Novel forms and spaces of homosociality that migrations have produced certainly provided men enough scope to give vent to their sexual desires. And it is possible that people, both Muslims and non-Muslims who came under their influence, refused to let go of the habit. There is a joke about a typical Muslim bisexual: that he would visit a restaurant with a younger man and order a biryani for the partner and a sulaimani (black tea) for himself (how it is said in Malayalam depends on the dialect in sub-regions of Malabar: Chekkanu oru biriyani, njammakkoru sulaimani is the one I am more familiar with. Writer Manu Pillai tells me a more popular variant is this: njamukke oru sulaimaniyum kunddanikku oru biriyaniyum. Biriyanile eri lesam kurakkanetto (chekkan is Malayalam for lad while kundan stands for catamite. The last part of the sentence in the second version is quite interesting. The older man is telling the waiter to make the biriyani less hot, hinting at sodomy). Although it is a habit that is more attributed to Muslim men, men from other religions are not far behind. It was not uncommon for bus stands and railway stations in the 1990s to play meeting ground for middle-aged men looking for partners in exchange for food and a fee. In the old Kannur bus stand, there was a gentleman often referred to as Mr Nambiar who had a knack for ensnaring younger partners. Most often, such courtships were friendly and incident-free. Of course, southern Keralites travelling to places like Malappuram and Kasargode often complained of being groped in buses. It always started with an amiable, warm smile, then a pat on the back and the dropping of a hand on your thighs as the assaulter turned the newspaper to read the next page. The idea was to keep trying until there was resistance. One of my teachers in Thiruvananthapuram never forgave northern Malayalis for a bitter experience he had in Kozhikode: a man sitting next to him on a bus started nudging him on his belly and pressed his own thigh against his. "These Malabar men are disgusting," he maintained until the day he died.

Malabar Hill

Bombay High

Hanging In the Balance

The Malabar Male

The Devotee and the Dutiful