Beyond borders
Rumina Sethi
PURITANISM
does not allow us to talk about the subject of same sex love in a
country where homosexuality is often blamed on "foreign
invaders". Yet, the shastras are replete with instances of
celebration of same-sex pairs, be they twins, sisters, co-mothers,
rivers or friends. Few of us know that Agni, to whom most of the hymns
of the Rig Veda are dedicated, is born of two sticks which are
its two mothers. In the Jataka tales, there always exists an
intimate relationship between boys or monks who are without fear of
betrayal or infidelity. That love between women was cherished is clear
from the concept of swyamvara sakhi in the 11th-century Kathasaritsagara.
Our
2000 years’ literature also contains many instances of sex change
where men-turned-women marry men, exhibiting the innate attraction that
exists between the same species. King Ila of the Matsya Purana is
turned by Shiva into a woman who then marries Budha, the son of the
moon.
clipped from: www.tribuneindia.com 