In 2018, the Supreme Court of India ruled that section 377 is unconstitutional. But the problem does not end there. The homophobia in our society as well as inside our own homes is unfathomable. People still find it hard to accept their sexuality because they fear they wont be accepted or worse be ridiculed, abandoned or isolated. So sometimes, they go on pretending as someone they are not to fit the ‘normal’ of the society. Various stories surface on the social media, about young guys and girls who find it hard to come out about their sexuality. The feeling of guilt and the fear of losing their friends is a personal battle within themselves they must on an everyday basis.
Carolina Norbu, a singer-songwriter hailing from the hills of Arunachal Pradesh recently released a single titled ‘Him’, a song about unrequited love, in essence, but the issue at hand being much more complex. The song is about a guy who faces his own turmoils of loving another man but cannot muster the courage to admit it, while the girl being the guy’s friend who now knows all the secrets, feels the insecurity of losing him to another person. Both of them, thinking one way or the other about the third person – Him. The song was a collaborative project, home-recorded and produced during the lockdown, with the music production being handled by Kabir Jamatia and the track being mixed and mastered by Haggai Rongmei. On being asked about the inspiration behind the track, Carolina says “I had a friend who experienced it and gave them all the support I could during the time and as we were talking about it, lot of stories by other people also surfaced. This led me to imagine the scenario our country has right now and how I would feel if I were in those shoes.”
Carolina enjoyed listening to music and started writing poems at a young age to cope up with stress or to pen down a memorable moment. She believes in cherishing moments and emotions hence often writes about the stories and inspiring moments that she comes across. She started songwriting in high school when she was asked to write a song for a gospel album. That ignited her interest in songwriting. Her songs “Learned”, “The One”, “Spring” enamored with emotions were well received. She has been an active part of Arunachal Independent Musicians Forum (AIMF) and has collaborated with various artists from the state (The AIMF collective) for an awareness song in attempts to alarm the people about ill effects of climate change and future of environment titled “Will you care?”.
What would you do if you found yourself in the shoes of the person described in the song? Carolina has some wise advice. “First thing would be accepting the fact that one does not have control over their or other’s sexual orientation. Being true to your feelings as well as other’s, needs to be accepted. Ofcourse it would hurt to be in the friendzone but the least one can do is support them because without a trusting and reliable friend there would be no one to turn to and one would feel miserable in life, love and almost everything. Thus in the song too the girl empathizes with guy’s feelings. Listening, understanding and knowing that how he feels is as true as how she does.”
‘Him’ has been released via CD Baby, the largest online distributor of independent music in the world.
