ESSAY: The Alternative Realm of Lata Mangeshkar

WHAT'S IT WITH LATA AND GAY MEN

When the Section 377 ruling (decriminalizing gay sex) was announced in July last year, news channels fell over each other trying to compile the ‘ultimate gay package’ for prime-time viewing. Footage from pride parades, check. Embracing dykes, or kissing transsexuals, check. A motley crew of gay activists, check. Choice one-liners from celebs on assorted red carpets, check. One of the TV channels unearthed a ‘gay song’ written by Firaq Gorakhpuri, featuring two courtesans in a mujra jugalbandi no less. There was nothing conjugal in their actions, but subtext there was aplenty in the few lines being sung, and the voice was that of Lata Mangeshkar. Funnily enough, there was nothing incongruous about having a so-called ‘gay song’ in her voice, despite it having been ascribed a pristine purity over the ages, which gay sex is anything but if only we were to believe everything they tell us.