Shakuntala Devi
New Delhi: Vikas Publishing House, 1977.

Considered the first published academic study of homosexuality in India, though in the introduction Devi states it is “the work of a lay person for lay people”. The World of Homosexuals begins with a lengthy interview with a closeted homosexual and ends with a strong call for decriminalisation of homosexuality, “nothing less than full and complete acceptance will serve–not tolerance and not sympathy. By our attitudes and our actions we must make it possible for homosexuals to come out of hiding, to live their lives secure in their right to be themselves.” Shakuntala Devi (1929-2013) was an Indian mental calculator and writer, popularly known as the ‘Human Computer’ for her Guinness World Record holding speed arithmetic skills. In a documentary Devi claimed that she wrote the book as a result of her marriage to a gay man, though this claim was later refuted by her daughter and son in law, stating that Devi likely just said it as a good selling point, and perhaps also as a petty swipe at her ex-husband. Regardless of intention or spin, the book is an important and scarce source of latter 20th century Indian LGBTQ+ perspectives and history.