In Focus
by Kinshuk Gupta

Hindi’s first LGBT short-story collection which moves beyond the trope of ‘coming out’ and pulls back the curtain on repressed sexual desire

Yeh Dil Hai Ki Chordarwaja is a groundbreaking LGBT short-story collection that goes beyond the clichés of ‘coming out’. Unlike contemporary short fiction in Indian languages, this collection imagines queerness in social spaces and the potential conflicts that arise when queer desire clashes with conventional ideas of love. The book provides a diverse range of stories that feature queer characters navigating their everyday lives and dealing with the abuse of heteronormative society and the complexities of queer spaces.

Through the tales of a young boy trapped in the world of Grindr, a woman seeking to feel desirable by having sex with her husband’s gay partner, and a couple searching for clues to their son’s abuser, this collection addresses themes of love and the struggle between individual desire and societal expectations.

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Kinshuk Gupta is a doctor, bilingual writer, poet and columnist who works at the intersection of gender, health and sexuality. His debut book of short fiction, Yeh Dil Hai Ki Chordarwaja, modern Hindi’s first LGBT short story collection, was published to great critical acclaim in 2023. He is the winner of prestigious awards and fellowships including the India Today-Aaj Tak Sahitya Jagriti Udayiman Lekhak Samman (2023); Akhil Bhartiya Yuva Kathakar Alankaran (2022); Dr. Anamika Poetry Prize (2021). He has been shortlisted for the Toto Awards for Creative Writing (2023); The Bridport Prize (2022); Srinivas Rayparol Poetry Prize (2021); All India Poetry Competition (2018). He edits poetry for Jaggery Lit and Mithila Review. He has been awarded the prestigious South Asia Speaks 2023 Fellowship to work on his poetry manuscript with Tishani Doshi.