Hand in Hand

I had to instantly take my hand off his. You don't want to be mistaken for something which you are not, for the mistaken view or identity can linger for long. Yes, I am talking about our friendly hand-in-hand walk back home in India, which is no more than a show of solidarity, or a no-show at all. But over here, and I am talking about the whole western world, you would be considered queers, if you carry on your deportment.

So, I took my hand off his during the post-lunch saunter which we take daily to recreate ourselves. He too was amused by my hasty demeanour, but the speculative glance of passers-by was not lost on me. I wondered afterwards, "Did I really have to act like that to look like others?". May be not, but this is not to be beside the point that how our beahviour can be viewed differently time to time or place to place. And I find some of these views not only inappropriate but dissolute. Back home, we also put our arms on other's shoulders sometimes to show friendliness. But there is nothing deviant in that. It is true that male and female interaction is not that much in India yet, so similar public display of affection between them is almost non-existent. But even if such beahviour is seen between two persons of same sex, it need not tantamount to their being homophiles. I see this as another fallout of the sex-obsessed western world, where prurience has tainted even the normal propriety.

A few days back, I had visited the discussion forum of the movie 'Taare Zameen Par' on imdb site. I had hoped for some healthy discussions there, but most of them were useless ramblings and one out of them was nauseating, where arguments, if ever this word suited there, were put forward whether Aamir Khan acted like a paedophile in the movie. Gosh... if ever there were warped minds as these. Not to talk about the nationality of the people there, one can't gabble about anything in the name of liberal and nonconformist views.

One can't help but wonder about the correctness of the above quoted examples. One's views are heavily influenced by the surroundings of one's upbringing, and so one cannot mark it as completely right or wrong, but definitely it warrants some contemplation- if not that then at least some consideration.