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  • Essay / On a Humid Night in Mumbai by Mahesh Dattani: Portrayal of Same-Sex Relationships and Love

    The play is set in a posh Mumbai apartment of Kamlesh, a wealthy fashion designer and well-adjusted homosexual, who is waiting for a group of his friends to arrive to solve a problem in his life. His lover Prakash left him to become "straight" and marry another woman, which frustrates Kamlesh: I would have understood if he had left me for another man, but he left me because he had ashamed of our relationship. I was very angry. I left my parents and my sister to come here, all because of him. After living as a recluse in his apartment for some time, Kamlesh tries to overcome his trauma in the company of his homosexual friend Sharad but fails. He then decides to discuss his grief with his friends because they “are the only friends” who “have all experienced the pain of separation. “Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Kamlesh's world is confined to his friends who, like him, are gay. The strong bond between these friends is seen in the spontaneity with which they all respond to Kamlesh's request for help. People with similar sexual identities have managed to create their own safe world – the world of gay people. On stage, this is offset by the Mumbai skyline in the background, representing the outside world which, throughout the play, attempts to intrude into the gay world through devices such as a wedding party at outside, children following certain characters, the sound of firecrackers and so on. In this world of homosexuals, homosexuals freely express their feelings, discuss their problems and try to resolve their inner conflicts. The gays in Kamlesh's party represent the different faces of the homosexual community. Kamlesh's lover Prakash is a coward who, fearing ostracism from society, decides to leave his lover. He is convinced of his own sexual preference but decides to choose a life of hypocrisy and deception rather than coming forward and confronting society outright by marrying Kamlesh. He chooses the path to lead a clean life. The audience only hears about Prakash until the end of the play. Prakash represents the usual problematic homosexual, who begins to doubt his own reality and tries to reorient himself towards being 'straight'. Bunny is an underground homosexual who plays the role of an "ideal husband and father" in the Hindi series Yeh Hai Hamara. Parivaar and also in real life. Bunny is a traditional Indian homosexual – a closeted homosexual who is married and ostensibly looks and behaves to be happy. He confesses his homosexuality to his friends; but publicly denies his sexual preference. Instead, he rejoices in having successfully led the double life of heterosexual and homosexual. Unlike Bunny who is a hypocrite, Ranjit has lived happily and openly gay with his “English lover” for twelve years; not in India, where such homosexual relations are considered illegal and "unnatural", but in Europe, where homosexuality is accepted. He regrets “being Indian”, because he “cannot be both Indian and gay” (Dattani, 88 years old). In his country, he cannot “be himself”, he cannot express himself openly and so he finds an easy solution: to settle in Europe where people like him are accepted. There, he is at peace with himself, with his sexual identity. Sharad and Deepali are very comfortable with their sexuality. Deepali boldly and happily lives with her "significant other", Tina, who is a lesbian. Sharad, the flamboyant gay, doesn't care what the world thinks of him or how they perceive him. He is the antithesis.