Gay icon Hoshang Merchant on why India needs its gays

Meet me in the foyer at 4 pm sharp he said in a soft firm voice on a call from Hyderabad The old boutique hotel in South Mumbai where the interview was scheduled was stuck in a time warp A dimly lit lobby and ancient sofas carried a faint air of Art DecoIn contrast Hoshang Merchant 72 was the contemporary Parsihippie The wispy white beard and ponytail graphic tee and yoga pants making him stand out instantly from the crowd Merchant was in the city to launch Gay Icons of India at Kashish 2019 where he was also awarded the Rainbow Warrior award by queer designer Wendell RodricksWith actor Dilip Kumar as his neighbour Merchant spent his childhood watching veteran stars up close After studying at Purdue in America where he also imbibed a love for teaching he went jobhunting in Germany and Palestine returning to India in 1985 to face family ghosts And establish a flourishing writing and teaching career at the University of HyderabadHe has more than 20 books on poetry to his credit with Yaarana 1990 an Anthology on Gay Writings from South Asia considered the most celebrated As one of the first men in India to come out as openly gay he is often asked mdash what was it like coming out in the 70s It meant we couldnt get a house or job we could be sent to a madhouse or hell if you were the churchgoing kind But it also meant being part of stories like when gay activist Akhil Katyal told his mother he is gay she said but how will you will be a professor if you come out He said See mom this is Hoshang Merchant He built a career around it And his mother said Okay he saysGay Icons of India was intended to be released at the 70th anniversary of Indian Independence but it fell through because Merchants studentpublisher had changed publishing houses When India turned 60 everyone who contributed to the countrys progress was praised but there was no mention of a single gay person Weve done so much for the country but our efforts were never acknowledged Since we couldnt publish the book at the 70th year of independence celebrations when the judgement came last year The Indian Supreme Court struck down Section 377 that criminalised sexual relations between consenting adults of the same gender I smelled an opportunity like the Hound of the Baskervilles and we quickly rushed it through he smiles mischievouslyInterestingly the book is neither a biography nor portraiture but carries information you wont find on the Internet The stories are entwined in grapevine poetry and prose I am a purveyor of information This isnt Wikipedia This is Hoshipedia he laughsMerchant wakes up at 3 am to write and his energy levels are like peaks and troughs I dont stop when I am at my peak I kept writing while I was looking for a lover every night I had to cook and clean my house take care of monsters who call themselves my students supermonsters who call themselves my colleagues and supersupersuper monsters who call themselves my neighbours I broke my leg cleaning the top of the cupboard where the sparrow had built a nest I ate the egg out of revenge mdash Parsi leg broken for free kabutar ka anda pigeon egg he saysAfter the SC verdict he realized some people had stopped talking to him They may have thought that now I have a license and may attack them in the lift These are illiterate and pseudoliterate people But then every time there is a radical change there will be a radical reaction In America gays were killed here they only stopped talking to meMerchant believes that for the queer of India the road ahead is long I dont expect adoption marriage or inheritance laws for gay couples anytime soon We will have to fight for it But then I have done my work mdash I cant fight anymore I dont want to marry or adopt but others want to I cant say gay marriage is stupid although I feel marriage is itself stupid but let the others have itMerchant looks at events from a point of reference Recently athlete Dutee Chand came out as gay and was ostracised by family Merchant points out One must know that she lives in a village not New York She may be Dutee Chand but her own family mdashespecially her sister mdash was against her choices because she doesnt want Dutee to be famous or she wants the fathers house We dont know My family was against me because there was inheritance involved Im the only son and the women including the stepmother wanted to throw me out calling me manhoos Coming out is a risky thing at any age it is a revolving door mdash sometimes you have to be quiet other times you can be open It takes a lot of energy Every moment you are afraid of being exposed Sahitya Akademi gave Dattani playwright Mahesh Dattani an award in 1998 but asked him not to mention he is gay He didnt back then Coming out can cause a lot of envy and heartburn or heart attack an paralysis even he warnsNext Merchant has a book of poems that nobody wants to publish because it masters Ezra Pound a fascist The publishing industry is owned by the Jews he says nonchalantly There is also a book on artists in Hyderabad mdash its on their sex life and my sex life mdash with them or without them But then one of them has got a Padma Shri and so they are afraid to publish it They are waiting for him to die and then it will sell like a hot cakeAshok Row Kavi and Bombay DostMerchant writes in Gay icons of India Then Dost Bombay Dost Indias first LGBT magazine launched in 1990 by journalist and gay rights activist Ashok Row Kavi got serious because Ashok got serious Dost talked of AIDS as Ashok opened an NGO So many Hyderabad gays joined him Some died of AIDS Some returned to tell the tale Totally unserious small town gays worked seriously in big city Bombay to alleviate AIDS Casualty numbers started dropping So did the number of new infections India did not go the way of Africa Dost had a big hand in thatCatch 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 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