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 emphatic yes, but unfortunately, the answer varies in our hypocritical, sophisticated human society.
And today ,we might have attained the apogee in the realm of development . But our weak instincts still bar us from recognizing 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’s 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 own 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 population on earth.
Even though our sacred books are not only about the lovelife of Manu and Satarupa but rather it comprehensively mentions 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 them, asking for blessings for their own rightful families . But their attitude changes if the same kind of person takes birth in their own family. There are religious communities who compare the origin of humans with animals and are of the peculiar view that if nothing like that exists in them , how can it possibly be experienced by humans?
Existence of humans is like several flowers blooming on the earth’s crust , creating a lively aura with their own 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 in 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 doing masters from a reputed Central University. Isn’t this story inspiring ?
This young and robust 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 is financially independent . Then why on earth, she can’t marry and live her life to the fullest?
We as humans have made our lives more difficult than it actually is . And we not only do it with ourselves , in fact we make it sure that everyone around feels the same. Life is not a fearful exam to pass by a few. Life is indeed a precious gift for all and we should cherish every moment of it .
Section 377 was scrapped in 2018 by the honourable court of Bharat, the substantive verdict invigorated the spirits of LGBTQ+ citizens of the country. Legalising their relationship and opening the bars of constraints ,they were finally granted ‘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 same – sex . She was met with instant backlash from her own 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 judgement asking parliament to decide on the laws for the same sex marriage. Love has no boundaries and no one on earth should be ostracised 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 favour 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.
(The writer is from Central University Jammu).
