Conversation with Vivek Tejuja

The year was 1991. Vivek was eight. He realized he was gay. Only he didn't: he just figured that he wanted to be different. And that he was in love -- for want of a better word -- with Deepak, his best friend. Then Mast Kalandar was released, with Anupam Kher playing Pinku, a stereotypical gay character. And Vivek realized he didn't want to be Pinku. So he tried to walk differently, gesticulate differently, and speak in as gruff a voice as he could -- all to avoid being Pinku. Funny, poignant, heartwarming and heartbreaking all at once, this is a memoir of growing up gay in India in the 1990s, with Bollywood, books, and the Bombay sea for company.