The Diary of Harihara

Chapter 3

21st March, 2017, Tuesday

I was tired from classes all through the day. By evening, all I wanted was a drag and a cup of tea from my usual place behind the college. I walked out of the classroom with Anmol and Rohan, who also looked like deflated bunnies after the strenuous time in class.

"I'm gonna crash on my bed and never wake up today" said Anmol yawning and stretching his hands wide.

"You always do that. Tell me something new" said Rohan wanking Anmol's head.

"Something new huh? How about you losing your balls!" said Anmol trying to hit back at Rohan.

"Come on guys, not now. Not after Gupta's spray-a-thon! I need a bath" I said feeling lost with words.

"What's up with you man? You look like shit today. Something bothering you?" asked Rohan.

"No bro, I haven't had a good sleep for the past week and my neck hurts. I just need rest, I'll be alright" I said.

"Yeah, you go back to your room and sleep now. I'll do the same" said Anmol.

I was sleepy and my neck hurt from travelling around Noipal last week, but that was not what was bothering me. I still could not get over the gruesome and bloody murder of Amit. The image of his bashed head kept popping into my mind. The blood spattered around on the walls, the smell of it and his parents crying over the body still seemed like it was happening in front of me.

I had known Amit and Kartik for quite some time. We knew each other through a mutual friend, my neighbor, Arjun. Arjun was gay and had met them in one of the LGBT community meetings in their NGO called Rainbow, where they would discuss about the issues of LGBT community. Rainbow catered for the needs of the community members in Noipal, which included providing legal aid to assaults and discrimination against them. They used to hang out there for the events Rainbow conducted.

Arjun had once invited me over to one of their NGO's anniversary celebration. It was nearly three months ago in December. He wanted me to click a few pictures for him, and as I had a DSLR camera with me and nothing else to do, I agreed. Plus, he had told me he would sponsor for my lunch which made it easier for me to say yes. So, I went. The event was being held at one of the auditoriums in the School of Life Sciences, so we had to travel a bit as it was far from the main campus. The monsoon had just finished its quota in Noipal and there were mud puddles everywhere which made walking even tedious. But Arjun and me made it just in time for the event to start.

"Bro, I need you to click pictures of the event that happens on the stage for now" said Arjun.

"Sure man" I said.

"I'll be near the stage bro, I have a few errands to run before the event starts. Can you manage? I'll catch up with you as soon as the event finishes" said Arjun.

"You carry on buddy, don't worry about me" I said.

He went on towards the stage. I took out my camera and started taking random pictures. The auditorium was nearly full with people bustling around. As the tradition goes, the organizers had invited a guest for the function, an author who had recently come out of the closet. He was sitting in the front row. The event began, and I moved closer to the stage. There were plenty of enthusiasts who had written research articles regarding LGBT community who got to present their work. I clicked a few pictures. One such enthusiast who came up on stage was a handsome man with a well-groomed hair. He introduced himself as Kartik.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I do not have a research paper with me. I have not written down anything that I have to say. I do not wish to be a representation of facts and figures. Everybody else have been that in front of you today. I stand before you as a live example of grit and strength to have faced this homophobic world. To have come from the most orthodox Brahmin family who object the presence of onion in their food and then stand here to speak about LGBT rights and state openly that I'm gay, takes great courage. I'm proud to say that I have that courage. But I can assure you, I'm not the only one. I can see hundreds of such courageous people in this room who have dared this world to stand up to themselves. First, I'd like to salute all of you.