Sandhu Colony isn?t the shining side of Amritsar. Rife with fetid garbage dumps, pesky bylanes and carelessly cobbled houses, it is the sort of place that seems to have fallen off the map of townplanners. But for the town?s tumbleweed underclass ? the sweepers and the peons, the motor mechanics and the small shopkeepers ? this is both their heart and home, the place where they anonymously lead their nondescript lives.

This lowly mohalla of invisible people ? where most women still dutifully watch the K-serials and where men firmly disapprove of movies like Girlfriend ? is also home to Raju and Mala, the city?s first openly lesbian couple. When the two women ran away from home last month, the city newspapers front-paged their story. Now that they have returned and are staying together, their private lives have been subject to intense media scrutiny. One local journalist even proudly claimed having asked the couple about their sexual life during ?those days? ? a euphemism for periods.

The neighbours have been less callous. But, undeniably, the couple is the neighbourhood?s talking point. For, while urban India is aware and slowly accepting same-sex couples, in small-town India, a lesbian couple is more of an oddity. When sitting in his Lawrence Road office, senior corporate Bimal Sharma just shrugs his shoulders and says, ?Everybody should have a freedom of choice. And they have made theirs. So what?s wrong?? he represents a minority view.

Away in the bylanes of Sandhu Colony, it is a different story. A mood of sullen resentment prevails there. Fear, displeasure, exasperation, resentment ? the mohalla is a collage of emotions that come out in conversation. When one argument goes as far as this ? ?The government will never oppose these girls. After all, such behaviour helps in population control? ? one feels that there is a bit of heterosexual paranoia at work.

Scooter mechanic Vinod Khokar feels that the two girls ? Raju, or Rajwinder, is 20 and Mala 19 ? are sending out a wrong message to the next generation. ?They have set a wrong precedent,? he says. Army havaldar on holiday, Balwant Singh, is of the view that the girls are imitating Western culture. ?Everyone thinks what the girls have done is wrong,? says his wife Rajwant. Khokar?s wife sums up the mohalla?s mood. ?We don?t like what they have done. But what can we do??

There is nothing to be done, especially since the law has stood by the girls. When Raju and Mala were presented before the duty magistrate last week on the basis of complaints of kidnapping filed by the police, the girls passionately argued their own case. The court said that since both were adults, they could live together at their own free will. No authority could summon them.

Life has never been more beautiful for the girls, now together in Raju?s home. Dressed in a red salwar kurta, Mala looks like any newly-wed girl in Punjab; she is wearing 33 bangles on each hand. On Tuesday, they went with their family to Gurdwara Beed Baba Budha Saheb in Chabbal, a must-visit shrine for every newly-wed couple, situated about 25 kilometres from the city of the Golden Temple. ?People recognised the girls. But nobody said anything,? says Raju?s mother, Ranjeet Kaur.

Kaur is firmly supportive of her daughter now. Not long ago, she had dragged Raju by her hair and beaten her up when she found out that her only child was more than just friends with the attractive Mala, a hospital helper?s daughter who lived just a few homes away.

It was the time Mala, too, had discovered her love for the boyish Raju, who could ride a motorcycle. ?When I saw her being beaten up, I wept for hours. Then, I asked myself why I wept so much. I knew then, I was in love. I confess that I love Raju more than I ever loved my father or my brothers,? she says.

The ardour was equally intense from the other side. When Mala?s parents got her to be engaged and set a marriage date for her, Raju ? who has Mala tattooed on her right hand in Hindi ? tried to commit suicide by consuming poison. If these women are not in love, nobody ever was. ?I never thought of the way the society would react. I just followed my heart,? says Raju, dressed in a khaki shirt and blue trousers.

Now Raju ? she, like Mala, has studied up to Class X ? is looking for a job. Any job. She is even willing to drive the tractor her father owns to help him keep the home fires burning. During their brief runaway phase, she had worked as a salesperson.

Not everybody has adjusted to the reality. A few days ago, Mala?s relatives threatened Raju?s family with dire consequences if they did not return the girl. ?We went to the police but they have taken no action,? complains Raju?s father, Mukhtar Singh, who transports soil on his tractor for a living. But the police officers contend that there is no cause for alarm. ?We will take action when we feel that the family?s life or property is in danger,? assures deputy superintendent of police, Ashish Kapoor.

But for the girls, nothing really matters. Nothing but the comfort of each other?s company. It doesn?t matter to them whether their runaway marriage, conducted before a priest in New Delhi, has any legal validity or not. For them, it was just a form of messaging their relatives of their strong intent, their unwavering desire to be with each other. Says Raju, ?Come what may, we will be with each other. Always and forever.? Mala smiles coyly and rushes inside.