Summary
Contents
Whistling in the Dark: Twenty One Queer Interviews is a book on gay narratives from India and other countries in the form of 20 interviews with homosexual/bi-sexual men and a lone interview with a woman. The interviewees represent a cross section of society ranging from university professors, gay rights activists and students on the one hand to working class men such as office boys, autorickshaw drivers, and even undertrials who have served prison sentences on the other, conducted in the manner of a sting operation. They shed light on major issues in the field of sexuality studies such as sexual identity, sexual politics, the institution of marriage, hetero-patriarchy and hetero-normativity, homosociality and the segregation of sexes, masculinity, women's rights, section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, police atrocities against gays, gay bashing, sex in jails, sex tourism, and so on. The narratives are queer, not just in the sense of being with persons who posses a queer sexuality but also because they go beyond the conventionally decorous questions put to interviewees by their interviewers, and enter the very private lives of the respondents and the private spaces they inhabit.
Arman Pasha
Arman Pasha
Editors: Tell us about yourself by way of introduction.
Arman Pasha: I come from a middle-class family in Bangalore where all my family members are highly qualified professionals in their respective fields. I too am highly qualified. My hobbies include listening to soft Hindi film music and net browsing—where I keep chatting with guys from all over the world and try to know about places and people over there. The qualities I look for in a friend are that he should be frank, friendly, understanding and jovial. I always smile, whatever problems I may have. I try to understand my friends' problems too, and keep advising them. I enjoy advising friends and trying to get solutions to their problems.
Editors: When did you realise ...