The Point of Intolerance

(an exercise: the four characters and a part of the scene is set; everything else has creative freedom)

Every time his tongue touched mine, I felt a spark going down my spine and back up again. My lips were already sore. I couldn’t believe, even though I was living it, that my lips were locked with those of the hottest guy in college. I pushed away for just a moment and stared at his beautiful passion-filled eyes. Anuj—my first crush, my first Valentine, my first kiss; he could disassemble the entire cellular arrangement of my being with his mere touch. His fingers moved gently, in a sensation just short of tingling, from my lower back up to my neck, while mine remained entangled in his wavy hair. He brought his lips close to mine again. Oh, this would be a perfect ending to a perfect date!

“Oy, what the hell is going on here?” The havaldar’s cane touched Anuj’s knee.

The crimson of passion on his face transformed to the red of embarrassment. “Sir, we, er… I, er…”

“Do your parents know where you are, boy?”

“Sorry Sir. We were just leaving.”

“Why, you lassie, don’t you have a home?”

“Oh my mom isn’t home.”

Anuj’s jaw hit his knee. “Sir, what she means is that her mom is out shopping. But we’ll go home right away, right, Natasha?”

“Wait a minute.”A lean bespectacled woman approached us. “What’s going on, officer?”

“Look at them. Not even reached puberty, and they already have their tongues down each others throats!”

“So, what’s wrong with that?”

“Madam, it’s a public park. I cannot allow it. This is a question of Indian culture. They can do it inside their homes. Go home, boy.”

“Yes, Sir,” came his timid voice, “Let’s go, Natasha.”

“Nobody’s going anywhere! Officer, I don’t think anybody in this park is complaining.”

“Oh madam. I can charge them with the act of obscenity under section 294. I’m not doing that only because—”

“Please spare me your reasons. The Supreme Court ruled last month that obscenity has to be judged as per community standards. I don’t think the community would object to two teenagers kissing in a public park when it’s not even dark.”

The arguments continued. I was just a spittle-throw away from any of them, but my mind could have been in the ionosphere. The lady must have succeeded because the policeman growled and left. She gave us a smile and an encouraging wink, and let us have that corner of the park to ourselves.

“So where were we, baby?”

Ten minutes ago, that expression and that voice could have made me elope with him.

“I’m sorry, I have to go.”

“Wait, what? After all this? The policeman has left. What happened?” The surprise on his face was a new emotion, even to him.

“I just realized I’m not a lesbian.”