India, as any travel guide will tell you, takes you through a whole gamut of experiences. So I won't talk of the exotic holiday destination that India is, the beautiful monuments, the variety of flora and fauna . . . .

From a gay person's point of view India may not seem  the most exciting place to visit. However if he does make a trip,  the chances are that he will be completely hooked. That is provided he is able to penetrate the gay subculture.
There are gays who visit India practically every year - an annual ritual - for the warmth and friendship they wouldn't get in other parts of the world and sometimes not even in their own home countries.

In India, homosexuality is still not legitimised by law. Of course the archaic anti-sodomy law is rarely invoked and there is no real cause for alarm.
So the gay social life though fairly active is predominantly underground - we don't have gay neighbourhoods, no bars and pubs which are exclusively or openly gay, not even hotels which advertise on the net as being gay-friendly. It is only strong networking which keeps the gay subculture going.

For a traveller visiting India therefore, it would be difficult to get into the groove without some help from the local residents. If you are visiting Mumbai/Bombay you are lucky. You can get a glimpse of what's going on here, simply by going to the gb calendar and you will see there are events galore organised by GayBombay and others. But if you are travelling to other parts of the country it may not be  so simple.

If you are coming to Bombay, we at GayBombay will be happy to meet you at the gb Sunday Meets or other events. And if you are visiting other parts of India, we can try and help you connect with individuals and organisations there.

Write to us at friend@gaybombay.cc, share with us your itinerary, and we will see how we can help.
 

-   S & M
uploaded on 19-Jul-03