The Firm!

No, this is not an excerpt from or even a review of John Grisham's novel. :-) Read on to know more!

When I joined my present company, I had no idea that one day I would find so many 'like minded' friends in here. Much before I joined the company, I came across a group on Yahoo which was a forum for people like us from the company! I joined the group and dropped a message that I would be joining the company's training facility in Mysore. Soon enough, a couple of people messaged me saying that they would like to meet me!

One of them was at an overseas location at that time (he still is) - Sumi. The other was supposed to join the same facility a few days after me! I landed in Mysore on 26th June' 2004. The next two months there were memorable in more ways than one. Ours was a batch of more than 80 people. We were grouped in groups of four. It was work, work and more work all the way. Completing assignments, projects, attending lectures, last minute frenzy all became a part of our lives. But nevertheless it was great fun!

In the midst of all this, I met the guy who joined the facility a few days later. 'Sun' was a tall, dusky bloke. We instantly bonded and began to spread some gay cheer around the campus. Whenever we got an opportunity, we would hang out together! The crowd at the facility was fabulous. Mostly because, there were guys from every corner of the country and hence there was not a moment when we didn't have someone to fancy! :-)

After two months of training, I had to leave Mysore and 'Sun' behind. I was posted to Pune, close to Mumbai, my home! I was thrilled. Life moved along as it should have. I came in touch with a guy 'MB' from Mangalore. 'AB' contacted me on Orkut. He is married alright, but he has his heart in the right place. Both of them soon became good pals. MB soon left for an onsite assignment to the States.

Sometime in early 2006, 'Sun' contacted me from Bangalore. He told me that one of his college juniors SR had been posted to Pune. I met SR a couple of days later. He is from Delhi but is a Bangalorean by heart! Infact, he swears by his Bangalorean identity. He doesn't like Delhi much. Till then, I didn't have any close gay 'friend' in Pune. SR soon became an integral part of my life. I came to know two other fellas from the company through Orkut at about the same time. One was NS from Pune and the other AV from Hyderabad.

Days became months, months ticked into years! SR and I used to hang out sometimes, met often at office. It was fun to be with someone in office who was at ease with what we are! I met NS too in Pune. He is a one of my closest friends and confidantes now. AV was at onsite at that time. I got to meet him only when he returned in Jan 2007. He has grown from being just a friend to become one of biggest inspirations of my life.

In late 2006, I came in touch with 3 more people from the company. One was from Pune - AC and the two others from Bangalore - BR & FM. I met AC in Pune and BR & FM when I went to Bangalore in January 2007. FM introduced me to VV. My circle of gay friends in the firm was indeed growing.

AC and I soon became inseparable! We hang out together even to this day, going for lunch, tea together. We are shameless enough to lech on people right in front of them! :-D Anyways, AC knew a couple of people too in the company. He introduced me to them.

One day, a thought came to my mind and I started a forum online! It was a mailing list. Initially there were about 6-7 people on the same - Me, AC, SR, AV, VV, FM and NS.

Social Networking sites like Orkut, MySpace etc have invaded our lives. This was the first time I actually saw it at work. It was social networking at its best after that! Simply by word of mouth, the mailing list drew more and more people to it. More and more people got introduced to the mailing list one by one! LJ, KOP, MM, RG, SD, SAM, SUM, VM, BR, MB, JF, MK, RJ, SH have joined one by one at different points in time!! It's now a vibrant mailing list of almost 25 people. We have loads of fun on it! :-) We generally swap interesting anecdotes from our lives, coming out stories, travelogues, our photos, discuss anything and everything from our fears to our dreams.

It's really fun to be able to connect to so many people of diverse interests. Some of them are exceptionally talented. Some are good in dancing, some in photography, some in playing the flute, some in writing!!! Everyone has something unique about himself. It's as diverse as the gay pride flag. We have certainly proved that contrary to the stereotypical belief and mindset that we cannot think anything beyond sex, we as people can bond and build relationships too!

This group is now an integral part of my life and I cannot imagine being unable to connect to them even for a single day. I wish that one day, we have legitimate LGBT forums in companies in India as well. Thankfully, our firm in its policies says that no discrimination will be allowed on the basis of sexual orientation. This, I believe is a good sign. At least, the company recognizes that there could be people of alternate sexuality in its work force. However, even though the company thinks that way, since 90% of its workforce is Indian, the stereotypical belief about homosexuality being some form of perversion runs deep. It will take a lot of time and effort to actually convince these people or even the general public at large that most of us are like them! We have the same dreams to be happy, to have a few extra rupees in our pockets, to have our own home, to find a soulmate, to be successful, to be loved and to love someone!

I am glad that the times are gradually changing. Of late I have come out to quite some people and none of them have reacted adversely. The winds of change are blowing. I am really glad that our small mailing list is playing some part in breaking the myths and painting the town with a riot of gay colors!!! Long live The Forum! :-)