EN Desk Life Style

The World Of Homosexuals by Shakuntala Devi

Shakuntala Devi is known as the ‘Human Computer’ and the ‘Mathematics Whiz.’ But did you know she delivered one of the first books about homosexuality to India? Devi began writing the book after her husband, IAS Officer Paritosh Bannerji, revealed his homosexuality to her. While the precise year of publishing is uncertain, it was published in the late 1970s, at a period when sexuality, let alone homosexuality, was not discussed openly.

“This book came at a time when there weren’t even whispers about homosexuality. In the sense, people didn’t speak about it at all. Forget homosexuality, there was very little conversation about sexuality per se. And at that time, you know, in early 80s, to come and speak, and to come out with a book on homosexuality is historic.”

Shakuntala Devi's book The World of Homosexuality is back

What’s the Plot?

The interviews of two Indian homosexual guys form the bulk of the book. A guy from Bengaluru is featured in one of the two primary storylines. He is a high-ranking executive who married a woman only a year ago. According to the interviews, he has a slew of relationships, including some with rickshaw drivers. In addition, the interviews reveal a strong class disparity between the executive and those with whom he has relations.

“Now this person speaks about homosexuality in general as well. Where he actually says that you know homosexuality is a design of nature where the world is getting so overpopulated and there is huge pressure on Bhuma Devi and that’s why God has designed homosexuals.”Devi, according to Iyer, was an outspoken supporter of gay rights and would have submitted the petition for homosexuality’s decriminalization herself.

“There are some interesting excerpts from the book that I was reading and it is so progressive because it came in the late 70s and early 80s, it is so progressive. I am sure that if Shakuntala Devi was alive today, she would have been really happy. In fact, she would have filed a petition against Section 377 herself.”

The human computer of Bengaluru - Times of India

A Champion Of Queer Rights

“Nothing less than total acceptance will suffice on this level. There will be no tolerance or pity “Devi says in the book. Devi’s plea for total acceptance above pity, on the other hand, is “ironic,” according to Iyer, who believes that reading the novel in 2020 and interpreting it through a feminist lens forces him to assume that the author “victimized” homosexual men herself. Iyer, on the other hand, is eager to point out that the book is entirely founded on facts, and that the discrepancy in impression stems from the fact that it is being read more than 30 years after it was first published.
Devi’s book was not overlooked. However, it was not discussed at the same time. It makes you question if the same rules were applied to the subject matter at the time — something that was neither dismissed nor discussed.