Dark side of the moon

Eunuch Park (Penguin,Rs 250) is a collection of 15 stories of “love and destruction” that unfold in hostel rooms,dingy bars,train compartments and other seedy environments that offer no morality or judgment. Mehrotra,who started as a journalist in 2000,quit a year later to teach creative writing at Doon School. “The years I spent teaching gave me a real insight into campus and school life again. I began writing some of these stories,of dark male sexuality and identity. That’s where the ‘destruction’ comes in,” says Mehrotra who earlier put together Recess (Penguin),an anthology of school stories from across India.

Eunuch Park is not about pretty,light and romantic stories. Mehrotra makes sure that apart from the campus atmosphere,his characters also traverse the urban landscape of Delhi and Mumbai,caught in a kinetic energy that makes things happen but don’t always lead anywhere. While the unnamed narrator explores the homoerotic world of male bonding in a small town bar in Dancing with Men,the action in Eunuch Park takes place in Delhi University where Anmol is looking for a place to spend time with his girlfriend.

“Most of the stories have their roots in my experiences in Delhi and Dehradun. I’m not one for writing from imagination alone,” says Mehrotra who feels that while women writers in India have become more articulate about their multiple identities,male writers steer clear of stories about the male consciousness.

He is now working on his third book,a collection of non fiction essays titled The Butterfly Generation. “It charts the life and times of India’s youth and about how rapidly it is changing,” says Mehrotra.