My brownness turns out to be a form of queerness in and of itself and makes me too queer for gay men.

Why is my humanity only seen or cared about when I share the ways in which I have been victimized and violated?

Take the word for love - only, there is no word for love. The word love in its Western concept cannot be translated simply into Tamil, because in Tamil, each type of love has its own name. Anbu means compassion and caring. Natpu means friendship. Kadhal means romance. But though all these different versions of love felt distinct for me, the loss of them felt exactly the same - Lakshman's natpu, Roopa's kadhal, Amma's anbu. The grief of losing each one occupied the same space in my heart.