HARDLY had the dust settled on the batman issue in Pakistan when a storm hit the city of Boston in the state of Massachusetts where same sex marriages are being legally solemnized. And Bush can’t do a thing about it, except fret and fume along with the first lady Laura. Regarding batman I had written that the English brought this institution to the Indian subcontinent. Some of the Brits liked their local chaps so much that they sailed back home with them, divorced their wives and lived happily ever after. One retired army officer took it the wrong way and complained to the editor. I advised him to have a sense of humour and laugh, which is easier said than done, else those taking themselves too seriously wouldn’t have taken us to this stage and I am not referring to the laying off of poor batman. The top brass costing us a pretty penny is multiplying day by day.
But back to the gender-benders in the USA. I have a stake in that country for my newly-wedded son is there. Instead of Adam and Eve, churches are pairing off Adam and Steve. Priests are splicing them off with: “I now pronounce you husband and husband, and you may kiss each other,” or “Now you are legally wife and wife,” as the case may be. Bakeries and floral shops are doing roaring business as the phones never stop ringing at these places. Churches are booked for weeks in advance. One TV journalist (a male) tried to pry out a word or two from a flower girl but she brushed him off with: “Hey, I am too busy — busy and happy. Why don’t you go and find yourself a mate?”
It is being said that one out of every seven Bostonians (the city has a high literacy rate; remember Harvard, the dream of every professional, where almost every scholar is situated) is gay. And the latest court ruling has just formalized an already existing fact of life. The camera panned a street where pairs of men and women were strolling holding hands.
Bertrand Russell said that the aim of life was happiness. The title of one of his books is Conquest of Happiness. If some people find happiness by striking another path, so be it. Talking of happiness, I am reminded of Madame Charles de Gaulle, who on a visit to England, where to a query from a correspondent as to what she truly valued in life, replied: “All I want is happiness.” The press corps started giggling. (The French do not pronounce the letter ‘h’. Hotel is ‘otel’ in France.)
The economy has taken an upward swing in Boston. In a CNN news strip, I saw an African-American male and a white man, the grooms holding their hands ready to sign in. Middle-aged ladies, who seemed to be excited, declared, “Bride and bride.” This new development has caught the conservatives off guard and it already seems to be too late to do anything about it. What is done can not be undone. John and Smith and Julie and Susan are saying at the altar “I do, I do,” and after exchange of vows and rings, (hopefully) they are going to live happily ever after. Some pairing old ladies said that they wanted their families to celebrate their union as ‘wife-wife,’ but it was not to be. Families are keeping away from happy occasions. It is heartening to note that like regular things, same-sex marriages too are promoting racial harmony. Colour and race do not matter in matters of love.
Hadrian, the emperor of Rome, had his Antonius. Socrates was charged for corrupting the morals of the Greek youth. In Athens, I once tried to discuss Socrates with a few Greeks, but they changed the subject and brought up Pericles, a general known for his cone-shaped head and corruption. The followers of Lot got hold of the angels (who had come in the guise of handsome boys) and would not let them go thus incurring the wrath of God. Somerset Maugham never married for he had a ‘partner’: Truman Capote (In Cold Blood). A Hollywood insider once quoted two famous actresses discussing the most debonair hero of the time. And one said, “Oh, but he is a fairy.” They were referring to Rock Hudson. Capote was ostracized for breaking the code “Omerta” of tinsel town. He died a broken man. That reminds me of Peter O’Toole as ‘Lawrence of Arabia’. The production unit during the shoot, including the scriptwriter, used to refer to him as ‘Florence of Arabia’. During the recent Oscar presentations, a winner, Ian McKellen (wizard Gandalf of The Lord of the Rings) started while accepting the award: “I and my boyfriend ...” without batting an eyelid. The attendees just clapped. Now they call themselves ‘Metro men’. The stigma seems to have gone.
The Nazis and neo-cons in the US are aflame and are issuing incendiary statements. Representatives of Rome are aghast at this apparent violation of the sacred institution of marriage. Catholic priests are invoking the wrath of God against the transgressors. They are declaring those going for the SSM (same sex marriages) as denizens of ‘Sodom and Gomorrah’. But the gays found a legal hole in the marriage laws that enabled them to exchange vows with the same gender. Also, gay men, while quoting the scripture, said that after all woman was declared as a ‘woe unto man and had been eternally punished with bearing children in pain,’ and for leading Adam to eat an apple on the bidding of a serpent whose punishment was to crawl on its belly for the rest of its life.
So, according to them, getting into a marriage contract without a ‘woe’ was not that bad an idea after all. And what about children? Gay couples are happy to adopt children rather than indulging in childbirth, a near-death thing anyway. Any other concern? None whatsoever. John, man you are lucky to have Tom as your life-partner! Jane, wish you eternal bliss with Liza! The prayers of an old man are with you all the way!
