From the pen of a reader who is also an old friend and who went through something which every gay goes through... but only a few notice the implications...
I suddenly was confronted by the vulnerability associated with being Gay. I knew about them, but were something
which were not part of my life. I suddenly realized the difference between knowing about the problems which a Gay might face in his life and facing the problems in real. After all, I had the best family a gay man/woman can aspire for, nice supportive friends, good career... my closeted married gay friends would be envious of my life, till one day.
A kiss emogi, broke the hell in my beloved's life. I used to speak to him frequently, or exchanged messages on whatsapp. The emogi was nothing new... it had been the smallest of the gestures to say I cared, and that I was around, or that I was thinking of him. The "ji" in return of my simple text "hey" conveyed sooo much. And as a reward I would send him some emogi or just say "kuch nahi bas aise hi". Such an exchange would give us a piece of each other, in our daily hustle and bustle of work.
Till a few days back, it was soo emotionally rewarding exchange, but a day came when a Straight colleague had looked at the kiss emogi on my beloved's phone. The scene in our lives changed. Although I was not directly facing the stares, the weird looks of colleagues.... but I could certainly feel the urge to bring him out of that situation, before it turns into a hardship. I felt soo vulnerable at the hands of straight society. I sensed the silence and screams emanating from him. All of a sudden the wonderland I used to live in, had vanished; the bubble had been burst.The emotionally rewarding exchange was silence now.
