BRAVE IN A NEW WORLD

Payal Dhar tells the coming of age tale with a new compassion that makes it altogether refreshing

- Neha Bhatt

IT HAS NO NAME

by Payal Dhar

RED PANDA

In a world so breathlessly preoccupied with labels—during the pandemic more than ever—to be free of them is to taste sweet freedom. Journalist and author Payal Dhar’s new novel, It Has No Name, offers that and more, cheerfully treading a path with fewer sweeping stereotypes, liberating its characters and equally, the reader.

We first meet Sami, 16, doing something she absolutely loves: playing cricket at her neighbourhood park. The next moment, she’s a ball of anxiety, alarm bells ringing in her head, as an elderly figure she recognises too well lumbers in, muttering the usual vile things to her: “What’s between your legs… are you a boy or a girl?” It’s a painful reminder of the brutal bullying Sami has faced through her childhood, frequently shamed, questioned and regularly misgendered in a number of ways for sporting her trademark buzzcut, love for “boy’s clothes” and not being more like other girls.

Her loving parents meanwhile believe she is one of a kind, even though they too feel at a loss at times—and this provides equal parts comfort and frustration to Sami. Increasingly, it seems she can truly be herself only when she is alone in her room, in the company of her shiny new laptop and a virtual world that is quickly opening up to her and revealing many new riches—and dangers—allowing her to feel free to explore and be just a regular gay teen figuring stuff out.