In anticipation of the release of his latest novel Deviants, author Santanu Bhattacharya speaks to Sunday mid-day about his journey and the state of queer rights in India
Deviants author Santanu Bhattacharya
Santanu Bhattacharya grew up in the ’90s, a time where terms such as “queer” and “gay” were familiar, yet expressing oneself was still difficult. “There were two very contrasting feelings sitting side by side—on the one hand, you’re very painfully, terribly alive to your preferences, but on the other hand, you also know that you have to do everything in your capacity to hide it because of Section 377 which criminalised us,” says the 43-year-old author.
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Bhattacharya’s second novel Deviants captures this very experience. It chronicles the lives of three generations of gay men in India, delving into their struggles for love and dignity against societal and legal challenges. The narrative goes from Sukumar, who had to keep his love a secret due to social taboos, to his nephew Mambro, who faced persecution under colonial-era laws, and finally to Vivaan, Mambro’s grand-nephew, who navigates love in the digital age with the support of his parents.
Bhattacharya has always been a writer. Even as a kid, he was always writing essays and short stories. In the latter half of his 20s, the transition to writing a book of his own came as easy as thinking, “Let’s try writing a novel.” On and off, he wrote his first manuscript, One Small Voice, over a decade. The book deals with the political turmoil of a man in his 20s, arriving in a metropolis like Mumbai for the first time. It went on to win accolades such as the Observer Best Debut of the Year, meanwhile The Guardian called it “Epic in scope and yet composed of intimate moments. One Small Voice will be one of the best debuts this year [2023].”
So when it came time for a second novel, Bhattacharya thought, “I wanted to broaden the narrative. I became curious about the men who came before us—the older generation of queer individuals. And I interacted with many young queer people and realised how different their experiences are compared to mine. I stand at the unique intersection between the ‘silent’ generation and the ‘out and proud’ generation, so, Deviants became a story of three generations of gay men.”
LGBTQiA+ literature is still in its nascent stage in India. “It’s starting to develop in ways it hadn’t before. When I was growing up, there wasn’t much queer literature in India. There was a huge silence around being gay, and even queer authors often chose not to write about this subject. That’s changing now,” says Bhattacharya.
He finds the soft power of the media to be an influential force in the crusade of queer acceptance. When legal decisions around the subject can be disappointing (viz the recent Supreme Court judgement on gay marriage), Bhattacharya believes, “Change will come through two things. The official route is to petition in court, change laws in the legislature, advocate for better services. But there’s also the softer route of just putting yourself out there and increasing your visibility, saying I’m here, I’m out, and I’m proud, I’m leading my life. And the more people are able to do it, the more momentum can be gained. That’s my hope. I think marriage equality is a key step forward.”
“If someone wants to get married, they should be able to. Because marriage brings in all sorts of rights. Whom are you leaving your legacy to? Who is inheriting your wealth? If something bad happens to you, then who gets the right to pull the plug? Whom do you share a house with? Whom do you open a bank account with? Can you have children together? It’s not just about falling in love and marrying a person. It leads to very key questions about life, and even death.”
So even as it tells a tale of the colonial era, Deviants remains relevant. Bhattacharya says, “It explores how things have changed over time but also highlights certain aspects of queerness that remain constant—being on the fringes of society, the act of existence itself being a form of rebellion. These themes transcend generations, whether it’s the 1970s, the 1990s, or even 2025.”
Deviants hits the shelves in February 2025.
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