Social Issue Short Story – Rainbows
Photo credit: jeltovski from morguefile.com
Jai usually did not access Facebook in the morning. His usual early morning routine consisted of getting up around 7 a.m. and drinking his first cup of coffee. While he waited for the newspaper to arrive, he’d read on his Kindle. However, that morning of 27th June 2015, he ended up accessing Facebook.
Jai thought he’d been hit with colour. Everywhere he saw, he saw rainbow-coloured display pictures. Right from his co-worker to his second cousin, more than half the people on his list had changed their profile picture to a rainbow-coloured picture. Jai wondered what the hoopla was about. Suddenly it hit him. He immediately turned on the news.
“Supreme Court legalizes same-sex marriage across all 50 states” – the headline screamed at him from various news channels. Everywhere, he saw people celebrating the ruling clutching the symbol of LGBT pride. Jai stood in his living room, his jaw dropping. He couldn’t believe this was happening.
I hope Rohan is watching this, Jai thought gleefully, tears in his eyes. I so hope Rohan is watching this.
Jai and Rohan had met in graduate school and had become very close friends. Gradually, they had discovered their feelings for each other. However, societal pressures hadn’t allowed them to legalize their relationship and they’d been forced to keep it under wraps, even from their parents. That was seven years ago. Standing in front of the TV now, Jai was ecstatic. He’d tell Rohan today. He imagined the look on Rohan’s face when he’d tell him this news.
A sudden noise brought Jai out of his reverie.
His wife Swati walked into the room. “Honey, the kids have woken up. Will I be taking them to basketball practice or will you be doing it?”
__END__
