2011: A Flashback

It is that time of the year when you look back at all the sweet and bitter memories of the year. Thankfully, 2011 has more sweet memories than the bitter ones. 2009 was the worst one I suppose. The year began with the sad news of my father meeting with an accident. It was a year of lot of money spending, sadness etc. 2010 was a hectic year. I rang in the new year probably working on the magazine. It was followed by starting my first job, trying to adjust to a working life and running the magazine alongside. I moved to two new cities in the same year. It was also a year of romance and heart breaks for me.

2011 in comparison has been a great one. It began on a very interesting note. The first call I received was a wrong number. I didn't wait to hear who was on the other side. Just picked up and wished a very warm and friendly new year. It was only after the greetings were exchanged that both of us realised we were talking to the wrong person. Throughout the year, I kept receiving wrong numbers in that number of mine. Almost no one has my second number, and the calls that I received in that number were almost always wrong ones. Thankfully, 2012 has begun with a call from an old friend. So this year should be free from wrong numbers and getting back in touch with old friends :)

Hogennakal Falls

The 1st day of the year was a trip to Hogennakal waterfalls. It was a fun trip with friends. And the whole year has been a fun one:) The month of February saw me releasing my first ever code, to the most prominent of customers of my company. After re-writing it for some 4-5 times, and a last minute bug, it was successfully accepted by the customer. In february I also received my B.Tech degree in the convocation and from a trainee, became a Software Engg. Feb was the month in which I got the first ever ad for Gaylaxy.

Nothing much significant in Mar-Apr, May saw me getting another ad for Gaylaxy and also, visiting Mumbai for the first time ever. With the May-June issue of Gaylaxy been just released, a bored me wrote down a satirical and fake news post, which became viral enough and soon News Maid was born.

July was my first participation in any pride event in Kolkata, and I could sell a decent number of Gaylaxy CDs. July also saw another addition to the number of advertisers with Gaylaxy. News Maid as a separate site was also launched in this month. The news of Poonam Pandey and T. Kumar went viral enough. Then there was also Baba Ramdev Accepting Homosexuality.

The month of August was me getting into a new project at office. September was the month of heartbreak again. I was so close, yet so far; and with a heavy heart, I decided to end my misery. I couldn't suffer for a guy who refuses to face his own emotions/fears. It took me around a month to get over it. And the trip to my home during Diwali helped :)

Me wearing the Gaylaxy T-shirt in Bengaluru Pride

November began with me buying my first ever smartphone. The end of Nov was exciting because of the pride celebrations. Gayalxy T-shirts were all sold out in the pride fair, and the march this year was so much more awesome and fun. Got to meet so many new people and made some good and awesome friends. It ended with me winning an iPod at office. And yes, I got the first ever tattoo, though temporary.

December was a fun one. A trip to Karwar with office colleagues was one of the best ones. A lot of water activities, fun and good memories. I also made some headway with my crush, though I am still confused as to what is in his mind. I just hope, he is more forth coming and direct than he currently is so that the confusion clears up. It was followed by the xmas eve party, which was fun and enjoyment again. Last working day at office was full of fun and masti again, with a lot of impropmtu fun activities and cake cutting. Also, I get inked permanently a few days before the year ends \m/

Having fun at Karwar

I also joined the book club this year, and thanks to it, finished two books at least :)

2012 has begun with me writing down a blog post. So probably this year would see me writing a lot, and also, I would be updating my blog more frequently (hopefully). I hope to make some headway in my love life too. Here's wishing everyone a very happy new year 2012 :)

Telecom's journey over the years

After 2 months of looking up the internet, getting confused in the ocean of android phones, deciding on Motorola Defy and then nearly going for Motorola Fire XT, I finally bought Motoroloa Defy on 3rd Nov from LetsBuy.com for Rs 13.8k . Thanks to their new 24hrs delivery service, I got my phone the very next day(friday) when infact I was expecting it on Monday. And as I now discover the joys of a touch phone, with Cortex A8 processor, I couldn't help but think how the phones have evolved drastically over the last 20 years, and so have my financial situation.

I was born in '88 in Calcutta and in these 20 years of my existence, our family has moved to 4 different rented houses. As far as I can remember, in the late 80s, a landline telephone connection was not for the common  man or even the moderately rich. Television was the proud possession back then, and by the time I was 2 years old, my parents had bought a Black and White Television set (which after innumerable repairs, still works fine with excellent picture quality). Colour TV back then was what a 3D TV is today, possessed by only a few. By the time I was 3, we moved to a new house, and in a few years the cost of coloured TV had reduced and those with sufficient money could afford it. Landphones had also started moving into houses, but were still very few. I remember my mother going to post office, and buying some 20-30 inland letters at one go and writing letters to my Mausi (her elder sister) who is in England, my Mama's and others in Punjab. The letters would be delayed by days, weeks, or months. Then, she would read it out loud to us all, and sit down to write back a reply. Yes, postman was the much awaited person back then.

Coin Operated PCO

By the time I was in Class 4, we had to move to another house. The landlord had a phone connection, and was kind enough to allow us to give his number to relatives in Punjab. On rare occasions there would be a call for us, and we would rush to the  first floor room of theirs and sit next to it as my mother or elder sisters would talk on the phone. Probably the first time I had seen a phone this close. But I was still considered too small to dial any numbers or make any call. My Uncle who also lived in Calcutta did have a phone connection, but I rarely got to touch it. PCOs were emerging as a good business, and you could find one in or around your area, though PCOs with STD and ISD facility were rare, or far away. In the mean time, BSNL had reduced STD and ISD rates for ealry morning calls (calls before 6 am) and so, my mother would go once in a month (or two months) to call my Mausi, Mama and other relatives. The call pulse was 6 mins, and rates were still very high considered to present day call rates.

In another year or so, the pulse duration of the calls had been reduced to 3 mins, and so were the call rates. General goods stores started keeping coin operated phones, and you didn't have to travel so far to make a call. I must have been in class 5 or 6 when I first used a coin operated phone, to make an enquiry about the arrival time of trains coming from Punjab, in which my parents were travelling. Railway trains back then were (in)famously known for being running way behind schedule. Oh, the joy and pride of operating a phone... It was the time when PCOs were coming up in every street, just like we have mobile recharge shops in every nook and corner now.

By the time I was in Class 7, mobile phones had entered India. Only the rich possessed it. It was an indicator of your wealth, but even those who possessed it asked you not to call them on mobile, since incoming calls were also chargeable. We changed our house again, as the owner asked to vacate the house. In another year or two, the call rates for landphones had dropped. Landphones were no longer uncommon among households. Ours still didn't have one, though the frequent travel of my father to Punjab after the death of my grandfather and disputes over property meant we had to go to a nearby shop having a telephone connection at a pre-fixed time and wait for the call. We still couldn't afford paying the monthly rental.  The hassles involved in getting a land connection when you are in a rented house and the fact that every 5 years we had to change the house didn't quite help either.

Dhirubhai Ambani

Then in 2002, something happened. Someone died, and it was all over the news. Dhirubhai Ambani had died! I had never heard his name before that. But his death made him immortal, and also changed the way we communicate in India. His sons took over, and Reliance announced plans of giving mobile phones for as little as Rs 500! There was a mad rush to get a mobile phone. Call rates for mobiles had dropped a lot in the last 2 years and were giving serious competition to landlines. Reliance ushered in the mobile age in India. From the rickshawallah to the sabziwallah, everyone had a mobile now. 2 years later, my elder sister bought a mobile phone for the family. She was a teacher in a private school and saved money for the phone. There was no "lifetime" validity back then. Each month you had to recharge it with a minimum of 300, of which you would only get a balance of 150. We would wait for the phone to ring, and everytime it rang, all of us in the family would rush to the mobile to pick it up. We would infact let it ring once or twice before picking up, change its ringtones every alternate day. Even unwanted pesky calls were welcomed by us. AFter every call that was made, my mother would write down the amount billed and amount left, and every paisa was accounted for. I couldn't send any SMS to my friends without her detecting it as the balance would not  match to her calcluation. She still retains the habit, though me and my sisters don't care much now, after all, phone companies now send in the balance left and deducted instantaneously.

I got my first phone in the second year of college, because it was difficult for my parents to keep in touch with me otherwise as I was living in a hostel away from them. To be precise, I had my first phone, (Nokia 1100) in the 2nd semester of Engineering, when a senior was kind enough to give his extra mobile to me. 6 months later, my sister bought a new mobile and gave her mobile to me, and I returned that back. Since then, every time my sister would buy a new mobile, I would be handed over her mobile. And so I got to possess Nokia 1110c, Nokia 2310 and Nokia 3310. Motorola Defy thus is the first non-Nokia, first hand mobile of mine.

Motorola Defy

The next generation will probably never get to know all this, they might be even surprised to hear that mobile once had small screens, with keypads. I remember my mother telling us how 1paisa had so much value once, she even showed it to us once. She also told us that earlier, you needed  a license to have a bicycle too (unimaginable, isnt it?)! Probabaly one day I will narrate similar tales to my nephews too.

6 years down the line, everyone in my family has a mobile, with me and my youngest sister having 2. Well, I now have 3 for that matter. Had someone asked me 5 years back that I will one day possess a mobile worth 14k I would have laughed at his face. But things have changed, the world has changed. A big thank you to Reliance also, for ushering in the mobile revolution, for even if I had not been an engineer today, I might not have held a Motorola Defy, I am sure I still would have had a mobile.

Tease

 You called me up, you came to me,

You made me lie next to you, you let me touch you,

You teased me, and promised me you will come again;

And now as I wait for you, I can't get over you,

For wherever I look, I can only see you.

Modi, Gujarat, and the larger question about Indian Democracy

(image courtesy Manjul.com)

It has been a long time since I posted anything on my blog, some posts have been lying in the drafts unfinished, but nothing has provided me the impetus to note down my views on the blog. There was one topic, of Subramaniums post on Virat Hindus which I hope to write about in my blog, but the discussions on the topic stretced so much on Faebook itself, that I had lost all interest in taking it forward over the blog, and of course, the lazy me took the front seat and there wer other activities of Gaylaxy that kept me busy.

But history repeats itself, and so, Narendra Modi's recent farcical FAST.. and then his refusal to wear a skull cap offered by a muslim, refusing to acknowledge any responsibility for Godhra, and misjudging a recent Supreme Court verdict as being giving him a clean chit, yet all the time, taking on the mask of being a minister for the minorities as well. Still, arresting riot victims who wanted to peacefully protest and yet terming his tamasha a Sadbhavana. But no, the impetus to write wasn't provided by any of this. It was rather provided by seeing people showering their "praises" on Modi for his act, because (and I would like to quote a few of the comments) "At least the man stood up for what he believes in, instead of getting blackmailed in the name of secularism; it is "a +ve sign for India's drama driven politics, where some leaders believe in doing work, than "showing off" how minority friendly they are" and "As for the turning down of the "skull cap", it shows Modi ji knows his ensemble better than his Imam friends. Emperor Nero sports a head wreath made of flowers." (really?? adressing him as JI???)

This lead me to share some views of mine, which I later realised could be put in a blog post too (because they were too big a comment, and because my blog hadn't been updated for a long time). Thankfully, I had the opportunity to read an excellent post in some magazine (Tehelka i suppose) where the author had also pointed out why a democracy, even though elected by a majority, needs to be for the minority or minority friendly.

So, here you go with my comment:

Comment 1: Never knew someone's faith in his religion could be so shallow/weak that just wearing a skull cap could change/break it... even jews wear a skull cap.. but wait.. could Hitler have ever done anything to be seen as being soft on jews???? 

There were two objections raised to this, first, a person is entitled to following his faith, and second, comparison of a "democratically elected CM" to Hitler, and what would Rajiv Gandhi be called as. The two comments (which are the ones for which you had to go through all the above blabbering of mine) are:

Comment 2:  Faith in religion is a personal aspect.. but when u are elected in a democracy, where the constitution specifically provides for protection of minority views and minorities, and as i read in an article in some magazine, "A Democracy, even while being for the majority, should ensure not to crush the minority or its views" India is a mix of so many religions..and when an "elected" member goes to a mosque or some other institution.. it is only supposed to mean that even though you may be a minority.. ur interests and rights would not be curbed.. and that your interests will as much be a part of the govt. policies as of the majority that "elected" us.. Innumerable PMs and CMs have visited various states, religious institutions.. and donned their attire... no one probably had such a shallow faith to think that it could "change" them.. Indian Democracy is an "inclusive" democracy... Clealry Mr. Modi, even while offering his "sadbhavna" never wanted to give out such a message

Comment 3: as for the question of a "democratically elected CM" being compared to a Hitler.. well.. Hitler may have overthrown the German govt at that time, but he surely enjoyed public support... and if he would have chosen to take the path of democracy.. I don't have an iota of doubt he would have been a "democratically elected representative" doing all the genocide.. And yeah.. had I been there at the time of Rajiv gandhi. I would have called him Hitler (or may be worse).. but then, the Cong govt came back to power.. and do u believe any single Sikh voted it to power? Or were his hands free of blood? But then Indian Democracy has its flaws.. and people get easily swayed by BIG inflated talks and claims.. especially religion.. so even when we can see that something really wrong is happening.. we can hardly do anything because it was the "majority" that elected it.. and that is where the role of a strong opposition comes into play.. because it is supposed to be representing the minority then.. sadly, in such cases/scenarios.. the opposition is often a weak one.. and hardly as the numbers to be effective

And I can go on and on.. but it is really late, and it is really another long blog post. SO i will leave it here. Indian Constitution is based on the principle of protecting the rights of minorities even when listening to the majority. I know, it is really bad of me to just copy the comments to come up with a post, but most of the things are getting posted on Facebook these days :( :( and I had to break this dry spell. Do share your

ISM gets its own Protest Centre

Even as the Government of India shivers at the name of fasts and denies anti-corruption crusaders like Anna Hazare and Ramdev their fundamental right to fast at Jantar Mantar or Ramlila Ground, Asia’s oldest mining college Indian School of Mines Dhanbad has shown the way by agreeing to turn the space in front of its Main Building into a permanent Protest Centre and equip it with all necessary facilities.


As the whole ISM-IIT movement fades away, students have been mulling over the option of holding a fast unto IIT conversion to press for their demand and accuse the admin of dilly-dallying on the issue. “The ISM-IIT movement had reached its peak in 2010 and we were finally hoping that in a year or two, ISMites will have their dream of calling themselves IITians fulfilled. We had even received positive response from the CM, Governor and youth Icon and future PM Rahul Gandhi. But admin has been sitting on the files since then,” said a current final year student who is now leading the whole campaign and fears that with so many new IITs coming up, ISM may lose its charm and rather clubbed with the local entrance exam.


As news reached the admin that students could be holding a fast soon, an emergency meeting was called in by the Director, and in a unanimous and (rare) quick decision, it was decided to develop the spot in front of the Main Building adjacent to Admin Block into a world class Protest Centre. “This particular spot has a rich history and our distinguished alumni have held hunger strikes and protests here on various occasions. We have observed the inconvenience faced by them due to the heat and unavailability of water or eatables. We want to make the 4 years of college stay of our students a pleasurable one,” said Director T. Kumar after the meeting, “Given the importance that fasts hold today in getting a sluggish government body to action, we thought that students should get full opportunity of learning these methods in college itself since they will be the leaders tomorrow,” he added.


“The place will have a swimming pool so that students could cool off during summers. We have already asked RD to set up a chai-samosa shop, whereas Manis café would be requested to bring up a fast-food centre. The site will also have a proper media gallery for the protests to be well reported. We are also inviting tenders for a wi-fi connection in the area. ISM has no dearth of funds which are mostly sent back to the government. We finally get an opportunity to utilize them,” told the Registrar of the institute. Librarian-in-Charge Partha Dey revealed his plans to have a book-centre at the place too, with RFID tagged books so that students don’t lose on the academic front. The contract has been handed over to CPWD, which shall develop it in a month before the college reopens.


Professors were largely happy with the development, as they now see the hope of having their salaries increased if the fast unto conversion becomes successful but were a little worried at the same time because it could mean they will have to finally do some research and publish International Papers. Students, on the other hand, have been scavenging older issues of Mailer Daemon, the college newsletter, to look out for issues that it would rant in every edition. They plan to develop a year long strategy and hold a protest each month to make full use of the facilities. ISS- the student’s body- is already drafting a proposal at having a new Protest Society and have funds allocated for it as well.

Crippled

I don't know if it is just me or it happens to others too. But whenever I like a guy, or find him hot, I go all numb! Expecially if that guy is anywhere near me. My heart beat increases suddenly and it starts beating so loud that I can literally hear it beat!!! I suddenly feel like I have no energy in my whole body and my legs feel so weak that they start shaking, as if they can't stand my weight!! Yes, that's right, I am really (and not literally) shaking when I am around any guy whom I happen to like.
Not to mention that I can't find anything to start a conversation. As it is, it is hard for me to talk to strangers, and it becomes an uphill task to even say a Hi or give him a smile!!

Take this, a guy whom I have been eying for so long and have a huge crush on, one day said Hi to me and asked me how was my weekend (we happened to talk a few days earlier because of some work). It was so unexpected that he would even bother to say Hi and enquire about me, but he did! I was on seventh sky and my happiness knew no bound and I was all smiles. But all I could say was yes, was nice.. blabbered something and then quickly ran off from there!! Yes, I ran off, without making any effort to take the conversation further!! Reason?? My heart was beating out so loud, i was starting to become breathless, went weak on my knees and a few more minutes there and I would have fainted most likely!!

He talked to me another day on a very flimsy kind of pretext, and all I did was answer him and again go away!! I don't know if it is only me or others also find them in a similar situation. But i feel so crippled. I seem to be fine (rather expert) online, and had the same thing happened over chat, I would have stretched the chat for hours.. and may be flirted too so well... But sigh... I am just so challenged when it comes to making the move in real life. I would really like to have some advice here from the experts.

P.S. The pic is of the Missionary guy who was there in POC4, and who is my latest crush. We both share the same Birth dates, but no, in the post I wasn't talking about him :P

Miss You!

Dear Blog,

This is just to say that there are so many pending posts, incomplete posts. I really miss you and hope to finish those soon.

A Failed Love Story - I

So I set down to write something for Chay for the upcoming issue on Heart and wonder what should I write? Should I write about how I tend to always fall for the wrong guys, or should I write about how after each disastrous date, I vow not to go out for any more dates, and yet, the very next day can be found online searching for future dates? Amidst all this turmoil, a part of my brain still wants to analyse my last relationship and I finally decide to write about it.

So what exactly did go wrong? Before I go into dissecting the relation, a brief description about how it all began would be helpful I suppose. He was an excellent writer and would send me his articles for the magazine. And it didn’t take long for the two of us to hit it along. Before we knew, we were constantly texting each other and discussing virtually every single moment of our life via text. It goes without mentioning that we were soon the best of friends. After about a month of texting and chatting, we finally met for the first time at a film festival we were attending in Kolkata. It was only after another three months, when I had finished my college and was waiting for the joining dates to arrive that I first realised he had fallen for me. I kept enjoying all the attention that I received for the first time in my life and kept flirting, without getting committal about anything. It was only when the time had come to leave the city to go to my city of work, that I began contemplating is it time to take our relation to a next level. He had all the qualities I had ever dreamt of having in my ideal boy friend. He was intelligent, was a student of biology, was internet savvy, and was an excellent writer and poet. Yet, I knew I didn’t feel that spark for him, that physical attraction towards him. I thought to myself, “Does love has to be defined by physical attraction?” So, even after being advised against it, I decided to go ahead.

So, a day before I was to leave for Gurgaon, we met at one of the most romantic spots in my birth place, beside the river Hooghly in the evening, in the backdrop of a setting Sun. For most part of it, we kept quiet, looked at each other and laughed. I was waiting for him to say something, and he probably expected the same. Then it was time for us to leave and we took a bus for our destinations. In the bus, just before he was to get down, he handed me a gift and blabbered something that it has an LED and it will glow. As soon as he got down, I opened it to find a lovely white rose of glass. A parting gift just as delicate as a heart, a little carelessness and it shall break forever. I reached back home and asked him why he didn’t say to me what he wanted to; and he said he didn’t know what my response would be and he didn’t want to spoil the friendship that had developed between the two of us. And I retorted back how foolish he was not to have asked me. He was the most romantic and caring person I had ever met. We promised to make our long distance relation work with the best of our efforts. And with that promise, I left the very next day.
The next few days(rather weeks) were hectic. Moving from the comforts of a college life to a corporate life was taking a bit more than usual for me to adjust. I would come back tired at night, and then have little energy left to chat. He would be waiting for me to come online and talk to me, but many a times I wouldn’t respond back. Because if ever I did, the chat would stretch for hours, eating away all the time; and the time after office was the time I would generally get to work on Gaylaxy. I had also stopped responding to his sms in the day, when I would be in office. As if my silence wasn’t enough, the only time I would text him was when I would spot some hot guy, or some other guy would make a pass at me. The pain I was inflicting on him was getting reflected from the poems that he would write. Then one day he wrote to me:

I know u r really busy. Ever since u had been to GGN i came to terms with the fact that u have increased responsibilities, office, Gaylaxy, a lot to manage and have very little time to spare. I waited for my turn.....i never complained.
Of late i felt neglected, i am sure it was not intentional, but that does not change it. For about 20 days now we have not even talked properly, neither on sms nor on chat. However i always find that u talk to others as usual (call this a product of my selfish mind, but its true). You have the time to talk to people on FB, or sms chat with people, but never ever drop in a simple "Hi" or "Hello" on my inbox. You only seem to share ur experience on the ggn roads or some chat u had with someone (not that u shud not share these.....but restricting most communications to just these.......i am sorry!)

May be i expect a lot from relationships. May be its just the way we look at a relationship are different. For me my man gets the first priority in my life. Never do i spend a moment without sparing a thought for him, and also make it a point to drive home that point. I believe the person who has the first right to know whats happening in my life is my beau, and vice versa. Time is the biggest investment in a relationship. Specially so with LDR.

I am sure u will put an end to my silent suffering. i know u have a story to tell too. But i dont know, are you serious about me? Or am i eating up your personal space?

This mail was the first indication that nothing was going right in this relation. I should have broken up probably there and then itself. But, then, I got defensive. Why exactly? Because suddenly I realized that I was being dumped!! So I wrote back on how things had changed on my end and it wasn’t the way it used to be where I could chat with him all day long. Of course, I was saying the truth, but deep inside, I was also hiding the truth that “it wasn’t working out”. That wasn’t the only mail that I received. There were a couple more in the next few weeks, and then there would be his extremely pain filled poems. But I kept mum in all this. I wanted the relation to “die a natural death”, where instead of asking me all the reasons he would simply say that it isn’t working out.

to be contd...

Mommy, you taught me to respect

While I should be writing down the cover story for the next issue of Gaylaxy, I suddenly have this urge of writing down a letter to my mother, about how she always taught me to respect others.. May be this post could become my coming out to my family sometime later, or show me the way of breaking the news to them in the future.

At this point, I just want to tell you Mom, I don't know whether you remember or not, but since my childhood, you have taught me not to make fun of others because of either their disability or their difference. You always said, "If you make fun of them, something similar shall happen to you too. God is watching, he will get back to you." So when as a kid (i was in class 3 i guess) there was this other child who walked a bit differently. You asked his mother if he was doing this as some child prank or did he have some bone deformity and when she replied that he had a bone deformity, you asked me never to make fun of him. Probably all mothers do so. But I know for sure, you always did. From childhood, you taught e to respect people, and I always do.

I remember having asked you once as to how does a person become a hijda (I was in class 9 i guess and our Science teacher had scolded a girl when she laughed at something related to this topic being said by her. She explained how it is all due to the genes and one should not laugh at it)and u said, "When they (Hijdas) find out that there has been such a birth, they come and take away the child." And when I asked, "And the mother lets them take away the child?" you said, "Yes" but i could see the pain in ur eyes unable to explain why someone would do so. I have never seen you making fun of the Hijda community either, like other people do.

Why am I trying to tell you all this, or writing down all this? Because I just want you to know, that you have always taught me to respect others and be compassionate, and I thank you for that. It is for you that I am what I am today, a good and compassionate human being if I may say so. And when I come out to you, I hope you will continue to respect me or the community and show the same understanding. Deep down, I feel you will... but then there is always a fear associated with it.

How it all Began...

And just like that, we complete a full year! Memories are still fresh in my mind, of how Gaylaxy was all born out of my sheer frustration with the fact that I had to often keep scavenging the web for gay related news articles. I thought to myself, ‘Why can’t there be a magazine which would bring everything under one roof?’ After all, LGBT community is supposed to be a very talented one, and I hated the fact that despite such a pool of talent, I had to be at the mercy of one or two articles every now and then. This dissatisfaction led me to take a step forward in the final semester of my college. I was very apprehensive of how it would be received, and shared the idea with only two-three friends of mine. I still remember when I asked Sukanya, one of the editors, to help me out with the first issue, she asked: ‘And what plans do you have after this issue?’ I had no answer as such, because I had no plans. I believed that people would come forward to help and so could only say, “Let’s see, I am sure I will find people willing to write in, I can sustain it on my own for three issues. If I don’t get a good response, I will stop.” And after a full year, I am glad to say that not only did I find writers to write for Gaylaxy, but the overwhelming response from all quarters just bowled us over and ensured that we kept coming out with regular issues (Ok, may be not so regular, but we keep trying).


Recently, while I was describing Gaylaxy’s journey to a person, he said, “So you had a nice gay-friend circle in college who helped you out?” And I said, “No, they are all straight!” Yes, one of the USPs of Gaylaxy is that there are many straight people involved, from its very beginning! From the graphic designers to the web-master and editors; Gaylaxy would be incomplete without them and their selfless efforts. None of this would have been possible without their support and constant encouragement.I would also like to take this opportunity to thank all of you, our readers, for being all along in this wonderful journey, without your constant feedback and encouragement, the journey would have ended a long time ago.