Penguin Books India, Bombay Dost and Crossword cordially invite you to the launch of R Raj Rao’s ‘Hostel Room 131’ by noted filmmaker Onir.
Date: 27th August, 2010
Time: 6PM to 8PM
Venue: CROSSWORD BOOKSTORE, G-1, Plot No. 250-B, Kanaiya Building, Linking Road, Bandra West, Mumbai.
About the author:
R. Raj Rao was born in Bombay and now lives in Pune where he is professor in the Department of English, University of Pune. Two of his books, BomGay and The Boyfriend (the latter published by Penguin India, and translated into French and Italian) are regarded as cult classics.
Rao in a pioneering Indian academic who runs a course on queer literature in his department.
Synopsis of the book:
In the winter of 1978, Siddharth, 23, meets Sudhir, 20 in a friend’s room in Pune’s Engineering College Hostel. He falls instantly in love.
A man of unconventional views–he believes, for instance, that the two heroes in Sholay have the hots for each other rather than for the heroines–Siddharth becomes a full time lover over the next seven years and stubbornly pursues the object of his lust and affection, despite his job as a college lecturer in Bombay.
There are many obstacles along the way, including Sudhir’s family, against whom Sidharth files a police complaint, and Sudhir’s classmates from Belgaum, led by the homophobic Ravi Humbe, who start an anti-Siddharth association. But Siddharth gets support from Gaurav and Vivek, a militant gay pair keen to ambush the enemy.
Deadpan humour and farce come together in this entertaining love story, giving us a glimpse of what really goes on in a boys’ hostel.
