The Boyfriend

The Boyfriend, written in 2003 is R. Raj Rao's first novel. Based in Mumbai, India, it discusses the city's gay subculture against a backdrop of the 1992 riots and discusses caste, class and masculinities. Plot summary The novel is set in Mumbai, India. Yudi, a freelancing journalist in the city, cruises around Churchgate railway station and picks up a young, Dalit boy outside the men's washroom. They have sex and the boy introduces himself as Kishore Mahadik. Kishore leaves Yudi his address. Post the Bombay riots, Yudi's looks for Kishore. He discovers that Kishore had given him a wrong address. His editor introduces him to an upcoming painter, Gauri. Gauri likes Yudi and confides in him that she has left her husband. She gets a drunk Yudi home after a party one night, pays him an unwelcome visit later and bargains her way to a lunch with him. Yudi then visits Gauri at her place. The next day, he spots Kishore in an elevator. Kishore gives Yudi his real name, Milind Mahadik, his address, and confesses that he is an Untouchable. Yudi is unperturbed and claims that his homosexuality makes him an outcaste too. In a disco, Yudi and Milind confess their love for each other.