One summer evening, after we’d managed to make our deadlines and made a beeline for a joint in Secunderabad, Vivek told me he was gay. Nothing changed. Life went on. To me, he was just Vivek.

Then, we lost touch. A few weeks ago – and many summers since the first summer of our friendship – I met Vivek at the Pune Lit Fest and asked him to sign his book for me. From writing frenzied articles as wide-eyed twenty-somethings to adults at a literature festival, we’d come a long way. It was little wonder, therefore, that I gave Vivek Tejuja's So Now You Know a thorough read in one sitting (because I had to). Written as a breezy memoir of his life, particularly of growing up as a gay teen, the book – describing a time before I knew him – gave me a whole new perspective on his life. Lines such as these spoke to me – “As far as I can remember, I always wanted to be someone else. To be anyone, but myself. There was something about me that made me uncomfortable in my own skin; right up until I learnt to embrace myself.”

My review of Vivek Tejuja’s latest book is interspersed with snippets from a conversation with him: