‘Hostel Room 131’ R Raj Rao, Penguin, pp 228, Rs. 250

If the reader thinks this racy homo erotic novel is going to give a revolutionary end to the gay life in India, he will not only be disillusioned but also shocked. Coming from the bold and irreverent writer R Raj Rao ‘Hostel Room 131’ is surprisingly just another typical Indian love story but setting the love story with two males primarily bonded by sex. The surprise is the protagonist finally succumbs to the pressure of his ‘beloved’ and the ‘society’ so that their union is accepted. Their decision to migrate the USA after undergoing sex change of one of lovers is nothing but highly ridiculous and superfluous.

Siddharth meets Sudhir in the Hostel Room 131 quite accidentally and at the first meeting itself seduces him; and continues to enjoy sex with him using a host of excuses. At one point the parents of Sudhir comes to know of their son’s promiscuity and perverted way of life with his friend and prevents him from meeting Sid. What follows is the one similar in any hetero love story. The obsessed lover tries to meet his lover in vain, wanders all over like a mad man to get the ‘man’ he wants finally as a ‘woman’. It is equally painful to read the depiction of Sudhir more feminine than masculine which altogether gives a different shade to the socalled gay love story because that goes with the general depiction of a gay in the conservative Indian society through the media constantly.

The narration follows the typical Raj Rao style with derisive, rude comments and sick observations of the seamy sides of Indian life that stinks without any artifice. The love scenes are transparent. The descriptions of the places and characters are vivid and painfully realistic. The humor is either deadpan or ribald.

It is true that the pages of this love story races through the college hostel, railway stations, trains and buses, roads, lanes and bylanes of Pune, Mumbai and Belgaum. But finally the story falls flat when Sudhir demands for a sex change surgery and his lover Siddharth’s meek acceptance for the same. It ultimately boils down to the love between two souls and not man-man. Probably that is what the author tries to drive home at.

It is a bitter fact but true that being a gay couple in India is a difficult proposition and generally lacks integrity. But the same story depicts the characters of Gaurav and Vivek who are bold and honest enough to accept their sexuality and live happily within the Indian contexts.

In Siddharth’s case it definitely creats a doubt. Will he be happy with the sex changed Su? If he is gay he should not; if he is straight he will not. Who is Siddharth?