset in our heteronormative society always prioritizing the age old predefined conducts.

The inevitable result of this social practice imposes several of typical mindset on individuals. The story is the same for twelve year old Chandan. The most difficult thing he had to confront is his family. Jayanta Sen is not an exception even; he is a perfect product of heteronormative society. He is prudent enough to implement his so called psycho-social interpretation on

www.gaylaxymag.com

Tete-a-Tete

Saikat(above) plays the lead in the movie

Chandan's best friend at his work place. Initially none of them (Chandan and Manashi) know about the conflict. Jeet is sailing both the boats at the same time. Basically, he doesn't want to lose either of them. In due course, when Chandan gets to know the real fact he is not able to give the perfect dimension to this and as a result he tries to kill Jeet in an unsuccessful attempt. After an extensive torture in Police station, Manashi bails him and finally he commits suicide.

After his death, Manashi reads his suicide note and figures out the reason. She doesn't ever marry Jeet and devotes all her life to take care of Chandan's Grand mom.

Chandan's death is basically the death of those souls who want to live up their orientation without any sort of typical socio-cultural complications, but unfortunately our society shows some other way to him.

Dib: What do you feel is the reason behind making this film?

Saikat: This is a story of an effeminate homosexual guy, who wanted to live up his orientation as a finer human being. Most of us have the common notion that effeminate guys are exaggerated as a human being. This film

eradicates this conventional notion; rather it raises a question against our usual interpretation. It deals with four major characters, one is Chandan, hanging in between the insecurities of being queer and in a troubled relationship; Jeet who is confused of being a bisexual, he doesn't even know what he is looking out from life, undecided, messed; Manashi, a nice human being and a very dominant woman (Chandreyee has really done a good job to represent this character), Thammi (Grand mom of Chandan) who is worried of her grand child and very much concerned about his well being, at the latter half of the story she gets to know about Chandan's orientation and that doesn't let her fall into typical analysis about homosexual men. The whole movie is very much iconic about the representation of a guy irrespective of his sexual inclination and the socio-cultural obstacles that one has to face in our society and the most pathetic distractions come from our own families. The most striking part is Supriya Devi, who as Chandan's Granny did an astonishing job representing the old-league in a much progressive way, a woman who knows how to respect our own individualities.

Dib: What are the obstacles that you have faced while making this film?

Saikat: Firstly, the film deals with an effeminate guy which I am playing myself. This is quite unacceptable to our orthodox society and even I faced difficulties to convince people to make such a film. Secondly, actors; they are quite afraid of getting typecasted. So people were not actually interested to

work in this script.

Dib: What about the release?

When will we get to watch it in theatres?

Saikat: Well, we are almost done with all the post production activities. The music release is on our door steps, and we are pretty hopeful that the movie would musically be a hit as well. This is my first big project as a newcomer Music Director. Hope people will love all the tracks.

Dib: Tell us something about your co-actors.

Saikat: Well, it was really nice to work with such people. I would like to especially mention about Supriya Devi. She was literally my granny on and off screen. Indra da(Indrajeet) is a Good friend of course!

Chandreyee Di was extremely supportive all through.

Dib: Keeping aside some of the exceptional instances, I see there is usually a tendency of portraying effeminate characters on screen as if effeminacy sort of signifies characteristic features of any gay character. Don't you think this is itself a conventional stereotype?

Saikat: Well, there is a conventional notion of such kind I admit, but if I consider this film, then I would tell that the portrayal is not stereotyped and that was my challenge. I tried not to impose any sort of exaggeration into Chandan's traits.

Dib: Thank you so much for finding time from your busy schedule to give us the interview.

Saikat: It's my pleasure (smiling). Thanks to you too.

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Events Leisure

A new online forum for LGBTs was launched recently, Dibyendu Paul, one of its co-founders writes about what the forum aims to achieve “Parallellines” marks an attempt to not only contest t h e p e r v a s i v e heteronormativity that characterises the entire societal structures in India, but also to engender an empowered space for the nonheterosexual community which has previously been pushed into the closet – a s p a c e m a r k e d b y f e a r, violence and denial. Our aim is not simply to illuminate and challenge the tyranny of compulsory heterosexuality that wrecks havoc in the queer lives, but to strive for an alternate paradigm of understanding that basically enables non-heterosexuals in India to lead their lives in a dignified way, free from any sort of stigmatization and oppression. We realize that this requires the creation of safe spaces for the articulation of alternate desires and identities. Parallellines endeavours to endow one such elite domain to the nonheterosexuals with the intention of building solidarity and engaging people in

creative forms of coalitional politics, despite the complex and highly variegated s tructural locations and experiences of Queer people in our country. We resolve to raise our voice against every instance of social injustice that G L B T O ( G a y, L e s b i a n , Bisexual, Transgenger, Others) people encounter in their everyday personal and public lives with the persistent hope for better, happier and healthier lives.

We are here with a forum to put forth our voices that challenge the customs in which we envision our sexualities, genders and aspirations!

Parallellines is strongly looking forward to build a powerful forum focusing on the following issues:

m Art: Ø Written works (literature, poetry, essays etc.) Ø Visual art (painting, sculpture, graphics, photography, installation art, crafts etc.)

Ø Performing art (dance, theatre, music, movies etc.) Ø Designing (Fashion, interior, graphic etc.) Ø Gastronomy (recipes, food & restaurant reviews etc.)

m Health

( “A g o n y Uncle” column) m Law m Travel Parallellines has been created to put a leverage for better communication between GLBTO crowd of India and otherwise. Parallellines is promoting the awareness among youth through activism (Both e-activism and otherwise) and it is endorsing healthy approaches and friendship between a range of individuals from different verticals who may not meet actually in real but they can parallelly blossom and converge in a domain of better understanding and respect as well as suport each to its own paradigm of life and love.

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Leisure Relationship

üû Phunk Factor gives you pre, on and post-date tips to ensure that you make it a memorable moment

D

ating by no means is easy. It's complicated.

It's messy. It's risky.

H o w e v e r i t ' s n e c e s s a r y, whether one would like to admit it or not. Finding the one is no piece of cake, that person won't magically drop in your lap. The search can be a long and tiring process; however that is no excuse for you to forget simple social etiquette of meeting other people.

Having been on a few dates myself, I've seen a couple of things that have irked me now and then. Fortunately, it's not just me who has these

complains. Guys and girls both have been on the receiving end of this somewhat cruel treatment.

I've divided the list into predate, on-date and post-date.

Which of the following have you been considerate enough to follow? Or worse, which one of the following are you guilty of?

Pre-Date

È When planning for

a meet, it's best to talk it out over the phone. Words can be misunderstood during text messaging by the reader and

ultimately leading to confusion.

When deciding on a place, keep both wallets (yours and his) in mind.

Dating is unpredictable and if there is no second chance, then why blow precious money?! Go Dutch – unless the other person is specifically planning on treating you. Never assume it!

Don't dress up! Be casual! Clothes that you feel c o m f o r t a b l e w i l l automatically make you feel relaxed. If your clothes make

å

m

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Leisure Relationship you stand out in a crowd and attract attention, there is a very good chance that your date will feel uncomfortable. But do refrain from looking like something the cat dragged in.

Smell good! You have to smell good! Bad odors from any part of the body indicate poor hygiene – an instant turn off for many. Keep a pocket mint for bad breath. Be generous and offer your date one as well If you plan on picking up your date on a motorcycle, make sure to borrow an extra helmet. If you can't arrange one, ask him to do so! Just like sex – best to be safe than sorry!

Lastly if you can't make it – tell in advance. Do not spring it on the other person the last minute or simply not show up and ignore his texts and call.

m

U

On-Date

O

Pay attention to your date! That's the first rule of dating. You are here to meet him. So talk to him. Do not pay attention to your cell phone, T.V. or the worst – another person present there. Eyeing another person is a complete deal breaker!

Do not take along your best friend on the date. You do not need his approval to date. If you do not feel safe meeting a guy, then simply don't! Dating is meant for companies, not crowds. Do not have him scout for you either!

Talking about religion and politics is generally a bad idea since conflicting views may lead to heated arguments and

#

possibly ego clashes. Keep these for later dates unless these topics are the 'it' thing for discussion between you two.

If one of the two is more of a silent type, the other one has to steer the conversation. However refrain from over-talking, over-sharing and cutting the other guy mid-sentence.

Avoid getting physical, touchy-grabby on the first date. People generally don't like that! A handshake at the start and a hug at the end are pretty good. No need to steer into dark alleys for a quick squeeze.

First dates are awkward most of the time. And that's perfectly okay! As long as neither of the two wants to do a Road Runner imitation, it's all good!

Do not attend any phone calls or reply to any text messages unless it's a matter of life and death. Guys have actually complained of their date's text messaging other guys during meets. No wonder dating sucks according to most guys!

If you are into smoking or drinking, but your date isn't – do ask him if he would be fine if you light one up or order some booze. People with asthma will instantly stop you – and you need to listen to them!

^

K

Å

important part of the date and sets the tone for whatever happens next.

There is really nothing wrong in being the first one to text – doing so doesn't give the impression that you are clingy, weak or desperate.

It's a compliment to tell someone that you had fun with them!

Post date text should preferably not lead to more text messaging in my opinion. Now that gives the impression that you're clingy, weak or desperate. Take time and give time If you are dropping the other person back at his place, do not invite yourself inside unless the other person asks you so. It's his crib, he knows best!

ý

ý

None of these are really that hard to follow. Plus I feel that this will definitely ease up on the man drama in our social lives. Take care till the next time!

z

Post-Date

þ Post date text – this is quite

possibly

the

most

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Leisure Relationship

THE ENIGMA CALLED

LOVE

-Joseph Sunil Talukdar

Picture by: Ratna Deepika

L

ove is a simple letter of four alphabets, but these four alphabets shook the world since the creation of life took place. Looking back into the centuries passed, we have examples of couples whose love has set examples for generation to come. Love is something eternal; one needs to feel it and acknowledge his or her feelings.

For me love is the bondage of two souls. To be in love one needs to be patient in knowing one another, one needs to be kind enough to give space to their partner so that they can feel your presence even when you are not close to them. Love cannot be demanding nor can it be measured, it needs to be felt and one needs to readily give without being asked. Love creates music. Love flows with the tune of each other's need.

To love, you need to trust each other. If there is no trust then how can we say we love one another? Love does not envy, it requires a lot of sacrifices and support to convert the bad into good. A person who can unconditionally sacrifice his or her wants, masters the letter love.

Is love sex? Sex is an expression of love and it helps in enhancing your relationship.

You get to know your partner intimately. Sex could be the next step in exploring love, but sex cannot be love. When we see old couples walking down the street supporting each other, for them then the support rendered to one another paves the path in exploring love.

I always try to answer a few questions: Why does society discard or look down

upon homosexual couples knowing that they have got all the qualities to love and to be loved? Is it a sin being a homosexual? Do any family members pray that their child should be born homosexual?

When neither the child nor his/her family is responsible for one being a homosexual, then why doesn't this society allow them to live the way they are?

Why do they need to hide or feel embarrassed in disclosing their sexual preferences? I am not writing this article to bring a change in our society, but understanding the feeling of being a homosexual, I want every one to see our beautiful community that is filled with emotions like others do. They all want to live a life with dignity; I am here to create a beautiful place for our community.

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Lifestyle Leisure

NEEDS

Rohan Noronha tells you all that you need to know about Puppy Vaccination

Y

es, your little boy is growing up hale and hearty, touchwood on that, however secure his health and well-being with the right puppy vaccination courses.

Puppy vaccination is important if you want Rusty to have a long life. Rusty's vet would be the best person to ask for information on when and how to administer the vaccine.

These shots are important, since your pup would be safe from most diseases which could attack him and be fatal as well. More anti-bodies are produced with the help of these vaccines, which make the immune system stronger and keep Rusty safe.

Your vet would ask you to administer the following doses, which means that now Rusty would be in the pink of health

against distemper, canine adenovirus, parvo, rabies, coronavirus and even kennel cough. Some would even want Rusty to have a dose for Lyme and Leptospirosis, especially if where you live with Rusty can make him prone to such attacks.

Puppy vaccinations done would be a 5-way or even a 7way treatment with a 1cc dose given as an injection. All dogs need to undergo such courses, which will keep them safe from diseases and bring down its spread amongst their kinds.

If Rusty is 5 weeks of age, it's time for his first vaccination shot or a 5-way and then once again when he is between seven and nine weeks. Finally, between twelve and fifteen

weeks, he would take another combo vaccination, a 7-way to be precise, along with a dose of rabies. Later on, as he grows to be an adult handsome boy, he gets his annual booster vaccines administered.

If you are wondering, whether Rusty would have any sideeffects , then let me inform you, that once the dose is injected, please wait for around a couple of seconds to a minute. Sometimes there are mild effects after the shot, for example, low fever, swelling where the injection was given or even appetite loss. But don't worry; this is a passing phase, not more than a day. But if you see it extend, then please call your vet and don't delay any more.

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Lifestyle Leisure

A column dealing with the problems plaguing you in your daily life

Hi, There is a guy on a popular dating site that I chat with. I am deeply in love with him. He is my Lord. We chatted for long hours over the net, and met for the first time today. However, since then, he has stopped talking to me or responding to me. I don't know if I did something wrong for which he is angry at me. I can even die for him, but want him to speak to me first. I have been trying to contact him, but his mobile is also switched off. I am in extreme pain because of his behavior. Please tell me how should I get to him?

- Rakesh, Punjab Dear Rakesh, Good to know that someone like you still exists in this world of hypocritic emotions. But let's face facts honey, the world doesn't exist online. Try and recap what talks you had with him online or on the phone. Maybe the way you spoke and used your choice of words were enchanting enough for him to carry on a conversation. But through all that maybe you raised his expectations a tad too much and when he met you, he didn't get what he HEARD. See Rakesh, don't put your self esteem down, think about what you want, MR.RIGHT for life or MR .RIGHTNOW!!

The former is what most of us seek and you have your own will to follow. Always remember that if something doesn't work your way no matter what you have done for that person, the relationship was just not meant to be.

If I were you, I would Maintain MY DIGNITY first and then look ahead. There are many fish in the sea is what they say, hook another or be hooked again, life doesn't revolve around this bloke and neither for him, YOU. He has sent

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Lifestyle Leisure you signals that he doesn't want to be in touch with you.

worse than helpless!

It would be really superficial of him to have rejected you after the first meet, even for friendship, but count your blessings.

Hypothetically what If you were to go around with this guy and found out at a later stage that he was ONLY USING YOU? Would you have been able to overcome that shock? Or would you have been so blind in love with him to let that be and carry on a false RELATIONSHIP?

OK Mr anonymous, let's put things into perspective for you.

- Name withheld

Firstly you are just 18, a time when emotions are uncontrollable and a time when the mind is in a state of confusion and war with thoughts. I would suggest take your time and make your parents see your life.

Remember they are parents and for them you are still a kid, so you would have to be patient.

If you are so desperate in need to achieve their respect for your orientation, then stop lamenting about it and politely do something.

Feeling horrible about your orientation it is NOT GOING TO HELP.

Rakesh, grow up!! The world doesn't end with him and apart from YOUR PARENTS, NO ONE IS GOD. I'm an 18 year old boy. I need some help and guidance because I'm irreparably broken right now!

My parents discovered my sexuality a year ago and they were really furious about it. They were really broken. They talked to me to get out of it but as you know, it's not the way they think it is. So I kept myself under the hood while there were some extra restrictions and hostility that I experienced at home, which of course, faded away.

Recently, my elder and only sister checked my files on PC and found something that wasn't supposed to be there. She talked to me about family values, respect and care of Mum, Dad and herself. Of course, I love them, and care for them. But is that the price? She said, for their sake, I'm going get rid of my sexuality. How can this be the price? She doesn't know anything about the phase I've been through! "Next time you'll see me dead!" that's what she said, crying!

I can't let that happen! Right now, I'm at cross-roads and I don't know which one to take, I want to stick to both! Please tell me what should I do? This is all getting too much for me to handle. Is the best thing that I can do is 'put an end to all this'? Please tell me what to do? I'm

Here are a few steps I suggest: 1.

Speak to your parents ONE AT A TIME, explain to them that HOMOSEXUALITY is not a choice it is the way you are. Even if they marry you off to a woman which is ages later, YOU WOULD STILL BE INCOMPLETE. How you get this message across is up to you, be matured while dealing with the same.

2.

Show yourself to be worthy of being trusted. By acting like an eighteen year old confused kid, you have parents who are worried about your well-being. So why should they even honor your talks and let's not forget your orientation?

3.

It is time for you to dig your nose into those books or focus on your career, first get a job and then make a name for yourself FINANCIALLY and independently.

4.

Most parents have wrong notions about homosexuality, thanks to the media where the LGBT community is shown in poor light, especially gays as EFFEMINATE BEINGS who only desire SEX!! You got to get this cleared from their heads.

If all else fails, you have to walk out of the house and make a life till they accept you.

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Lifestyle

Jonval Avocado ( persea americana )

The placebo effect undoubtedly has beautiful consequences on the couples who decide to cook it. Moreover, don't we say that to share an avocado is an invitation to act? So the next time when you eat an avocado, think as to who will you share it with?

T

he avocado comes from Mexico. The name originates from Ahuacacuahuitl, which in Aztec language means 'tree testicle'. I was amazed to learn that. The first thought that crossed my mind was that the Aztecs must have had very big testicles to compare them with avocados! An avocado can weigh up to one kilo!

How to eat an Avocado?

In France, we very often use it in salad or serve it with some tails of peeled shrimps and a little mayonnaise. It is one of the classic preparations which you will find in many of the small French restaurants.

After some research, I discovered that when the avocado was cultivated in Central America it was much smaller and was more similar to an olive. Certainly, we go from one extreme to the other. The Aztecs found the shape of the avocado so suggestive that it enjoyed a reputation of lascivious and aphrodisiac fruit.

On the other hand in Mexico, the place of its origin, there are hundreds of ways to cook it.

The extremely famous Guacamole (crushed and spicy pulp which constitutes one sort of spicy butter) that we eat in sandwich, or the multiple preparations of avocado purees (purée in French language) to which we add some hot pepper, some coriander, tomatoes, onions and lemon juice and what we incorporate into soups (it is in this last case incorporated at the last moment before serving because the avocado does not support the cooking. Indeed it becomes bitter because of its strong content of tannins)

After some linguistic manipulations, the Spanish monks decided to give it the name which it bears today. These same monks, representing very catholic Spain, decided then to banish it from the gardens of monasteries, so its reputation was anchored in all the spirits. Really! After asparaguses and artichokes, the avocado was already the precursor of forbidden fruits!

Like everyone else, I eat an avocado from time to time. My sexual life was not upset for all that! Indeed, in every 100 g of avocado we find - 1.8 g of protein, 0.8 g of carbohydrate and 14.2 g of lipid. The energy value is 138.2 Kcal and it contains a reasonable quantity of potassium, vitamins C, B9 and E.

As for me, I recommend you to prepare a cream soup (velouté in French language) of avocado in Tequila. It is a light, refreshing starter (entrée in French language) and tastes amazing when served cold or ice-cold.

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Leisure Lifestyle For 4 persons you need :

Lifestyle

- 1 avocado - 12 cl of fresh orange juice - Ÿof spoonful of orange peel - 1 big spoonful with soup of Tequila - 50 cl of cold broth of poultry - 2 spoonfuls with soup of chiselled coriander - ½fresh sliced thinly hot pepper without pip - Some salt Method : - Put all the ingredients in the mixer and mix until a perfectly smooth cream is obtained.

- Add the seasoning and serve very cold.

Finally if, like me, you are not convinced of the aphrodisiac benefits of avocado, I recommend you to prepare a loving guacamole and you will see life at another angle!

For 2 persons (if you are in love only with one person, otherwise increase doses if you wish to share your lovemaking with other friends) For 2 persons you need : -

The juice of 2 or 3 limes 1 teaspoon of freshly grated ginger The pulp of 2 avocados Some Tabasco according to your taste - Some salt and pepper Method: Add the seasoning and serve very cold

Comments: You will have many things to tell me about it, because if you are sensitive to the combination of the ginger and the Tabasco you will find the benefits of avocado at one go!

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Leisure Personals

- Arijit "All these places are full of men and women touched by the god - this one becomes bush, this one bird, this one wolf." - Cesare Pavese (Dialogues) As a child, stories from The Metamorphoses of Ovid used to fill me with wonder. They were gripping tales in which passions, human and divine, raged and in the process the lives and the forms of men and women were fantastically changed. But going back to them in riper years, with the aid of better translations, I was struck by the tenuous nature of all that we call human. In the minds of men storms rage, and doubt and grief gnaw at the vitals, changing our very shapes and forms. In these tales, men would lose their sanity and forget who they were; women would turn into men and men into women; girls would sprout twigs from their heads and turn into laurel bushes; matrons would turn to stone in their grief. I used to imagine what it would be like, one day to suddenly feel that quiet change inexorably take hold of my mind and body and turn me into something utterly new.

A metamorphosis requires a touch of the gods; a touch that takes the shapes and forms of daily life, of lived reality; and moulds them, simply and surely, into a new form which turns into a new reality, a new life. About six years ago, fresh out of college, at my first job I met the person who was to be the catalyst for such a metamorphosis in my life. We met at a training session. He was sitting right next to me, a short stout boy with an enormous head, a shock of curly unruly hair and large liquid eyes. I barely knew anyone, but

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Leisure Personals amongst the multitude of unknown faces, his was the presence that attracted me the most. He was oblivious of the people milling around, the constant buzz of desultory conversations; he was too engrossed in playing Age of Empire on his terminal. He was building up armies and slaying foes, conquering lands and marshalling his generals with the calm detachment of a Buddha. He did not notice me stealing furtive glances at him. This was A.

subversive movement. It never really bothered him, he never felt a pressure to assert his straightness for gaining social acceptance. As I listened to him it slowly dawned on me that he knew I was gay and was gently nudging me to come to terms with it.

I had always known I was attracted to men, it was as simple as breathing. But as I perceived the world around me, which was the small town in Bihar where I grew up, this simple fact was enough to set me apart from the rest of the world. Alone, in the darkness of my mind, I fed my secret with fear and self loathing and nurtured it as it bloated into a monster, feeding off me but at the same time bent on my destruction. In my mind, my being gay left me with no safe harbours; it was a judge, jury and executioner in one go. But that day I felt safe with A. I felt that his love for me was not conditional on my sexuality, but on who I was. With him I felt what a small part of my being, my sexuality was; there was so much more in the world to worry about, to struggle for, to feel for, fight for and die for.

The huge millstone I had been carrying round my neck, that evening turned out to be a pebble; a pebble I was ready to get rid of.

Over the next few weeks we came to know each other better. We bonded over politics and literature and music. Our first conversations were about the rise of the Right Wing parties in Indian politics, we found ourselves wondering at the shrinking space for liberal discourse. He would talk about the communal riots in his state and the rift it created in an otherwise composite culture. I would tell him the stories of the great masters of Hindustani Classical music, stories from a bygone era of romance and sublime art, while he introduced me to the music of Pink Floyd. With him I smoked my first joint as The Dark Side of the Moon played around us. We were similar in odd ways. We both felt alienated from the social setup in which we were supposed to function and we both hid behind a public persona which was carefully constructed to hide our true selves. I think, the realisation that we were kindred souls brought us close. And possibly I fell a little in love with him.

As I told him that I was gay, he simply said that he already knew, and the conversation moved elsewhere. But in that split second, a strange transformation took place. I changed from a creature - half man half monster, into a human being again. My life turned around on the knife edge of that moment, a new reality opened up. Since then coming out to friends, colleagues and family has been progressively easy. Today A turns twenty five. As I write about him on his birthday, I feel deeply the great change that he brought in me and I hope he is proud of the person he moulded into shape.

It had rained all afternoon and the evening was lit by a wet mellow sunshine. We were sitting on the grass, soaking up the weak rays of the setting sun. He was telling me about his school, his sense of being some how different from the rest of the boys and his awkwardness around others which gave rise to a rumour that he was gay. I stiffened in my seat. Was he coming out to me? But no. He was straight, he explained, though he felt a strange pride in this additional token of alienation foisted on him. He carried it proudly, like a badge of an underground

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Personals

THE COMMUNITY UNITES -Sukhdeep Singh

I

had just returned back from my alma- mater after my convocation when I turned my laptop on and saw the link of TV9's video posted in one of the Facebook groups. A slow net connection only meant that I couldn't view the video.

Tired from the journey and still excited about the newly awarded degree, I posted my comments below the shared video and went to sleep. Till then, only a few comments had been posted beneath it. By the time I woke up the next morning (which was a bit late) there were various posts related to that topic, each with more than 50 comments or so.

The Youtube video had been flagged by so many people that it had been removed by then, and the TV channel had been sent a legal notice by one of the support groups. All this, within less than 24 hours!

And no, it wasn't just the Facebook group that saw some activity. The discussion had been taking place in all the forums that I knew… some that had been lying dormant for ages!! TV9, in the name of journalism (sensational journalism to be exact) tried to “expose” the gay subculture of Hyderabad city by doing a sting operation. In a TV report, each and every spoken word of which stinks of deep homophobia, the news channel “went undercover” and shot

with hidden cameras the various parties being organized for members of the LGBT community in the city. It then showed on TV the profiles of various members of a popular dating site and its journalists even posed as users of the site and called up a few other unsuspecting users, asking them intimate questions, recording them, and then beaming them on Television, along with their names and other information. How can attending parties and having a profile in one of the dating sites be unlawful and criminal, especially after the 2nd July 2009 verdict of Delhi High Court decriminalizing homosexuality in India, is something only TV9 can explain.

But what the incident certainly did was bring the whole community together under one roof to fight for their rights. That their life could so easily be infringed upon, with utter disregard to privacy, and that it could have been any one of “us” brought every one out from deep slumber. This time around, there weren't activists protesting against such homophobia, instead, it was THE COMMUNITY standing up for its rights. The Youtube video couldn't have been brought down within hours without “mass support”. Even the most dormant of forums wouldn't have become alive again had the

members not felt the urgency to “fight back” and create a movement, the kind of movement that the Middle East is experiencing because people are tired of living a suppressed life. The realization dawned on the community and just like the Egyptian revolution was a faceless revolution, this one also was a faceless revolution (if I may call it so). You couldn't pin-point a person or a group who started it all, it were THE PEOPLE who did it. I can't recall any incident in recent past where the whole LGBT community would have come together in such a big way to mark their protest, anger and outrage. The pride parades may be seeing huge turnovers, but then, that is a well planned activity and is more about celebration of sexuality. On the other hand, the spontaneity with which THE COMMUNITY responded to this incident to register their protest is what marks it out. It was the kind of spontaneity that had been shown by the protesters during the Stonewall Riots. Many may not agree with the comparison with Stonewall Riot, but the response from the Indian gay community bears many a mark of that fateful night. Will this particular incident be a turning point in the LGBT movement in India? While that question may be hard to answer, it is beyond doubt that the community has been united like never before.

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Leisure Personals

ANAL FIXATION Is it really important to to have anal sex to be gay, asks Hadi Hussain chocolate give anyone a rush?”

“It can, you inexperienced virgin b****h,” she said cheekily.

“Hain (What)???”

I put out the spoon out of my (yummy) mouth (I bet it is) and intoned like a great leader ready for his winning speech.

“Sweety, I may not be as much experienced as my contemporaries are, but I am not a virgin. You know all of my experiences in graphic details.

I don't know then why you are defaming me.”

“I know, that's why I am s a y i n g t h i s , l o s e r. ” “Ho haye! (Oh) Can her highness be kind enough to explain the reason for overlooking my experiences and denouncing me as a virgin?”

“Yeah I can, I am a generous Princess.” She smiled back and then said, “You see, you haven't done sex yet, I mean you have never been involved

Image courtesy: Konrad Mostert

It was my regular mid-week hang out with Vinnie and we were having our favourite chocolate mousse from a really yummy restaurant we had recently discovered from the plethora of the new budding restaurants. Lahore never runs out of food and new restaurants. Eating from the same cup of young (ya it was,

by God), smooth and creamy mousse, Vinnie announced: “Uff! Chocolate is so orgasmic.” And I was like, “Excuse me!! Are you insane or something? How can

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Leisure Personals in penetration, not even into orals. Your sex experiences are so mediocre and low status in nature. I mean it's like, 'Vinnie Vinnie, look wind just passed by me and I had sex or Vinnie Vinnie, he took my hand and I had sex.'”

I was shocked, “You mean only penetration is that “high powered” kind of sex and all the other ones are low powered things to do, which you don't think are good enough to qualify as sex. What the f***, I disagree.”

“You see in heterosexual sex, act of penetration is involved…”

“I am not a heterosexual…”

“I know, but majority of the people, gay people do that.”

“Don't preach might is right philosophy to me, Ok! And don't say that I am still a virgin. I hate this word.” I closed the discussion there and then because I realized I receive similar reactions from the Pink community as well.

People are so much obsessed about anal sex and I am unable to identify why exactly gaiety means anal sex? I have met a few guys in their questioning phase saying that they didn't want to have anal sex. Is it really important to to have anal sex to be gay?

hands?” It was so depressing and pressurizing for me to handle and process all that s**t. I remembered that if ever I would share my experiences, they would start laughing and saying, “You are still a virgin and virginity isn't a dignity, it's just a lack of o p p o r t u n i t y . ” The whole gay sex politics revolves around top/bottom dichotomy and its very basis is hetero-normative in nature.

Being a top (the one who penetrates) is associated with manliness, power and control and is considered to be of high stature; whereas being a bottom (one who gets penetrated) is associated with womanliness, dependency, the one who can be controlled and of low stature. In heterosexual context, penetration (hard core feminists may excuse me) may be justified for child bearing but in homosexual context, its obligation doesn't make any sense. The question that arises here is whether gay men are trying (consciously or unconsciously) to imitate heteronormative sexual dynamics themselves, if yes then why?

One day I was really depressed about all this s**t and shared my thoughts with Gaia. She became furious and said, “F*** them all who say this to you. Lanant hai, phelay bunda straight logon kay mutabik bunnay ke koshsish karta rahay, phir ab yeh log humain batain kay hum kaisay achay GAY bun saktay hain. (Shame on them, first we try to live our lives as straight people want us to live and now these gay people are suggesting us how to be a good gay.)”

I did the same; I never resigned to their suggestions because what I do in my bed is of no one's concern. No one can define what is SEX for me and what I like and want to do in SEX. So, it's a wide call for everyone out there that if you don't want to do anything just don't do it. Sex involves a whole range of variant pleasing activities; don't feel compelled to follow any pattern you don't want to follow, even if your partner insists. It's your body, it's your life, and it's your SEX. Enjoy SEX, the way you want it.

(Hadi

Hussain

blogs

at

http://hadihussain4.blogspot.com)

I went through same questions during my coming out. I didn't feel like having anal sex but almost every gay guy around me would say how can you be gay then? “What about oral??”

“No???” “Strange, are you really gay? Then what you will do in bed honey, just holding

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Leisure Personals

MYSTIQUE MAHATMA -Sukhdeep Singh

A

lot is being written about Mahatma Gandhi these days, or should I put it this way- A lot is being banned about Mahatma Gandhi these days. Former New York Times executive editor and Pulitzer-award winning author Joseph Lelyveld, in a new biography about the Father of the nation titled Great Soul: Mahatma Gandhi and His Struggle with India, has probably suggested (probably because neither me, nor anyone else in India has yet read the book) that Gandhiji was in love with Hermann Kallenbach, a German body builder and architect.

According to the various news reports appearing in the western media, the book says: “Gandhi wrote to Kallenbach about 'how completely you have taken possession of my body. This is slavery with a vengeance'.” The book also claims that Gandhiji nicknamed himself “Upper House” and Kallenbach as “Lower House”. Apparently, the book quotes various intimate letters exchanged between the two men and claims that Gandhiji left his wife Kasturbai for Kallenbach. It further claims that he was a racist himself when it came to South African Blacks.

Not surprisingly, our politicians have been quick to denounce the book, and labeled it blasphemous. In a rare show of unity, both BJP and Congress in Gujarat welcomed the move of Narendra Modi's government to ban the book. While Modi called the writing as “perverse”, Union Law Minister Moily talked of “prohibiting the book” in India as it was “demeaning for the nation”.

The question here is, how can the hint that a person could be bisexual be an “insult” and “ b l a s p h e m y ”. D o e s t h e sexuality of Bapu take away all that he did for the country? The actions of the Indian politicos just highlights their own prejudices against alternate sexuality. Tushar Gandhi, the

great grandson of Mahatma Gandhi tweeted, “How does it matter if the Mahatma was straight, gay or bisexual? Every time he would still be the man who led India to freedom.” This tweet in itself explains the dilemma that many of these politicians might be facing – people of alternate sexuality cannot be good or great, an dthe very notion that someone they had been idolizing could be bisexual would shake the very basis of all their beliefs and thinking. Nothing else explains why they were so adamant to ban the book without even having read it themselves?

Now that the issue has been raised, and I look at it, I think

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Leisure Personals there could be some truth in what Lelyveld has written.

That Gandhiji had certain aversion towards sex is wellknown, and he considered sex as a hindrance to spiritualism and called upon his pupils to abstain from it, at the same time, there were women who would sleep with him. In the book titled Gandhi-Naked Ambition, biographer Jad Adams details about the various sex experiments that Gandhiji would have. By any standards, if any of those “experiments” were to be repeated today, they would be the biggest sex scandal of this time. Could it not be possible that a closeted Gandhi was trying to shun his attraction towards Kallenbach by seeking the company of women? But raising such questions about the Father of the Nation would only invite the ire of the “hollow” politicians and you being labeled as “anti-Indian”.

In an article published in The Independent of UK on 7th of April 2010, Jad Adams writes, “Much of this material was known during his lifetime, but was distorted or suppressed after his death during the process of elevating Gandhi into the "Father of the Nation" Was the Mahatma…”

Gandhiji's great grandson Tushar Gandhi has himself denounced the attempt of banning the book. "It is the most un-Gandhian thing to

do!" he said. "If you have a problem with the claims made in the book, then you have to counter them intellectually.

Banning the book, in fact, will give it a halo, the status of a martyr. Banning anything is simply an easy way out for the government." These very words are a slap in the face of these politicians. What is dangerous is the fact that the Government of India, marred in a series of scams, is trying to seriously restrict the freedom of speech. So it is introducing a bill to control what gets posted on the internet, giving it fleeting powers to shut down any site because it deems the content objectionable. More recently, it has banned the live telecast of Baba Ramdev's Yoga sessions because the speeches that he would give against black money at the end of those sessions were making the Government uneasy. The biggest democracy suddenly seems to be going the autocratic way, with the Government “banning” anything that goes against its beliefs and interests. Much of it sounds like the policies of our neighbouring China, where the Government tightly controls what the citizens can or cannot read, because if they do not have the knowledge about things, they cannot raise questions. The action of the Government is reminiscent of the ways Church in the medieval time would deal with

scientists and people challenging what it wanted people to believe. Both Galileo and Copernicus were imprisoned because they said that 'Sun was the centre of the Solar System and not Earth' which went against what the Church had been preachingEarth is the centre of our Solar System and Sun revolves around it. But truth can never be suppressed.

In this case, we might never know the truth as the matter is not about Science, but about a person long dead. But forbidding the countrymen to read the book just because it raises or highlights some personal aspects of Gandhiji's life goes against the very preaching's of Gandhiji. Being a bisexual is not an insult, nor is it unnatural. But probably, if it gets revealed that Gandhiji was indeed a bisexual, it shall go against the very thought on which these politicians are raised - that people of alternate sexuality are “perverse” and cannot be great men. During a discussion on the micro-blogging site Twitter, a follower wrote these words, which best describes the knee-jerk reaction that the book is facing: “Indians can't worship idols having feet of clay. We would rather believe them being God-sent messiahs with X-ray vision than a man who rose above himself!”

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Leisure

LET THE CARDS SPEAK - Rohan Noronha Hello my lovelies!! Spring is almost beckoning and what a pleasure it is to watch the birds hurry about and the animals run around. There is joy and happiness in the air, but at the same time despair (Japan tragedy), let us keep our brothers and sisters in prayers and wish them healing and love in whichever ways we can.

Cancer June 21 - July 22

Aries Mar 21 - Apr 19

Foolish are those who live in selfpity, for the Goddess has plans which you wish not to see. Work has been a pain for most as we see, but have you looked into the mistakes you made than call others SILLY?? Stop arguing with dad and brothers at home, for you know they hate it when your mind decides to roam. It's time you pulled your socks and got alert, for nothing would make you happy if you don't change that shirt.

The wheel has turned yet once again, and this time you shall stand to gain. But before you jump with your thongs around, be focussed and calmly rooted to the ground. Work will fluctuate and so would your house, but in the end the cat gets the mouse. Don't worry too much about finances and health, because with an abundance of peace coming, you shall have your wealth.

Leo July 23 - Aug 22

Taurus Apr 20 - May 20

You would have a journey of the soul from within, spiritually embedded and wisdom to inherit in. Lot of luck and favors coming your way, only if you be happy and accept who you are today. Stop toying around with others emotions and yes you know you do, the Goddess is watching and she may not be happy too. Respect the opinions even if you do not agree, no one has asked you to see what they see.

Trying times between your partner and you, don't feel unlucky since it's just the morning dew. This time around sit and talk, a plan needs to be made and a schedule needs to be chalked. Let mom at home show you the way, for you now realise it is ok to be happy with what you have today.

Gemini May 21 - June 20

Virgo Aug 23 - Sept 22

Don't let the world tell you what to do, for talent that you have is found in just a few. These days at work you are not being heard, but have you thought of why your mentor passes you as one amongst the herd? Be original and as creative as you can be, let the Goddess show you her plans and decree. Take care of moms health and your eating habits I hear her say, for sometimes what goes never comes back to play.

Get a firm grip of your body, mind and soul and let the Goddess grant you wishes that were left untold. But remember my friend, those wishes are to be shared, because the Goddess heard your pleas and prayers and hence she has her heart bared. You need to be less dreamy about the partner you seek, because honey you get only what your heart would want to speak.

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38 www.gaylaxymag.com

Leisure Tip: In a bowl of water add 6 red roses and keep it on your altar, each evening pray over the bowl of roses and by the time it all fades, your wish will come true. Offer the faded roses to fire, earth, winds or wood.

Blessings to one and all!!

Libra Sept 23 - Oct 22

Capricorn Dec 22 - Jan 19

How many times have you been warned to be alert, how many times did you yet stumble over dirt?

When are you ever going to play by the rules, and not make your own ways to show others they are fools?

Stop hurting and judging others at play, for you will be soon alone, left to fend your matters at the end of the day.

Money money money is better than honey, but how long can you think that way mister funny. No more have you to think what you save, because it is never going to go with you to your grave. Finally you need to stand and admire, what nature and loved ones have in store by that inner desire. Find many more goodies coming your way, only if you learn to share and play.

Aquarius Jan 20 - Feb 18

Scorpio Oct 23 - Nov 21 The man of your dreams beckons you to stay, give him another chance will you today? It is your choice if you want to be shameless or not, because honey everything that burns with desire doesn't promise you love that is hot. At home your parents would need more of your time, hand a wind bell on the door and let the winds bring in energetic chimes.

Sagittarius Nov 22 - Dec 21

Resentments and getting hurt are a parcel of life, don't be too harsh on yourself or others with strife. Speak to your mind and heart tonight, let the fantasies within take flight. Get a job for yourself soon or finances will be in vain; save yourself embarrassment and stop running to share that pain. Remember your thoughts on others manifested true and large, but you forgot that the same thoughts would backfire and barge.

Pisces Feb 19 - March 20

You coped enough with the trials and vagaries; it's time now to be wild with your discoveries. The season of fruitfulness is almost here, why don't you go out and socialise more my dear? At home your mom would need more time with you, pick up a date with her and shop till you're blue.

Times were tough but not any more my child, the Goddess has blessed you and now they are mild.

If you think the world was yours, think again for there are many on the shores. Don't be bossy and dominating with thee, for your heart and soul cry for attention and not for plea. Take life into your hands as spring approaches with joy, but learn to be humble and also a good boy.

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Leisure

REVIEW: MEMORIES IN MARCH - Agnivo Niyogi

A

nother film starring Rituparno Ghosh.

Another film scripted (and ghost directed?) by Ritu Da. The art of film making achieves more finesse with every film that Rituparno gifts us. With every offering, Ritu Da makes us sit back and ponder on some facets of life we happily ignore otherwise.

For people like me who stay away from home, when was the last time you talked to your Mom? When was the last time you asked the one you love, how (s)he is? Is there anything you wanted to share with someone close to you but held it back fearing adverse reactions? I believe we all live in a closet, an imaginary divide between us and the world. A world of our own where even our closest companions have no access.

Relationships don't have names. They can't be branded.

Feelings define them, not names. Memories in March simply puts the message across. Our perceptions of civility, conservationism, morality fade out of the scene in the beautiful merging of emotions with life, realities with perceptions and our inherent biases are programmed for death.

Some films are made not to be watched but to be felt.

The pain of loss, the dilemma of

acceptance, the turmoil of penance, the bonding of souls come to life with the haunting scores of Debojyoti Mishra.

Tagore comes to life with “Eki Labonye Punyo Prano”, the bard's influence is felt in the two brojbuli songs in the film.

People say Ritu da's scripts are slow, boring. I never understand why they want moments to fly past when characters are trying to hold onto them. Time chooses to stand still when a mother enters the bedroom of her deceased son. Why should the frame not freeze?

Memories in March will make every mother emotional.

It will make every son want to go and give his mother a tight hug and say, “I am there for you Mom.” I suddenly have this big urge to hug Maa and tell her I love someone and it's a he.

Who knows what happens even a minute later.

Naval melodramatic was instead a melodramatic one.

And at times the editing seemed to kill the narrative. If these can be pardoned, the film like memories flow through your mind and are here to stay.

I would highly recommend the readers to live this experience. Watch it not because it talks of a relationship between two men, not because it is a film written

by Rituparno Ghosh. Watch it because in the end, we exist because we live relationships.

My rating : 3.5/5 and must watch.

[P.S. Like in the film, Raima Sen has an invisible presence in my review. She is as much part of the relationship between Sid and Ornob as Aarti is] (Agnivo

Niyogi

blogs

at

http://xpresso.in/)

Memories in March with all humility reminds us that we live for moments. Memories make our life what it is. Love and only unselfish love can make us humane and conquer hearts beyond all hardships.

Having praised the film all along I could not find any justification for dubbing Sahana's mother's voice with Mithu Chakravorty. The scene where Ritu Da calls Deepti

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Leisure Literature

POEMS -Dr. Himadri Roy

PRIDE Touch of pink and purple Cards adorning my wall, Glorifying my golden past.

Winds of society, of traditions, Compelling them to be scattered, Fall into the dust of time.

Tears flow as rains, Holding the memories, Clustering among madding crowd.

Leaving the marks On sands of time, Took me away like a prince.

A world of all equalities, Rainbows everywhere, Colors of humanity hugging me With pride of existence.

WAITING ETERNALLY Restless eyes look at the door, Heart cries for the last touch, The mark of our love still shines, On the folds of the satin sheet.

His sweated shirt still lies there, Tears flow incessantly, Lips have cracked and dried, Words hardly ooze out, Still yearn for him to return.

Left me alone here to wait endlessly, Cause I can't be accepted legally.

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Graphic Art by Ashish Kumar Art www.gaylaxymag.com

Leisure Literature

“A tale of love and lust between an upper class brahmin & an uneducated rural boy� by Victor

Till Now: The barriers broken, both Bagha and the mining engineer are moving closer.

I

was not being able to wait. I had shed all inhibitions and was moving around in my Bermudas with a visible erection. I called Bagha to my room and seated him next to me.

He was quiet, and fidgeting. I guessed I had to be proactive again. I turned his face towards mine and without him giving a chance, kissed him. Facing no resistance, I put both my arms around his neck and started sucking on his upper lip.

Bagha put his strong hands behind me and put them on my bare back. We were both clasped with one another. His hand was pressing on my flesh and his lips were parting. I pushed my tongue in and pulled his head nearer to mine. He responded this time and sucked my lips in and moved his hands down towards my waistband.

Feeling his hardness touching my thigh, I pulled him down with him of top of me, both locked in a passionate kiss. His hardness was now straining out from his sheer white dhoti and I tried to feel it with my protruding legs removing the folds in the bargain. His dhoti un-knotted, I tried to push it down with my toes, and succeeded.

In the light of the 40 watt tube, his exposed round firm globes moved as he tried to grind his stand into my groin. It hurt initially, but I adjusted myself and rolled over, still lip to lip, dragging my shorts down while doing so. I deftly slipped out of them and there we were, on my bed, open to each other, with our masculinity touching skin to skin, holding and kissing one another as if there was no tomorrow. I didn't even have the chance to have a look at his manhood, transfixed as I was

with his bloodshot eyes and his innocent face.

We mock wrestled and in the resultant struggle rolled over from the bed on to the cold floor. I wore my usual deodorant and nothing else, and he too was stark naked. The lights on his polished mahogany skin shone - he was a real Adonis.

I was on top of him, my chest hitting his pectorals, our lips now disengaged and my hands impatiently exploring his upper torso. He was no less excited trying to push up his hands to touch my nipples, which were already hard.

I bent my head to go down on his chest. His wonderfully carved pectorals with the deep and straight ridge in between were now flattened as he was supine with his midriff thrusting upwards to meet mine. I moved my tongue over his sweaty skin, licking up the salty tang of his teenage body. He squirmed, in pleasure, and moved his hands back to grip my buttocks.

I pressed down on him‌ now it was my chance of grinding him. The feeling of me rubbing in the space between his strong and powerful thighs made me ecstatic and I started to ooze.

I started stroking his thighs and he dug his nails in my backside, I tongued his nipples in turns and he started shoving himself upwards hitting the space below my crotch. I pushed his hands up and moved up to his underarms. Little clumps of armpit hair got entangled in my tongue. His armpits were so enticing with the biceps bulging out and the hint of a sweaty smell further maddened me and I slid one hand between our bodies to reach his erection.

My first touch did something to him. Before I could get a full grip on his stick, he pushed me up and leapt up. He forced me around towards

42 Gaylaxy|Volume 2 | Issue 2 | Mar-Apr 2011

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Leisure Literature the wall and slid his tool on my crack with stroking motions. I swayed rhythmically though I wasn't ready to give in to his apparent desire.

holding his bums with my right hand started stroking myself. In no time I exploded and shot all over him.

There was this wonderful smile of satisfaction I rested one hand on the wall and reached back on my boy's face. with the other. He was gripping my waist strongly. I pulled at his right hand and brought And what he said next, made my day, “Aap it forward to my own throbbing member. My bahut sundar hain…sab tarah se.” foreskin was fully back and I placed his fingers around my glans and guided Washing ourselves together, we him. He picked up the motions fell asleep on my bed embracing It was a week of of my hand and I loved the and fondling each other. love and lust, of strokes. I asked him to release my waist and pull at my Every night that month we satisfaction, of nipples with the other hand. ended up naked in my bed, our fulfilled desires….it bodies mingling, both exploring was the best of I could feel him trying to push one another, culminating in a times himself in, it was then that I medley of sexual eruptions. I decided to take control. I came to know his body like I did turned back, pushing him mine, and would tease him into slightly. He stood there his dick throbbing, submission, and he would try entering me from waiting to enter somewhere. I knelt down and behind with no success. I taught him to use his looked up at him. He was looking down with an tongue, two things I liked being done to me, urgency in his eyes…as if in appeal…do initially with great difficulty, as he was not something…relieve me of this pain. agreeable, but later with great panache. I pulled back his foreskin I took him in. My lips incrementally engulfed his thick penis, everyday till his whole my tongue swirling on mushroom knob came his piss-slit. He thrust out. Taught him how to his hips forward and keep his head clean caught hold of my hair. I and how to get the best could take the whole 6 out of men while giving incher inside and still not a head. choke. I grasped the root of the candy and It was a week of love pulled the foreskin back, a n d l u s t , o f he twitched a little but I satisfaction, of fulfilled could feel the head desires….it was the opening inside my mouth. I moved to and fro best of times. and he matched my rhythms with his hip. I could feel his inexperienced nuts tightening, I Weeks flied. I was so smitten by his sensuous looked up with my mouth full of him and by the charm that I started molesting him in the mine contortions of his face understood that the itself whenever there was a semblance of a volcano was about to erupt. I pulled my mouth chance. He resisted initially fearing being away and was rewarded with a gorging cannon observed, but I was a little daring. It was a belching out thick white semen which fell on my thrill, finding him out in the semi-illumination chest and tummy. of the galleries, locating him amongst coal tubs, spading up the blasted coal into baskets He lifted me up from the floor with his powerful for others to pick up and dump in the tubs. arms and hugged me, his flopping manhood Sometimes his complexion matched with the between our body and my marathon erection background and I had to go close, though even still very much existent. I kissed him again and in the dark, it was easy to spot his silhouette.

43 Gaylaxy|Volume 2 | Issue 2 | Mar-Apr 2011

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Leisure Literature There was not a man in my 120 men strong whom I had sessions of intense orgies while in underground team as built as he. Our usual high school. They asked me for one with him, place for kissing was in the ventilation crossing but I refused. I had weaned him, fed him, space where I stripped in front of him for the groomed him to fit in to my likings, my desires first time. It was generally deserted as the and the very thought of he being tainted by coalface was far away, and the coal shearer those hard-core sex-seekers pained me. had moved after exhausting the mineable Bagha was mine, only mine and I was not reserves from that area. Our timings were going to share him with anyone. synchronized, he knew, and kept a watch.

Bagha used to size up the crowd and slipped to However, with a body like that (I handed him a this rendezvous of ours, where we restrained few old body hugging full sleeves tees of ourselves to heavy petting and kissing. mine), a few girls got interested, especially Sometimes, he started snatching the initiative one late-teen of my apartment building, who from me and how I loved it when it was he who had tempted me earlier into touching her went mad on me. I loved the slight smell of everywhere and who I knew was still sleeping sweat from his vest wearing around. I saw looks of desire torso. Strangely, for a in her eyes and unfortunately I had weaned him, fed working class guy, he I discovered a hint of never stank. The regular him, groomed him to fit in reciprocity in Bagha. Though pickaxe-ing and to my likings, my desires I didn't show it, I started spadework kept his and the very thought of getting possessive and was physique toned and him relieved when I came back he being tainted by those the next day. hungry.

We had climaxes 2-3 times a day. He was a master of body rub with oil, and taught me how to do it too.

hard-core sex-seekers pained me. Bagha was mine, only mine and I was not going to share him with anyone

We continued living our contented life. Massages and masturbations, marathon pleasure sessions and sexually stimulating oiled wrestles in my backyard were interspersed by long romantic evenings by the river Gowai on my off days.

The South Bihar winter was in its full strength and I had to bring out my woollens and shared some with Bagha, though most of the times he would do with a shawl draped in a rustic style on his shirt. I had bought him a pair of tracks from Kolkata, and he had graduated to wearing those at home.

Our sexual inhibitions completely overtaken by our desire for each other, we were however careful not to attract anyone's undue attention to what went on in private amongst us. To the colliery township people and my colleague executives, Bagha was a good worker and I was lucky in getting a domestic who was so trustworthy and who took no leave. In the weekly parties at the officer's club, the bejewelled Bhabis piled on, trying to glean as much matrimonial information from me to pass on to their respective unmarried relatives waiting in the wings to garland the first eligible bachelor engineer available in the colliery.

In between, I went home to Kolkata for a weekend and took him along. That was the second time he had been to the city. The first time he was lured by food and money to attend a CPI(M) rally, and had just loitered around on the Maidan with 3-4 guys from his village who had also come.

He was naturally quite awestruck by the places I took him to, he riding pillion on my dad's Bajaj Scooter. My parents took a liking to him.

He was of such character that anyone would be liking him, shy (not on the bed anymore), sober and very polite in his demeanour. Mom taught him a few dishes I liked and was constantly sharing household advice. He used to nod and say yes to every suggestion.

I had to sleep without him as he had a separate place to sleep and I always slept with my parents during my lightning visits. However, I fulfilled a long cherished dream of making out on the roof with him one afternoon. I showed him off to a gang of four in my local gym with

44 Gaylaxy|Volume 2 | Issue 2 | Mar-Apr 2011

To be continued... www.gaylaxymag.com

Leisure NGO

WEST BENGAL THE PRATYAY GENDER TRUST Contact person : Anindya Hajra Address : 293 Jodhpur Park , Calcutta, Pin 700 068 Phone : 033 2464 1893 E-mail : pratyaygendertrust@yahoo.co.in Target populations : Hijras, MSM (particularly kotis)

DURBAR MAHILA SAMANWAYA COMMITTEE Contact person : Mrinal Kanti Dutta Address : 12/5 Nilmoni Mitra Street, Kolkata West Bengal, India Phone : 033 2543 7451 / 7560, +91-33 2530 3148 Email: dmsc@durbar.org Website: http://www.durbar.org/ Target populations : Female, Male and Transgender sex workers SAATHII CALCUTTA Contact person : Pawan Dhall, Chief Coordinator Address : 229 Kalitala Main Road, Purbanchal (N), Kolkata Pin 700 064 Phone : 033 2334 7329 E-mail : saathii@yahoo.com / pawan30@yahoo.com Website : www.saathii.org Target populations : MSM in general, male sex workers, transgender people, bisexual

Sappho Contact person : Malavika Address : 11A Jogendra Gardens(South),Ground Floor, Kolkata, Pin 700 078 Phone : 033 2441 9995

™

Email: malvi99@hotmail.com , sappho1999@rediffmail.com Website: http://sapphokolkata.org/ Target Population : Lesbians and bisexual women

Prantik Bongaon Contact person : Niloy Basu Address : C/o Niloy Basu, Peada Para, P.O. Bongaon, Pin 743 235 Phone : 91 3251 257 029, 9332254855 E-mail : ajnil@rediffmail.com / ajnil123@rediffmail.com Target populations : Hijras, Kothis, MSM in general

Northern Black Rose Contact person : Souvik Ghosal Address : C/o Hori Roy, M. B. Mukherjee Nursing Home, Hill Cart Road, Rajani Bagan, Khudiram Palli, Silliguri 734 401 Phone : 91-9433009116 E-mail: northenblack_rose@yahoo.co.in Target populations : Hijras, Meitis, other sexual minorities,

Astitva Dakshin

SWIKRITI Contact person : Rajarshi Chakraborty, Secretary Address : 42/57 DumDum Road, Kolkata 700074 Phone : +91 9831743608, 9433009190 E-mail: swikriti2003@hotmail.com Target populations : Bisexual women, lesbians, MSM in general, transgender people

PEOPLE LIKE US (PLUS) Contact person : Agniva Lahiri Address : 254, Bonomali Bannerjee Road, Kolkata 700082, West Bengal, India Phone : 033 2402 9305 E-mail : pluskolkata@gmail.com Target populations : Support group for young gender variants

SWAPNIL Contact person : SUMAN RUDRA Address : Kotalhat DistBurdwan, P.O. Burdwan, Pin 751015, West Bengal

Contact person : Debasish Mitra Address : C/o Bablu Bajikar, Baruipur Ukilpara, Kolkata 700144 Phone : 919836185589, 9830837440 E-mail : astitvadakshin@yahoo.co.in Target populations : Hijras, Kothis

Phone : 09932241372 E-mail : swapnil_burdwan@yahoo.co.in Target populations : MSM & TG Groups

Madhya Banglar Sangram

Contact person : Sk. Jalaluddin Address : Santi Seva, C/o Fellowship, Tarini Bhawan, Baliorada, P.O. / Dist. Bhadrak, Orissa, Pin 756 100, India

Contact person : Arunava Nath Address : Kazi Ali Aftab Vill.

Goaljan, P.O. Radharghat, P.S. Berhampore Phone: 91 9932760967, 9232694700 E-mail: sangram_06@hotmail.com

Orissa Santi Seva

Phone : 93487 87724 E-mail : santiseva@yahoo.com Target populations : Hijra, Maichiya and other male-tofemale transgender people

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Gaylaxy|Volume 2 | Issue 2 | Mar-Apr 2011

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