Queer Probability

“This is ridiculous!”, exclaimed Arsh.

“It’s a probability that exists and it should be acknowledged”, said the wife.

“It won’t happen to us. These are Western constructs, this doesn’t happen in India!”, said Arsh trying to convince his wife.

“Regardless of whether it happens or not, you do have to make a decision otherwise there is no point bringing a life in this world and making its life miserable”, said the wife.

“So, what are you going to do now? Abort? Please don’t tell me that you’re thinking about it”, Arsh said surprised.

“We do have time still, don’t we?”, exclaimed the wife.

“Are you crazy, what are you even suggesting!”, Arsh was shocked.

“It’s my body and very much my choice. I don’t want to bring a child to life whose future can be at threat in case his/her gender is fluid”, the wife said.

“Fluid? What….!!! Have you also started believing in these stupid concepts?”, enquired Arsh.

“My views and opinions are mine. My motherly instincts will operate independent of my opinions a lot of time”, replied the wife.

She continued- “If you can’t accept homosexual and bi-sexual individuals, people of the LGBTQ community, you will not be able to accept your kid too. Why trouble the poor soul and send to the streets just in case? I don’t want to risk this for my child.”

Arsh: “You are being unreasonable. The sheer probability of that happening and your reaction right now- it is just ridiculous. It won’t happen to us!”

Wife: “It is not good or bad. It just…is.”

Arsh: “What?”

The wife repeated with a slightly loud voice: “It is not good or bad. Why is that that happening to us or anyone considered bad?”

Arsh: “So you want me to pray or what? Please God, make my son Gay!”

Wife: “You should pray to God that your child gets all the happiness and contribute to the society”

Arsh: “Yes, so I do want that.”

Wife: “Then acknowledge the fact that the child can be of any gender and regardless of their gender identity, our effort will go on to making them a good and happy human being”

Arsh started muttering something and didn’t know what to reply. For him to even consider or acknowledge the idea that his kid can be from the LGBTQ community brought so much resistance in him he couldn’t even acknowledge and look at his wife in the eyes. Despite being in the top 1% of the Indian society in terms of income, and coming from superior educational pedigree, this mere idea that his child in the womb could be one of the many introduced immense self-conflict.

After a lot of thought, Arsh finally replied: “Are you going to abort if I don’t agree with you right now!”

The wife was surprised: “I am not having this debate so that you agree with me just for the time being. This is a serious conversation regarding the life of my kid…”

Arsh interrupted and said- “Our kid”.

She corrected and continued- “Our kid. I am not compromising the quality of my child’s life despite their gender. How can you be so ignorant?”

Arsh repeated: “I am not letting you abort this child over this make-believe problem.”

Wife: “I am not going to repeat myself. If we don’t come to the same page over this possibility, I will book an appointment for Thursday”

Arsh: “You are so naïve. These things happen from conditioning and through the structures built by society. The Democrats in the US get a lot of votes through their pro-leftist policies and hence have built their societies like that. Our society doesn’t produce such kids and also, we will teach our kid what’s right and wrong. This won’t happen, don’t worry.”

Wife: “You are just being so ridiculous and insensitive. What do you mean by “Such” kids?”

Arsh: “I mean…”

Wife: “Just let it be. We will have kids when you are ready to acknowledge this possibility”.

Arsh: “It can’t be only your decision.”

Wife: “It shouldn’t be. I agree. But it becomes my decision if I foresee any threat to my kids. Even from their own father”.

Arsh: “So you think killing them now is, okay?”

Wife: “Don’t give me this logic right now when you can’t even acknowledge the possibility and accept a scenario that’s possible. Will you send away your child or kill them just in case they belong from the LGBTQ community? Why do you have this moral high-ground right now? I don’t even understand. The mere audacity…”

Arsh: “The pseudo intellectual leftists libtards have started to ruin this country too”

Wife: “How do you even think you will deal with the situation and not abandon the child just in case their gender or sexual alignment is something you are not okay with”

Arsh: “Have you been watching all these new-age OTTs? Let me remove those applications from the TV right now!”

Durga stared at Arsh blankly and called the doctor’s clinic for Thursday’s appointment. Arsh was thrown in a completely new territory. Someplace where he was absolutely not comfortable. He didn’t know how to navigate through. He surely would not be okay with this situation or possibility in the future. But to him, ‘this can’t happen to me’ was so ingrained he failed to see the probability of the event as well as why addressing it now was important. Despite the event happening or not, the only conflict was his own self-conflict. His logic had taken a backseat to wishful thinking. Hoping and wishing that this can’t happen to them. The numbers and facts however say a different story altogether-

“A study conducted by the NLU, Delhi in 2016 estimated that around 2.5 Million gay men and 7.5 Mn bisexual men live in India. For women, the study estimated that around 4.5 Million lesbians 3.5 Million bisexual women are in the country. However, these figures continue to be broad estimates and a lot of people hide their identity due to the social stigma around it. Multiple researches suggest that individuals in the LGBT community face increased mental health challenges including a higher risk of suicide compared to the general population.”

An urgent meeting between Bramha, Vishnu and Mahesh saw them create Goddess Durga in order to take on and vanquish Mahishasur. Many Gods came together and bestowed a slew of powers and weapons upon Durga. Shiva gave her a Trishul, the God of the Himalayas gave her a Lion to ride on, and so forth. Durga became like a one-person army, endowed with multiple special skills, making her the only match for Mahishasur. Armed with all these powers, Durga descended from the heavens, and after a long and arduous ten-day battle, beheaded Mahishasur, restoring peace and order.(Taken from an excerpt from an article by TOI)

Inspired from an Instagram story by Sadaf.

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