Honey Sharma*
Can multicoloured flowers blossom in a multicultural land? Can the moon of love gleam in a religious country? Can Ardhnarishwar live in a nation of its own devotees? The answer should have been an emphatice yes, but unfortunately, the answer varies in our hypocritical, sophisticated human society.
Today, we might have attained the apogee in the realm of development. However, our weak instincts still bar us from recognising the true meaning of love.
For humans, love is like yin-yang, where yin signifies the beauty of attachment, affection, and compassion between the partners while yang shows the intricacies of beings to procreate. And while yin is considered pure in every form to be observed by society, garnering praise for its piety, yang on the other hand is bound to be secretive and covered with a veil of dignity as it is what symbolises human modesty and chastity.
Humans have always tried to dive into the stream of relationships that can provide them with something valuable enough and satiate their needs. In the realm of humans, every relationship outside the bloodline is made after contemplating over the beneficial attributes. The intensive search can be for a status holder, a belle, an emotional supporter, or a good Samaritan. And just like every star has its unique formation, every being on our planet has its orientation that needs to be valued, rejoiced, and appreciated.
Sex is a sociological construct, and according to our deeply embedded patriarchal society, there are only two biological differences between any living being; male and female, and that is it. God can’t go beyond the boundaries of these two complex constructs because he has only one objective in mind, that is to enhance the population on earth.
Even the Hindu sacred scriptures are not only about the love life of Manu and Satarupa but rather comprehensively mention the third gender, ‘napunsak,’ as a revered human. Lord Ram treated them with respect and gave them a place to stay in front of his palace. Shikhandi and Lord Arjuna’s transgender form Brihannala played a majestic role in the Mahabharata.
It is heart-wrenching that in today’s contemporary world, we remain oblivious to the divine creation of God. Lesbians, gay, bisexuals, transgenders, queer, and asexuals are looked down upon as if they are some evil forms. Society bows to Eunuchs, asking for blessings for their own rightful families. But their attitude changes if the same kind of person takes birth in their own family.
Existence of humans is like several flowers blooming on the earth’s crust, creating a lively aura with their pleasant essence. Isn’t it a sin to deny someone the right to flourish? Isn’t it evil to pluck the flowers of life that wanted to blossom in the garden of humanity just because its colour varied, and instead of being monochromatic like its other counterparts, they were garnered with numerous hues of colours?
Aradhya (name changed), born as an intersex baby to an Indian couple, was assigned a male gender by her father. Admitted to school as a boy pupil, she was forced to live as a gender she never perceived herself to be. Hitting puberty, she started developing feminine features that gave her male classmates a reason to denigrate and harass her. Depressed with her own self, she was in a dilemma over her own existence. That is when her father decided to stop her from studying further.
But the diligent girl danced in religious ceremonies, collected money through the jagratas, and completed her graduation. Now she successfully runs her own beauty salon and is pursuing Master’s from Central University of Jammu. Isn’t this story inspiring?
This young girl now wants to engage in the pious relationship of marriage but is afraid of society’s concocted laws. Aradhya made a name for herself, she is educated, well-qualified, and financially independent. Then why on earth can’t she marry and live her life to the fullest?
Section 377 was scrapped in 2018 by the Indian Supreme Court. The substantive verdict invigorated the spirits of LGBTQ citizens of the country. Legalizing their relationship and opening the bars of constraints, they were finally granted the ‘right to life’ under Article 21 of our constitution, which we as citizens are enjoying for time immemorial.
When Dutte Chand, India’s professional sprinter, revealed herself to be a lesbian and in a relationship with a person of the same sex, she was met with instant backlash from her hometown. But unfazed by the criticism, she said, “I believe in individual freedom and the right to decide how and with whom I will live my life.”
She also opines, “Like the queer people have the right to vote, they should also be allowed to marry a person of their choice.” It is indeed intriguing that as natives of our country, LGBTQ can vote but they can’t marry? The court has recently passed another instrumental judgment asking parliament to decide on the laws for same-sex marriage. Love has no boundaries, and no one on earth should be ostracized on the basis of caste, sex, colour, or creed.
Let our country be enveloped by a sphere of love and compassion. And I genuinely hope that all futuristic decisions will be in favor of betterment and welfare of LGBTQ+, who were always kept aside in the name of quirky psychology but are indubitably God’s very own creation.
*Honey Sharma is a journalism student at the Central University of Jammu
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