Written by: Angel Dhimal - 25002, Grade X
Posted on: 27 June, 2022
It was a long day. Sushmita was tired and while she was returning home she heard some women shouting and gathering. There was a small crowd and two men were standing in the middle, their heads down as if they did something wrong and were embarrassed. She asked a women standing next to her about the context and she replied “They are gay and these kind of people are not acceptable”. The boys were gay couple and they loved each other alot. They lived in the same neighborhood. They were caught red handed by their parents in a room. Afterwards the whole neighborhood got to know about the issue and gathered there. Some were telling them that they should be punished, everyone in the crowd was thinking about punishing them. Even their own parents didn't want to see their faces. A loud voice from the crowd said, “I suggest that these boys must be kicked out from the house and also from society”. “They are not acceptable, we won't accept them like this, these types of people are a big black spot or the black sheep of society”. The boys were scared and they were begging not to kick them out. One of the boys said “It is not our mistake that we are like this. We are just biologically some what different from others but we are also humans, we have our rights, you all cannot just kick us out just because we are gay, we have accepted ourselves and our society must too.” The crowd was silent for a moment but they again repeated the same thing that the boys must be kicked out and be boycotted from the society. Sushmita was all against it. She felt very sad for the boys. She kept on walking. She didn't wait there for the conclusion as she had a headache after listening to the nonsense thinking about LGBTQI+ people.
Sushmita supported LGBTQI+ community as she was also one of them. Sushmita was a lesbian which no one knew about. Sushmita could not expose herself because she knew what kind of behavior or what kind of response she would get from the society and parents. She knew that she should come out because her parents were forcing her to marry. That day while returning home she felt very scared and she had a heavy heart. While in office she thought that she will tell the truth about her being a lesbian to her parents. But after recalling today's incident she was very scared. What if her parents too would kick her out of the house? Her parents were also like other parents. They did not support the LGBTQI+ community. She reached her home, she was lost in her own thoughts. Her mother Shanti asked why she was late. Her father Hariram had also returned from office. Sushmita did not reply, she went to her room to freshen up until then her mother cooked dinner and called her for it. Things were running around her head, she was remembering an event that happened. Hariram asked her “Are you okay? You seem a bit upset.?” Suhsmita explained about the thing that happened while she was returning about the boys turning out to be a gay, the society not accepting them and kicking them out. Her father made a serious face and said “What the boys did was wrong, the society is right, these kind of people spread negative effects on people. They should surely be boycotted from society. I don't like these kinds of people and don't want to talk about them.” After hearing that, Sushmita’s heart broke. She was very sad. That night she didn't sleep. She was thinking about how to come out. She knew that society would not accept her nor her parents would. She felt very helpless. She started being very quiet. She didn't talk to her parents much. She felt alone. Her parents on the other hand were searching for a good family and a groom for her daughter. She was very angry and scared when her parents were forcing her to marry. She scolded and screamed at them. At night the whole family was quiet and no one came for dinner. Sushmita had now started to hate herself. She blamed herself for being a lesbian. She was slowly going into depression knowing that neither her parents would accept her as this. She didn't have a quiet nice relation with her parents after that night. She was totally depressed by now. Sushmita had a lot of pain in her heart but had no one to pour it on. She had heard about a therapist who was a good counselor too. Sushmita had heard about Ranisha from her friends. She went to her clinic. She told every thing whatever she was feeling and she also shared about her sexuality. Doctor Ranisha was not shocked as she heard of her being a lesbian. She was a very beautiful and calm woman. After hearing Sushmita's story she felt very sorry for her, knowing that she didn't have any friends. After working, Sushmita always visited her clinic. They spent time together. They watched movies and went out sometimes. Ranisha was not only her counselor or doctor she was her best friend. Sushmita's condition was now improving. She had started talking to her parents and she also had mentioned about her new friend Ranisha. Hariram and Shanti were happy that her daughter was back to normal and she had a friend. Her parents had again started to search for a groom. One night Sushmita was at Ranisha’s house. They were watching a movie. Suddenly Ranisha grabbed hold of Sushmita’s hand and she said that she had something important to say. Ranisha confided in her that she too was a lesbian and and she had feelings for her. Ranisha came out to her family and got kicked out. No one supported her. Sushmita was very shocked and was kind of happy. They both had feelings for each other and they were in a secret relationship. They were very happy with each other. Ranisha motivated Sushmita to tell the truth to her parents and after that they would marry and live happily.
Sushmita gathered courage and went to her home. She told her parents that she wanted to tell them something very important. They sat together in a living room. Sushmita told the truth that she was not interested in men, she didn't want to marry men because she liked women as she was a lesbian and she loved Ranisha, who was also a lesbian and how they were in a relationship. Hearing that her parents were out of their mind. They scolded her. Shanti beat her. She tried to explain that it's nothing wrong to be like that. But her parents were very upset. They were not ready to accept the fact that their daughter was a lesbian. Her parents had a good reputation and respect in the society. They didn't want to make their reputation down so they were very scared about the fact that the society will know their daughter was a lesbian and they too would be boycotted. They both scolded their daughter even blackmailed her to marry a man and live a normal life and they did not care if she was lesbian or not. They cared about society more than her daughter's happiness. They fixed her marriage with a renewed businessperson’s son. Her parents locked her in a room and told her not to come out until her marriage. But she somehow made a way to contact Ranisha. When her parents were not in the house she wrote a letter mentioning that she was leaving everything behind and absolutely would not marry a man. She loves herself as she is. She loves Ranisha and wouldn’t change anything for society. She wrote “My parents cared about society more than me. Even my parents are not ready to accept me as I am just because of this society so I am going very far from my so-called home. I love you mom and dad. Sorry for not making you proud and happy.” Sushmita ran out of the house. After her parents returned they found the letter, they were quite angry but also ashamed. They were searching for her. Both the girls left that locality and had gone very far away to a new place to start their new life together. They promised to never leave each other and forget their past. They went to a place where the people LGBTQI+ were treated like normal human beings, where there was no discriminations and there was only love between people.
They started a new journey together.
