Mumbai embraces gays ahead of Valentine's Day

The Supreme Courtrsquos December judgment may have taken a closed view of section 377 but love as the song goes is the higher law and today therersquos good news for love Samesex love Mumbai it seems has opened up to embrace the homosexual communityIn a social experiment yesterday MiD DAY decided to quantify the love the city has by asking Mumbaikars to hug a gay guy and a straight guy Two of our reporters assuming heterosexual and homosexual roles for the purpose went to three city spaces starting with St Xavierrsquos College moving on to Girgaum Chowpatty and ending the hugfest at Nariman PointJeet with a young woman who volunteered to give him a hug PicAtul KambleYes a few people were hesitant measuring and judging and eyeing and questioning the reporter bearing the placard lsquoFree Hugs Hug A Gay Guy This Valentinersquosrsquo but most others winked and smiled at and voila hugged himA sketchy stat here girls preferred to hug him the reporter with the ldquostraightrdquo placard didnrsquot manage to get too many Herersquos how our hugging trail unfurledSt Xavierrsquos College 130 pmTime spent 30 minutes Hugs Jeet12 Varun4The footpath outside Xavierrsquos is where the two experimenters deemed it fit to station themselves each in a corner holding up a sign After overcoming the initial awkwardness they grew into their roles As collegians poured in and out of the gates they didnrsquot hum and haw but went straight to hug Jeet who was holding the lsquoHug A Gay Guyrsquo placardJeet with one of his 12 huggers outside St Xavierrsquos PicsAtul KambleThe first embracer was a girl and half and hour later 10 of the 12 people who had hugged him were tellingly girls The boys seemed shy except for this one person who spotting us only when we set out on our way to our next destination ran across the road to come and give Jeet a warm hugOn the other hand Varun holding the sign lsquoFree Hugs this Valentinersquosrsquo got only four hugs These incidentally came from people who had gone to Jeet first seen the lonely guy at the far end of the pavement bearing a similar placard though making no mention of his orientation and hugged him because ldquowe donrsquot want you to feel left outrdquo We liked these people even more now Many Xavierites told us they supported our ldquocuterdquo idea Some kids wrote lsquoHugsrsquo on Jeetrsquos placard and clicked his photosGirgaum Chowpatty 215 pmTime spent 1 hourHugs Jeet1 Varun0The Chowpatty where apparently the everyman is found gave us a bit of a cold shoulder after the soulwarmers we had got at Xavierrsquos In all one girl came forward to hug Jeet Varun got none Comfortingly though we found that many people acknowledged Jeetrsquos presence with a smile a wave or a thumbsupVarun in red and Jeet in black patiently answer the man from Chhattisgarh first from left at the chowpatty in SoBoThen there strolled up to him a guy claiming to be from Chhattisgarh and he asked ldquoWhat does lsquogayrsquo meanrdquo We told him and in turn were treated to a sermon on our shared lsquosanskritirsquo and suchlike rationales for leading a heterosexual lifeWe told him to hug Jeet and see for himself that it would be just like hugging a ldquosansakrirdquo person and in response he walked away After spending close to an hour looking for hugs worn out with all the people neglecting our statement we packed up and left for our final destinationNariman Point 330 pmTime spent 125 hoursHugs Jeet1 Varun0We started our walk from the NCPA end of the stretch halting at places and people peered in to read the signboards round our necks They acknowledged Jeet and gave him wellmeaning looks of bonhomie but from far away No one actualised all that bonhomie we were sensing into a hugThe social experimenters are done for the day and return home not very disappointed with the cityThen a peanut vendor came and asked us what was written on the ldquocolourfulrdquo placard When we told him he asked what lsquogayrsquo meant in Hindi lsquoSamlaingikrsquo we said Then he bared his teeth in a grin But chose to skip giving that hug the placard was asking forHelpfully though he told us that we should stick around till sundown when many more people would show up in the area He stayed near us till the time we were ready to call it a day Then just as we were ready to give up a girl came and gave Jeet a large friendly squeezeFrom our visits there were a few others we remember Some sat next to us some gawked at us a foreigner winked at us and raised his thumb to show his approval It merits a mention here that nobody mocked us Nor were we with the exception of a couple of people met with homophobiaIt didnrsquot take us any brainstorming to conclude that Mumbai has come a long way in accepting a way of life that is as valid and dignified as any other a choice made by many of our sons and daughters and friends and best friends Have a Happy Valentinersquos Day