After another crazy week at work I returned home on Friday to be pleasantly surprised by a free copy of ‘You are not alone’ from Gays family. It looked like a promising weekend. You see, although I have met them at parties I have no gay guy friends. So, I was quite excited to read the book.
This is what the back cover read:
Sanjay Sanghavi is a single, urban Indian homosexual counting the last few minutes of his life. As his body clock nears to its last click, his chronicles here will take you on an emotional rollercoaster ride, right from his childhood to his adolescence, the working years and the imminent death. To take a short sweep, Sanjay has had to deal with a large number of complexities in his life spanning seventy-five years: rejection, obesity, confusion, ragging, skewed relationships, low self esteem , section 377, heartbreak, loss of a loved one and betrayals, not necessarily in that order.
In spite of these setbacks, he came out stronger and exhibited optimism with each situation; only with the help of people around him. Sanjay’s story is the perfect illustration of an individual making the most of his closest relationships to create a constant illusion of not being alone.
The last line touched some chord within and I decided to spend my weekend reading. The book is neither funny nor spicy , like I had
expected it to be. Thanks to television, my perception has been that all gays are funny! However I found the story a very honest and moving one. It takes you through the many ordeals Sanjay went through. What incited my emotions most were episodes where he was bullied and molested by his class mates. And the other time when his friend is refused medical treatment because of his sexual orientation.
I liked the ease with which the author introduces more characters in the book. Vikram and Arth for instance are good friends of Sanjay. Their character sketch is interesting. While one enjoys frivolous sex ,the other is a total sucker for love. The book is playing around all tangents of being a homosexual in India.
The best part about the book is that it is makes you nostalgic in bits and parts. It feels like you are peeping into someone’s personal
diary. It seems familiar. And on the flip side, you might know exactly where it is taking you. We have talked and talked about the gay issues in India. This book tells you how an extraordinary gay guy in a metropolitan city made it through all that and much more!
And If you want to know how he sailed through the troubled waters, go read it!
xoxo (I...
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seems like my weekend will go reading it….