The Hidden Secret

   It was the month of November, and the winter weather was blowing its coolness over Mumbai. In the bustling city of Mumbai, we see a happy young happy man named "Anand." A 27-year-old young man resides in Mumbai with his family. His family consists of four people: his father, Thyagarajan; his mother, Lakshmi; his brother, Aditya; and Anand. Anand's life is ideal in every way. But as every person holds a hidden secret in their life, and that hidden secret is a problem for them when it is revealed. Likewise, there is a hidden secret in Anand's life as well. It is morning time, and everyone in Anand's household is occupied with something. Anand and his father were getting ready for their respective offices. His mother was busy in the kitchen. His brother was not available at home. After that, we see the three of them having breakfast.

  While they were having breakfast, Anand’s mom asked, "Hey, Anand, did you consider that girl?" Anand said in confusion, "Which girl are you talking about?" She said, "The girl photo that I showed you yesterday." Anand now remembers and replies, "Oh, her, mom, I already told you. I am not interested in this kind of marriage stuff. Why are you forcing me?" His dad said, "Anand, you're 27 now. Marriage is a process that should happen at the right time. Everyone …" As Thyagarajan continued with his words, Anand was getting uncomfortable with them. He interrupted him and said, "Dad, I said I am not interested in marriage right now. So please, don’t force me." He soon finished his breakfast and headed to the office. After he left, Lakshmi asked, "Dear, why is he like this? Everyone at his age is getting married, and he's just pushing it." Thyagarajan then replied, "Leave it to me; I will get him on track." After that, he also left for his office.

  Later that day, Anand returned from his office. When he returned from his office, he noticed that his mother and father seemed to be upset. He ignored them and silently went to his brother’s room. He asked him, "Hey Aditya, what happened? Why are they so upset?" His brother replied, "Don’t ask me! You only ask them." After that, Anand went to the hall and saw that they were still in a distressed state. He approached them, saying, "Mom, what happened? Why are you two upset?" His mom replied, "Nothing," but Anand realised something was wrong even after hearing her answer. Anand replied, "Mom, please tell me what happened." His dad then gave him a wedding card and started narrating, "Today, your aunt Nandhini came to our house. She came here to invite us to her son’s marriage. Everything was normal until she made a comment regarding you. That comment was, 'Your son's age is 27 now, and he is still postponing his marriage. My son is only 25 years old, and he is getting married. Don’t delay it for a long time; otherwise, it will be difficult to find a bride for your son.’ That comment made your mother distressed."

  Anand soon felt relief; he replied, "Oh, this is all. I thought of something else. Mom, for this thing only, you are upset." As soon as Lakshmi heard that, she got enraged. She shouted at him, "Yes! Everyone at your age is getting married, and you are postponing yours. Anand, are you in love with someone? Please tell me; we will talk to their girl’s parents." Anand replied, "There is nothing like that, mom." His mom then asked, "Then why are you delaying it? Give me a valid reason." Anand thought it was a better time to reveal the secret. But the inner cloud was blocking him from revealing that truth; he was hesitating to reveal that truth. His mom replied, "Anand, don’t hide anything from us. Just reveal it?" Those words gave him the support to reveal the secret. Anand hesitantly replied, "Mom, it is like that. It is. I am gay, mom."

  After hearing that word, they both stood stunned for a moment. They felt like a huge mountain stone fell on their heads. His dad asked, "Wait! Are you saying that?" Anand replied, "Yes, dad, I am attracted to boys." They didn’t know what to do. His mom started advising, "Anand, you are normal. It is just your imaginary perception. There is nothing like that." Anand replied, "Mom, I am 27, I know what I am." His mom slapped him and said, "What do you know? You know how society will treat you when you reveal it." Anand took a deep breath and replied, "Mom, I'm not doing anything wrong. I'm just living my life, and this society will place every new rule for its own benefit. So it is up to us whether to follow it or not." After saying that, he left the hall. After he left, his mom said, "Dear, what he is saying—we have been planning so much for him." Thyagarajan then replied, "It is just his imaginary perception; I know what to do."

  The next day, Anand was returning from his office. At that time, he receives a phone call from his dad. Anand attends the phone call, and his dad says, "Anand, where are you now?" He replied, "I am heading to the station." His dad replied, "Ok, I am at Borivali right now. So, when you reach there, kindly call me." Anand questioned, "Is anything happening, dad?" His dad replied, "Nothing; just call me when you arrive at Borivali." Anand sensed something wrong with his dad. But he simply followed his command. As soon as he reached the station, he saw his dad waiting for him. From there, his dad started taking him somewhere, and Anand also followed him.

  On their way, Anand started saying, "Dad, please make mom understand. I am normal. Just because I am getting attracted to males doesn’t mean I am not abnormal. So please make mom understand." His dad replied, "Hmm, ok, fine. Here we arrive; kindly come in." Thyagarajan and Anand started entering the building. At that time, Anand noticed the billboard outside the building. It made him feel weird. He was about to say something to his dad, but he decided to simply remind him. After that, we see both of them in a room with someone. Thyagarajan says, "Doctor, as I said, here is my son." The doctor interrupted him and said, "Mr. Thyagarajan, please leave it to me. I will handle it. Also, you may remain outside." After that, he left the room.

  Inside the room, we see Anand and the doctor facing each other. There is complete commotion both ways. After a few moments, the doctor asked, "Ok, tell me, Anand. At what age are you having this disorder?" Anand smiled at him and said, "Disorder, doctor, can I know your name?" The doctor replied, "Myself, Harish." Anand then asked, "Ok, Mr. Harish, when did my dad call you regarding me? Why did you support him? As a psychiatrist, you must be aware of this." Harish smiled and replied, "Don’t be silly, just because some doctors support this. Doesn’t mean it is true. Also, you are like this because you are mentally disturbed." Anand then questioned, "Oh, is it? Scientists found this mentality even in animals like sheep and dolphins. So, will you say they are also mentally disturbed?" After hearing that, Harish was slightly stunned. He then replied in a hesitating tone, "Anand, how can you compare a human with an animal?" You know one thing, Anand, there are clinical factors that lack of exposure of testosterone during birth lead to this disorder." Anand replied, "I will ask you two questions, doctor. If your answer is true, then I will continue your medical sessions. If not, I wouldn’t continue."

  Harish thought for a moment and then replied, "Ok, I will accept this." Anand then asked, "Ok, the gender of the child is decided by an X or Y chromosome from male sperm. The male cannot decide it independently. As a doctor, you know this. But when my female partner asks, I need a male child. So will you give a consultant to the male partner?" Harish wasn’t able to give a reply to that question; his mouth couldn’t utter words. He then replied, "Hmm, ok, I will answer this question further. The next question," and Anand then asked his second question. Anand asked, "Doctor, do you get attracted to girls?" Harish laughed and said, "How foolish could you be? As a male, it is my nature." Anand then asked, "Is there any particular reason for this?" Harish then replied, "No, there is no particular reason." Anand then replied, "So, how could you say my sexual orientation is wrong?" It is also natural, and there are no particular reasons needed." Harish is totally stunned now; he couldn’t understand what to say.

  By seeing his facial reaction, Anand understood he had no words to say. Anand then replied, "So, Mr. Harish, I can see by your facial reaction that you have no words to say. So, I don’t have to continue sessions. Also, give yourself time to understand this sexual orientation. As a doctor, you should understand this." After that, Anand left the room, and outside the room, he saw his dad waiting for him. After seeing him, he said, "Dad, I already told you I’m not mentally disturbed. It is a natural thing. If you do not believe this, it is up to you. But please don’t treat me like this." After hearing that, Thyagarajan felt disappointed, not because of what he does. It is because he couldn’t change Anand.

  After those few days passed, we saw Anand and his brother Aditya, both of them, in the living room. While Anand is busy watching the news, Aditya is busy preparing a presentation for his college project. Aditya was having struggles while preparing it. Anand notices it, and he tries to help him. He says, "Hey Aditya, give me the laptop. I will do that for you." Aditya replied in a low tone, "No, I will do it myself." Anand then said, "You have been struggling with this for half an hour. Just give it to me; I will complete it within 10 minutes." Aditya then shouted at him, "I said, I do it myself." Anand then said, "Why are you shouting at me? I was trying to help you. And you, oh, now I got it. It is just because I am gay. You also started hating me. You are one of those who used to support LGBTQ people. Now what happened?"

  His brother then replied, "Yes! I support that community, but I didn’t expect that my brother could be gay. Anand I still see you as my brother, and I know that you are not doing anything wrong. It will take time, but I will get used to it." Anand felt happier after seeing his brother start accepting him. Anand then replied, "Fine, give the laptop to me. I will help you." After that, they both completed the presentation. Anand felt hope that, like his brother, others would also accept him. There is a ray of light flashing in Anand’s life, but he still has to pass through one dark path.

  That night, we saw Thyagarajan and Lakshmi talking in their room. They are both quite disappointed due to Anand’s sexual orientation. Lakshmi asked, "Dear, did the doctor contact you?" Thyagarajan replied, "No, after both of them meet. He is not picking up my call. Even I tried to contact some other psychiatrist, but that was also in vain." Lakshmi replied in a sad tone, "Why is this Anand like this? I don’t know how others will react." Thyagarajan then replied, "I'm going to tell you one thing; it is our last option. We should kill him." After hearing that statement, Laksmi was shocked. She asked, "Dear, what are you saying? He is our son." He then shouted, "Then what are you expecting me to do? Will society allow him to live? Lakshmi, our family honour is at stake now; this will affect Aditya also. Please think," as he was saying, tears were shedding from his eyes. Lakshmi replied, "But he is our son." He then said, "As a father, I also care about him. But everything is out of our hands." After that, they were not able to exchange words.

  The next morning, we see Thyagarajan and Lakshmi acting like they are busy with something. Aditya was not present at the time. They already planned everything, and the ground is set. Anand arrives at the dining hall. They both saw that he was going to have his breakfast. As they saw that he was going to have his food, they both started feeling guilty. They started getting the hunch that they were doing something wrong. As Anand was about to eat his food, Thyagarajan quickly rushed towards him and stopped him from eating. While stopping him, he revealed the truth: "Anand, don’t eat the food. The food is poisoned."

  He then further said, "We couldn’t accept the fact that you are gay. That’s why we poisoned your food. Please forgive us." After hearing that, Anand remained silent for a moment. His heart was filled with tears. He got up and went to his room. After seeing him going to his room, Thyagarajan started saying, "Anand, please listen, and we didn’t do it with intention. We thought it was what others would think about us that drove us to do this. Please forgive us." Lakshmi also started saying, "Anand, please forgive us. We will accept you. Please listen to us." After a few moments, Anand came out of the room with a bag. They were confused about what Anand was doing. Lakshmi asked, "Anand, what are you doing?"

  Anand replied with a sad tone, "I am leaving the home." After hearing that, Lakshmi tries to convince him. She says, "Anand, please don’t do that. We already told you that wasn’t your intention." Anand then replied, "If that wasn’t your intention, you both didn’t take this step. You thought your honour was greater than mine. Your priorities what other will think? You didn’t think about me." Thyagarajan then replied, "Anand, we will accept you. Please don’t leave the house. Also, where will you go?" Anand replied in an emotional tone, "Enough, please don’t force yourself. I simply leave the house. I don’t know where I'm going. But I am sure I will find a place where everyone accepts me regardless of who I am. I don’t know whether you see me as a son or not. But as a son, I will send half of my salary to your account. That much I can do; from now on, say to everyone, Aditya is your only son." After saying that, he left the home in hope of finding a new place for him, and both Thyagarajan and Lakshmi left in devastation.