Happy and gay, not in India..

So, United States legalized same-sex marriage and it leaves me thinking about my country. There are too many posts circulating in the social media about how India should be responding to this. I want to support it but I also know that it is too much to ask from a country like India. Aren't we a very complex society? Complexity stinks and reeks right from our homes to our political agendas. In the garb of culture and tradition we have created a hypocritical society that will term everything and anything that is different as uncultured or a sin.

As a teenager, the first glimpse of my country and its culture was not a very comprehensive one. I had too many questions in my mind about a lot of things that we did blindly. I don’t think I accepted most of it. And of all that I battled and rejected I’m glad I had parents who let me be, who did not impose their beliefs on me or my siblings. When youngsters today move out to a new town or even a different country, they gain exposure in every aspect of life. Their individual being is shaped by various factors, not just education and a job but even social life.

Forget telling an Indian parent that you are gay, how many parents accept and confront that their kids drink or smoke occasionally? Or how many vegetarians-at-home eat a chicken curry comfortably outside and cannot mention about it at home? How many of you wear a jacket while you leave home because you are wearing a sleeveless top? How many of you don’t want to be part of religious customs because you have discovered that you are not religious but spiritual? How many of you are tired of a god-man telling you what to do all your life? How many of you couldn't convince your parents for an inter-caste marriage? These are some of the many questions that we have to deal with first before we start discussing our “sexual orientation" with our parents.

Our conversations have to definitely move from ‘how many marks did you score?’, ‘when are you getting promoted?’, ‘when are you getting married?’, ‘when are you having kids?’ to real questions that make us feel comfortable enough to not lie and to bravely put forth even the ugliest truth. But that India I cannot seem to imagine even in the nearest future. For now, cheers United States!