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A review by _askthebookbug
Mohanaswami by ವಸುಧೇಂದ್ರ, Vasudhendra
5.0
Mohanaswamy - #bookrecommendation
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I have been reading a lot of translated works this year and the ones that are originally written in Kannada hold a special place in my heart. Kannada is my mother tongue but my inability to read it as well as I read English had me in a dilemma for I would have to miss out on so many amazing books. But translated versions make our lives so much easier. Originally written in Kannada in 2013, this book caused a quite a bit of controversy in the literary industry. It's a coming of age journey of a gay man in a village where people do not have enough knowledge about sexuality.
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Mohanaswamy comes from a small village in Karnataka and from a very young age he knows that he's different from the other boys. He prefers playing with his sister's dolls and loves spending time inside the house rather than playing with the boys outside. His family notices his traits and often abuse him verbally for being so effeminate. When he thinks back to his childhood, he is often reminded of sour experiences coming from his very own family. His father shuns him after realising that he's gay. Coming from a rural place, there are many absurd ideas thrown across as to why a man turns out to be gay. Mohanaswamy struggles with his sexuality almost his entire life. His life starts to seem much better once he moves to Bangalore for work where he meets Karthik. They fall in love.
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The two men live together until one day Karthik decides to marry a woman and breaks Mohanaswamy's heart. Mohanaswamy is back to square one where he's afraid of baring his heart to any man. During his search to have causal sex with men from dating apps, he goes through many strange experiences. A man once steals his iPad after having sex, another states that he doesn't have sex with Brahmins for a silly reason and more often than not, Mohanaswamy gets attracted to married men. This book shows an intimate glimpse into the lives of homosexual relationships. The protagonist finds himself being shooed away by people time and again who fail to understand that there's nothing wrong in being gay. Wherever he goes, a bunch of hypocrites follow him.
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The author has beautifully explained what it feels like to be afraid of the society where people do not accept such gender fluidity. India, even now does not think freely when it comes down to considering the concept of sexuality. This book also turned out to be a significant coming out of the closet moment for the author. Vasudhendra has ever since helped many gay men and women in counselling them to face their families and society. A brilliant read. 4.5 stars just because the ending was a bit flat.
•
I have been reading a lot of translated works this year and the ones that are originally written in Kannada hold a special place in my heart. Kannada is my mother tongue but my inability to read it as well as I read English had me in a dilemma for I would have to miss out on so many amazing books. But translated versions make our lives so much easier. Originally written in Kannada in 2013, this book caused a quite a bit of controversy in the literary industry. It's a coming of age journey of a gay man in a village where people do not have enough knowledge about sexuality.
•
Mohanaswamy comes from a small village in Karnataka and from a very young age he knows that he's different from the other boys. He prefers playing with his sister's dolls and loves spending time inside the house rather than playing with the boys outside. His family notices his traits and often abuse him verbally for being so effeminate. When he thinks back to his childhood, he is often reminded of sour experiences coming from his very own family. His father shuns him after realising that he's gay. Coming from a rural place, there are many absurd ideas thrown across as to why a man turns out to be gay. Mohanaswamy struggles with his sexuality almost his entire life. His life starts to seem much better once he moves to Bangalore for work where he meets Karthik. They fall in love.
•
The two men live together until one day Karthik decides to marry a woman and breaks Mohanaswamy's heart. Mohanaswamy is back to square one where he's afraid of baring his heart to any man. During his search to have causal sex with men from dating apps, he goes through many strange experiences. A man once steals his iPad after having sex, another states that he doesn't have sex with Brahmins for a silly reason and more often than not, Mohanaswamy gets attracted to married men. This book shows an intimate glimpse into the lives of homosexual relationships. The protagonist finds himself being shooed away by people time and again who fail to understand that there's nothing wrong in being gay. Wherever he goes, a bunch of hypocrites follow him.
•
The author has beautifully explained what it feels like to be afraid of the society where people do not accept such gender fluidity. India, even now does not think freely when it comes down to considering the concept of sexuality. This book also turned out to be a significant coming out of the closet moment for the author. Vasudhendra has ever since helped many gay men and women in counselling them to face their families and society. A brilliant read. 4.5 stars just because the ending was a bit flat.