Subversive spaces and regulated desires: The heteronormative gaze in R. Raj Rao’s Hostel Room 131

Constructing a cultural framework, the heteronormative gaze operates as a regulatory force that upholds heterosexuality as the normative ideal, marginalizing and pathologizing non-heteronormative identities. By privileging heterosexuality, it perpetuates binary structures and enforces conformity within public and private spheres. Highlighting the inherent queerness within Indian social structures, R. Raj Rao has always advocated the homosocial fabric that characterizes male relationships in his different texts. Drawing from examples such as Bollywood films like Sholay, Rao illustrates how male friendships (yaar/dost) subtly reconfigure homosocial spaces, allowing non-heteronormative desires to be expressed in coded forms. These interactions, while appearing innocent, blur the lines between normative camaraderie and subversive queer expressions. In Hostel Room 131, Rao captures the pervasive impact of the heteronormative gaze on queer life, documenting the lived experiences of Siddharth and Sudhir as they navigate a society that alternates between normalizing and criminalizing public male affection. The novel explores how societal pressures, homophobia, and attempts at conversion therapy are wielded to enforce conformity, leading to psychic and physical trauma. This paper aims to explore the extensive impact of the heteronormative gaze and its repercussions on queer individuals as portrayed in R. Raj Rao’s Hostel Room 131. It seeks to understand how the novel critiques Indian social frameworks by emphasizing the friction between homosocial environments and the imposition of heteronormative standards. Through an analysis of the relationship between Siddharth and Sudhir, this study investigates how public expressions of male affection, though outwardly accepted, transform into arenas of both regulation and resistance.