“Deviants: The Queer Family Chronicles” comes close on the heels of Santanu Bhattacharya’s stunning debut novel, “One Small Voice”. The novel follows the stories of three generations of gay men in the same family. Vivaan is a typical Gen Z youth- 17, but passing as older on dating apps. He came into his sexuality after the decriminalization of homosexuality, and not only does he have supportive parents, he goes to a school which, at least on the face of it, accepts diversity. His uncle, Mambro (mother’s brother -> mam’s bro) discovered his sexuality in the mid 1990s- he carried his homosexuality like a guilty secret in his youth and early adulthood.
Through his story, we see the joy experienced by the queer community when homosexuality was decriminalised by the High Court in 2009, and of how the community was shattered when the Supreme Court overruled the judgement a few years later. Knowing that his right to live his life as he wanted could be snatched away anytime, he realised that the only way to survive was by leaving the country. Mambro’s uncle, Sukumar, grew up in Calcutta in the 1970s. for him, homosexuality was a dirty secret which he didn’t want to acknowledge even to himself. He ended up spending most of his life as a frustrated man, let himself be talked into a marriage that ended in disaster. He died feeling that he was a failure who had let down everyone who ever cared about him.
Through these three queer characters, the author traces the journey of the queer movement in India. However, the book does not pretend to be a history of the movement. What it is is the story of three very different men from three different families and three different time periods, each dealing with his sexuality in the way he knows best. The power of the novel is in the fact that at no point does the author pretend that any of his characters is representative of his generation of queer men, or that their challenges are those of all others in their time. Though the subject of the novel is political in nature, it is in fact a deeply personal novel.
On the face of it, it would appear that things have got progressively easier for each generation, but in reality, though the laws may have changed, the outlook of people has not clearly not kept pace. This comes out most strongly in the story of Mambro who realises that in this country, to be a queer person is to be vulnerable at all times. He witnessed the law change multiple times, and realises that even if homosexuality has legal protection today, there is no guarantee that the law might not again be changed. Vivaan appears to have it easy- he has supportive parents and a supportive community. Yet, he realises that the acceptance might be superficial- would the people who support him today be equally accepting if someone in their own family comes out as queer?
The book is extremely sound structurally. The stories of the three characters are narrated in three very different ways. Vivaan’s story is told through voice notes dictated onto an app- it is in first person and captures the nuances of the speech patterns and thought processes of the Gen Z character extremely well. Sukumar’s story is narrated in the third person, most probably by his nephew. It is rich in detail, and the North Calcutta neighbourhood of the 1970s and 80s comes alive through the pages. Sukumar, also, is the only one of the three who accepts his victimhood.
He had made a mess of his life both professionally and personally, and, at one time, he even wonders if he has made any positive impact on any anybody. Mambro’s story is narrated in the second person and told through journal entries. This is the section where there is most introspection. Mambro has been through a lot, and while one might think that the use of the second person narrative would put some distance between him and the horrific incidents that he has gone through, this is the part that leaves you most shaken.
Each of the three men had their partners, who are named X, Y and Z. Vivan, in fact, has two partners- Zee and Zed, both of whom are well fleshed out. This could be indicative of the fact that by the time Z appears, homosexuality is no longer criminalised, so the partners can be out in the open. This does not, however protect Vivaan from heartbreak or emotional turmoil. Both X and Y hide their gay identity and settle for normal heterosexual relationships. X remains in Sukumar’s life, and the demands he makes on Sukumar and his family reflect how homosexuality was completely invisiblised in those times.
Of all the incidents in the book, one which I read multiple times was of how the first thing that Mambro did after the reading down of Section 377 was to walk into a hospital and gets an AIDs test done. This was at a time when the AIDS epidemic had gripped the world, yet, because homosexuality was a criminal offence in India, queer persons were terrified to even get the test done. This, more than anything else, shows how desperate things actually were for queer persons in India.
Read the book because it is a story of human beings trying to make the best of their circumstances and stealing moments of joy even from their bleak lives. Read the book to understand what it means to be a part of a persecuted minority- even when things seem great on the surface, there is discrimination and prejudice flapping away below the surface. Read the book because it not only examines the socio-political landscape of the country with hope tempered with apprehension.
I thank Westland for the advance review copy. The views are my own.
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