The time of his life

Vivek Tejujarsquos name is synonymous with the bookblogging community in the city As an avid bibliophile and cultural editor of a leading lifestyle magazine the 36yearold has now turned author In So Now You Know HarperCollins India which releases tomorrow Tejuja walks down memory lane mdash back to the rsquo90s mdash to come back with fragments of his life that make him who he is today He paints a picture of growing up gay in Bombay falling in love with Sridevi visiting Voodoo and simply twirlingEdited excerpts from the interviewLetrsquos start with the last part of the book mdash the acknowledgements Here you begin by saying ldquoWriting a book isnrsquot easyrdquo What was the most difficult bit about writing a memoirThe fact that it was so personal For me mdash although I hate saying the word mdash it was cathartic Moreover as a reader the very nature of writing takes a major toll on you Fortunately my editor and publisher didnrsquot ask me to structure it in any way There was no pressure of a narrative and following a timeline thatrsquos why yoursquoll find me going back and forth in timeI started writing about one and a half years back I had written a couple of chapters already and when I met the editor the idea was simple there isnrsquot a lot of gay literature written in IndiaTejuja giving an example of Kapoor and Sons advocates for greater normalisation of the LGBTQ community in Indian cinemaOn that note you mention the popular rsquo90s show Tara where you were introduced to the first gay character on Indian television But you also write about how even though the writers wanted to be progressive with his character it ended up being regressive Isnrsquot that a recurrent problem in Indian cinemaOf late perhaps not I feel like the movies havenrsquot normalised it that much Even in Kapoor and Sons the character Rahul has been living in a different country and his coming out is shown to be accidental I donrsquot find it to be problematic but we do need films that show this dynamic in an Indian household for the normal junta one that doesnrsquot bracket you in any way mdash the ldquogayrdquo character so to sayYou were taken for therapy the moment you came out What did mental health resources look like in the rsquo90s and how much has that changed todayOkay so I was taken to a psychiatrist not a therapist Mental health was looked at from a very different angle mdash you were just termed mad A psychiatrist isnrsquot there for you emotionally like counsellors But of course things are much better today I have been seeking therapy for the past five years and technology has made things easier An 18yearold now has options to give his parents to read watch and understand the queer community But the real problem is in schools and the bullying that children face mdash they shouldnrsquot be put behind the wall of shameCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates