Claustrophobia

2

I sit in class doing nothing but staring into her eyes. Raya's eyes.
Her name is Raya Aashir. My political science teacher.
It is a taboo here, in India, for a woman to be in love with another. And there isn't anything I despise more than not being able to love freely.
I know she is my teacher, but we cannot control who we love, or who we're meant to be with.

Raya ma'am is twenty five. She isn't married yet, despite her parents' constant pressure to do so. I can see her stressed out expression every time she answers her phone with, "Yes, maa".
We live in a fairly modern city, where boys and girls holding hands has stopped being a bad thing. Yet LGBTQ rights are completely ignored.

Raya ma'am sees me writing in my journal and asks me to stop doing so. I shall listen to her now.
More later.