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A review by fidoe
So Now You Know: A Memoir of Growing Up Gay in India by Vivek Tejuja
3.0
Week 33 Book 44
So now you know By Vivek Tejuja
Rating 3/5
I had been wanting to read this book for a while, and I finally got a chance.
SNYK is a memoir of growing up gay in the 1980s-1990s India. When coming out was totally unheard of, when there was hostility towards anything 'abnormal', when LGBTQ people were invisible, when there was no internet to meet people or safe places to interact.
Vivek was born in early 1980s to a well to do Sindhi joint family in Mumbai, with a sea facing house in Worli, a set of loving parents and sister, lots of books, and a steady dose of Bollywood. But life was tough for young Vivek, who knew he wasn't 'normal', who desperately wanted to fit in, who wanted to be swept off his feet and experience the filmy 'love'. Only, it wasn't so easy.
The book chronicles his life and experiences, from the time he was but a young child, to adulthood. The kind of stereotypes and bullying he encountered, the hostility he faced from friends and family, and the loneliness and longing he felt.
While Tejuja is surely well read and has a flair for writing, the book could be edited better. Many threads were left open, and there were many repetitions. Still I am happy this book was written, for it can help people from the LGBTQ community to realise they aren't alone, and the cis gendered straight people to empathise with those who are 'different'.
So now you know By Vivek Tejuja
Rating 3/5
I had been wanting to read this book for a while, and I finally got a chance.
SNYK is a memoir of growing up gay in the 1980s-1990s India. When coming out was totally unheard of, when there was hostility towards anything 'abnormal', when LGBTQ people were invisible, when there was no internet to meet people or safe places to interact.
Vivek was born in early 1980s to a well to do Sindhi joint family in Mumbai, with a sea facing house in Worli, a set of loving parents and sister, lots of books, and a steady dose of Bollywood. But life was tough for young Vivek, who knew he wasn't 'normal', who desperately wanted to fit in, who wanted to be swept off his feet and experience the filmy 'love'. Only, it wasn't so easy.
The book chronicles his life and experiences, from the time he was but a young child, to adulthood. The kind of stereotypes and bullying he encountered, the hostility he faced from friends and family, and the loneliness and longing he felt.
While Tejuja is surely well read and has a flair for writing, the book could be edited better. Many threads were left open, and there were many repetitions. Still I am happy this book was written, for it can help people from the LGBTQ community to realise they aren't alone, and the cis gendered straight people to empathise with those who are 'different'.