*Tanika,19, is a student in Delhi.
So here’s how it went:
I: ‘So um...I like somebody’.
S: ‘WHAT OH MY GOD! Is it someone I know’?
I: ‘Actually yes. Yes it is’.
S: ‘From our school’?
I: ‘Um..no’.
S: ‘Ummm, but I don’t know anyone from any other boys school’.
I: ‘Uh I never said it was a boy’.
S: ‘Ahhhh of course. (pauses and thinks) But that doesn’t help me the slightest. We know a thousand girls in common’. (laughs) Though I have a feeling I know who it is’.
I: ‘Yeah? I mean it’s not that difficult to guess’.
S: ‘Is it her’? (she points to a place I commonly sat while talking to ‘that’ girl)
I: ‘Yeah. Yeah it is’.
S: ‘I should have guessed! I’m so happy for you! Are you going to tell her’?
I: ‘Maybe? I don’t know’.
S: ‘I think you should. And if it works out, then THAT'S GREAT! And if it doesn’t, it’s okay! You’ll find someone to make you happy’.
I: ‘You don't think it’s a problem? That I like a girl’?
S: ‘Listen, if it’s what your heart is telling you, then I fully support it. And regardless of who you like, you’re still the girl I became friends with and that’s not going to change. Okay’?
I: (smiling) ‘Okay’.
This was a few years ago but everytime time I think of it, it leaves a smile on my face. Sumati was the first person I ‘came out to’. And her response made it so much easier for me to explore my feelings going forward. Today I am dating a dude. I am a bisexual. Love is love and just like time, it transcends genders.
To protect the identity, persons in the picture are models and names have been changed.
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