Fruits of sadism

It was nearing 2 hours past midnight and I stepped out of my favourite urban transport medium- the three tyre rickshaw to witness an almost empty street except for two students from the neighbourhood boy’s hostel, who were smoking near the gate.

I paid the rickshaw driver and held the phone between my tilted head and raised right shoulder as per my habit. With thousand thoughts about the party I had just left behind and the day I was supposed to begin next, I dialed number of a friend who insisted on knowing about my safe reach back home. Hi sweety the voice on other end said and I reacted very naturally with a Hey honey, I reached, You take care, good night etc. routine without even slightest awareness of the audience who was judging me. In the next 60 seconds of my small walk inside my building gate which is generally shut after midnight, I heard the word fruit coupled with laughter coming from my spectators who I guess were sore about not getting their version of eye candy – my neighbour and a page 3 celeb girl with voluptuous figure and tiny clothes who returns from her night prowls at this hour.

Even though I did not think any higher of them than the derogatory opinion they had expressed for me, I moved on almost as though I did not hear. From that day I have been thinking about the right reaction I should have/ could have given at that point of time.

I am sure most of us have encountered many such encounters of homophobia and intolerance daily. Each time, such an incident adds to the already sour tang left by the previous one but still I have been tolerant and silent till now except for giving a cold stare which communicates my disgust and also how invalid that comment proved after my non-reaction turned it into a damp squib.

I wonder sometimes, what causes one individual to seek sadistic pleasure in ridiculing the other one for the differences. Does it ever occur to those who laugh on others that someone somewhere will aim for them and they would be hurt by the same evil sadistic tendency to laugh at differences?