Gay poet asks for a quiet farewell

HYDERABAD: For someone who has spent a quarter of a century moulding the perception of sexuality in young minds, it is strange to hear Hoshang Merchant asking for a quiet farewell. The professor of gay literature and poetry at the University of Hyderabad feels that a lot has changed and after teaching for 50 years, he can instruct no more.It is apparently a change in the attitude of the University management that has made this silver-haired man with a twinkle in his eyes to do away with his course.“They tell me that students do not want to learn about Gay literature and recently I was called to Spain to lecture about Gay literature. I would like to leave quietly when I retire,” says Hoshang.Sitting on a parapet at The Hyderabad Literary festival, Hoshang says that students too are not what they used to be.“The way they (students) interact with each other and with teachers has changed tremendously due to the internet,” he says and adds that the current breed of students have exacting standards of how a ‘man’ should behave.“Teaching is a young man’s game. There is only this much my health will permit me to do,” he says.