The Queer Indian Epidemic- with no Cure so far

"Unmarried young couples seen exchanging pleasantries in public on Valentine's Day will be forcibly married. If they resist, the girl will be forced to tie a rakhi on the boy's hand."
- Pramod Muthalik, Head Goon, Sri Ram Sene

A wave of shock and anger spread among the entire youth clan in India. News Channels had a good time (and TRP of course ) interviewing youngsters on their opinion on such a declaration. "Boy-Girl relationships are not classified into just husband-wife and brother-sister! There exist several beautiful friendships!"- the cry rang out from the young Indians. I was not quickly angered by Muthalik's statement. On the contrary, I was initially amused at the parochial mindset of Muthalik. I dismissed him from my mind as a person who knows nothing of a good friendship that can exist between a boy and a girl. "He does not belong to this millennium! He'll learn his lesson soon." , was all that occurred to me.

But I was not at peace, for, there was something about his parochial attitude that nagged me constantly. It was not anger. It was... I could not trace that out for a couple of days. Then, it struck me. Walking into my class ( which has an invisible partition at the centre ), after ten days of holidays, with memories refreshed, the hidden feeling became clear. Well, Muthalik's party is not the only narrow-minded group that does not believe in a casual friendship existing between boys and girls.

I have been in a co-educational institute only for the past one and a half years. It has been too short a time to know the mindset of boys and co-exist with them amiably. I do not have a habit of making enemies out of boys. But I do speak out openly sans inhibitions, argue openly if I find something to be unjust and I seriously lack one characteristic that describes most girls as "SHY". I remember my tamil teacher in high school being bewildered when we asked her what is "naanam" and why girls should feel it, looking at boys, like in those poems present in our textbooks. I still haven't gotten the answer for that question.

Out of these last 20 months, the first few months were spent in getting to know the names of all my new classmates and assessing them roughly. I did develop quite cordial relations with some boys. Two were actually very good friends of mine. The friendship's prow took a blow from an iceberg which chilled out one of them exactly a year back .

My lack of patience when dealing with hyper-sensitivity made the next few months intolerable. A firm decision was taken. I decided that continuing a close friendship is meaningless when both friends know that they are of different wavelengths. Staying close would only harm whatever respect each had for the other. So came the declaration, of a formal 'hi-bye' relation, from yours truly. But the friend couldn't understand it. And thus sunk the friendSHIP totally, in a span of one year.

Now my class exists, in an imaginary bubble of happiness of girls communicating only with girls and boys only with boys, unless there arises a definite need like borrowing an observation note ( when there is utmost tension and humility seen in the faces of the members sitting at the corners of their benches, nearby the partition, as they do the formidable task of calling out to someone from the other side of the partition, with giggles ringing out in the background).

At least, I am happy that I am not the only soul who is unhappy with the situation. Today, a friend of mine was discussing about solutions to this issue (despite another questioning the need for them). I do not know if solutions are being sought on the other side of the partition.

This situation exists inside almost every classroom, as far as I know, in my college as well as in some others.

I am in search of the Elixir- not one that will make me immortal, but one that will make my life in the next 2+ yrs more tolerable to live.