About a Boy

Written by Anushree Majumdar

May 15, 2010 11:21 PM IST

4 min read

Quarantine (Random House,Rs 399) opens a door into the world of gay Indian-American men; in the title story,the narrators mother and grandfather are bitter and hurtful,and so similar in the way they are trapped in their lives. Floating follows two tourists who visit Rajasthan to discover that some artefacts contain little art and can only be obtained from experience. In Ten Thousand Years,an act of infidelity succeeds in bringing a couple together but only for a brief time. In nine stories,Rahul Mehta captures with insight and tenderness,the tangled lives of men who walk thin lines between desire and duty,the deep and complex relationships that emerge in his spare sentences and the ties that bind these men to their families.

When Mehta was 21,he came out to his mother. I was getting ready to graduate from college and move to New York City,I considered myself to be entering my adult life. It seemed like the right time. Before my mother,I had come out to my brother. That was probably only a year or so after I had come out to myself, says Mehta. Now 37,a reader at Alfred University,Professor Mehta felt like he was coming out to his mother for a second time while she was reading his debut short story collection.

For Mehta,the collection is a result of years of writing,of patience and more importantly,the will to be a writer. As a kid,I was telling people I was going to be a writer. It was about 10-12 years ago that I really started taking my writing seriously. I remember a day,my partner Robert and I had gone to Prospect Park in Brooklyn. I told Robert Id decided to apply to law school. He said,Do you want to be a lawyer? I said,No,I want to be a writer. But its not very practical,is it? Robert responded,Be a writer, recalls Mehta,who is currently working on a novel for many years now. Quarantine is dedicated to his family and to Robert. His mother loved the book. My family is supportive,so for me it wasnt very difficult. But I do think that generally it is more difficult for Indians. I think there is less openness about sexuality among Indians, says Mehta. His family in India still doesnt know about his sexuality but Mehta isnt worried. The most important thing is that the people I love also love me. Whether or not they are comfortable with the label gay is of less importance to me, he adds.

His students too,have only begun reading his work. My writing self is so different than my teaching self. In the classroom,Im fairly formal. I make my students call me Professor Mehta. By contrast,my writing self is much wilder and messier. Sometimes,Im not so sure I want my students to see that side, he says. But the day he received his first copy of Quarantine,Mehta took the book to class and spoke to his students about it. I was holding it up and telling my students about all the years of struggle that preceded the book. I told them that there would be similar times in their lives,too,but that if they persevered,with a little bit of luck,they could do anything, says Mehta. Robert teased him about the inspirational speech: He asked if I cued up Whitney Houstons I Didnt Know My Own Strength. Its true,at heart Im a big cheese ball when it comes to these things, says Mehta.

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About a Boy

Quarantine (Random House,Rs 399) opens a door into the world of gay Indian-American men; in the title story,the narrators mother and grandfather are bitter and hurtful,and so similar in the way they are trapped in their lives.

Quarantine (Random House,Rs 399) opens a door into the world of gay Indian-American men; in the title story,the narrators mother and grandfather are bitter and hurtful,and so similar in the way they are trapped in their lives.