Mohanaswamy has just lost his lover, Karthik, to a woman. He looks back on his life and recalls the choices he made, the friends he won and the people he lost. He dreams of a simpler life, a life of grace and dignity, a life that won’t be on the margins. He wishes to be himself and leave behind the humiliation of his past, the names he was called for being girlish as a child and for being attracted to boys later on.

A coming out of the closet for Vasudhendra himself, these stories of homosexual love and lives jolted Kannada writers and readers out of their notions of acceptable and literary. It also serves as a fine introduction to one of the most refreshing and bravest voices in Kannada literature.

About the Author

Vasudhendra has written fifteen books in Kannada and has won many literary awards: the Kannada Sahitya Academy Book Award, the Da Raa Bendre Story Award and the Dr U.R. Ananthamurthy Award. He runs his own publishing house, Chanda Pustaka, that promotes young, upcoming writers. This is a Telugu rendition of his collection of short stories called Mohanaswamy.