{"id":1008,"date":"2010-04-01T10:09:08","date_gmt":"2010-04-01T09:09:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/poorlittlerichgays.com\/?p=1008"},"modified":"2010-04-01T10:09:08","modified_gmt":"2010-04-01T09:09:08","slug":"dhiren-dutta%e2%80%99s-late-night-tea-party","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/poorlittlerichgays.com\/?p=1008","title":{"rendered":"Dhiren Dutta\u2019s Late-Night Tea Party"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thursday 1st<\/sup> April 2010<\/p>\n

Dhiren Dutta, who is having such a success with his novel about lack of hygiene in India (and elsewhere, as it turns out \u2013 my God, it shows the underbelly, migrant workers, sprout picking. Very good. Better in many ways than White Tiger<\/em>), had a highly original cake and wine party at 8.30 in the evening.\u00a0 It was his birthday. Not at all Indian. None of those grubby little sweet paste things but meringue, Victoria sponge, muffin, all made by Dhiren in person. He and his partner have transported to a rented flat in London\u2019s Pimlico district while their kitchen is being re-done. Isn\u2019t that fuck-off and grand? They\u2019ve got their cat with them.<\/p>\n

Dhiren is new in my life, which is thrilling. I didn\u2019t think there\u2019d be anyone new after fifty.<\/p>\n

Helmut Mutti, the publisher, minus girlfriend, confides that intimacy was rife amongst the boys at his prep and public (that\u2019s junior and senior boarding schools if you\u2019re US or foreign). \u2018Older and younger?\u2019 I ask. \u2018Sex slaves? Abusive?\u00a0 Masters involved.\u2019 Apparently not. His eyes twinkle and sparkle delightfully. Was he embroiled? Who knows. But now for sure he is straight. He came out as such later during Arjan Bose\u2019s great outpouring about the clap clinic (read on). \u2018I\u2019m straight,\u2019 he said. It was an intriguing reversal. Twenty years ago in a social setting someone might confess: \u2018I\u2019m gay and I\u2019m glad,\u2019 while those around cast their eyes down.<\/p>\n

Robert Nevil very much to the fore, mostly with glass thrust out for a refill. He is in between gruelling bouts of the London Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, about which we will be hearing. Blanche Spain, the jewelled novelist, also, chiselling a very fine groove. I couldn\u2019t get near enough for content but I know she was soaring.<\/p>\n

The real sensation was Arjan Bose, the tiny Indian doctor friend of Robert Nevil\u2019s (even smaller than the latter if that were possible),who lodges in Frankie-Doreen Gunn and Giles Ullerston\u2019s basement flat. Known mainly for his stunning Indian fabrics teamed with Top Man. Rarely speaks but doesn\u2019t need to. Awfully handsome. Well, suddenly completely in his stride re: the clap clinic where he is presently serving. Big audience on the sofa, including frightening Indian woman novelist and Dhiren\u2019s ginger cat, which was resting on a chair nearby.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d heard from Robert Nevil that Arjan had had trouble locating the cervix, women in the hosp queuing up for him to practise on. Now he\u2019s moved on to men, mostly gay. They\u2019re pouring in, claiming to be having regular sex with three or four partners. When examined they get hard-ons. \u2018I haven\u2019t got a penis,\u2019 the frightening Indian woman novelist exclaims with fierce pride. The older ones are confessional: \u2018I\u2019ve been naughty,\u2019 they say. The younger ones are more brazen. Poor Arjan is bewildered and a bit depressed: \u2018What a revelation! Is this how relationships are?\u2019<\/p>\n

It would be fascinating if it were true – and rather Poor Little Rich Gay.<\/p>\n

Of course some of the patients are attractive. As their doctor, he has their phone numbers. But he must be professional and remote. He can hardly call up and say, \u2018How\u2019s your clamidia? Do you fancy a date?\u2019<\/p>\n

I heard once that midwives are professional-group-most-likely-to-be-single. You can see why. Only absolutely shit man likely to be met in circs of the birthing room. Maybe clap doctors are the second most likely to be single?<\/p>\n

Anyway, at the end of all this, our host is suddenly manifest, as a face, with teeth bared, from behind the sofa. \u2018I hate that cat,\u2019 he hisses. \u2018I want to ring its neck.\u2019 But he loves the cat, which is long-haired and quite elderly. I’m sure of it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thursday 1st April 2010 Dhiren Dutta, who is having such a success with his novel about lack of hygiene in India (and elsewhere, as it turns out \u2013 my God, it shows the underbelly, migrant workers, sprout picking. Very good. Better in many ways than White Tiger), had a highly original cake and wine party […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1008","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-adrain-edge"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/poorlittlerichgays.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1008","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/poorlittlerichgays.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/poorlittlerichgays.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/poorlittlerichgays.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/poorlittlerichgays.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1008"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/poorlittlerichgays.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1008\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1009,"href":"https:\/\/poorlittlerichgays.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1008\/revisions\/1009"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/poorlittlerichgays.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1008"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/poorlittlerichgays.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1008"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/poorlittlerichgays.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1008"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}