'It's about time I stopped hiding.'

Arun looked up in surprise. What did his son mean? 

'What are you hiding from, beta?' 

'From being what I am, Dad - a gay man. I think you need to know it first....'

Arun blinked in disbelief. Gay! What was Rohan saying? 

'This isn’t something you should joke about, beta...'

'And who told you I was joking? I am dead serious. I have feelings for someone - Vaibhav, my senior in college... '

Arun froze in his seat, numb. How and when did this happen?

Where had he gone wrong in his upbringing of Rohan? Why had his own son become deviant? How didn’t he have any inkling of this? After his divorce, he was both mother and father to his son. Did he fail to raise Rohan properly?

He had always prided himself on being open minded and liberal. But when it came to his own son, he simply couldn't reconcile with homosexuality.

Rohan was waiting for his father's response. When none came, he went and kneeled down beside him.

'Dad, I know this is not easy for you. I understand you are upset accepting my alternate sexuality. But have I ever hidden my leanings from you? You used to joke that no girl gave me any attention, so I always hung around with boys. Truth is, I was never attracted to girls. It has taken me a lot of time to admit this…even to myself.” Rohan said haltingly.

It broke his heart to see his father look so puzzled and defeated.

“Dad, its nothing to do with you, please try to understand. I am born this way, and I can’t help it. Society may still look at people like us with shock, but as my father, you know me. I am as normal as you are.'

Arun could see his reticent son struggling with his emotions. To bring this up must have been a monumental exercise in courage for him. Still, he couldn't come to terms with this. It was unthinkable - the shame, the ridicule. What about his future?

“Have you thought that we will be laughing stock in the family? Does our society accept same-sex relationships? What will people say?” Then, he suggested, "Why don't you take a break and rethink about this? It may be a temporary desire...Get to meet some good girls....'

It was the last straw. Rohan saw red.

'You call this a passing itch? How can you, Dad? You, a college professor, liberal, progressive thinker, so, so backward in your thinking? Hah! I should have known better than confide in you! What was I even thinking?"

Rohan slammed the bedroom door shut. 

Next morning, he was gone before his father was up.

A week passed with father and son dodging each other.

Finally, Arun decided. Come what may, he couldn’t risk losing his son. He would ask Rohan to get to know Vaibhav better.