as a homosexual boy growing up in Sri Lanka. Tanuja/Her Fatness – Arjie's snobbish cousin who dresses up as the groom during their game of "Bride-bride". A jealous cousin who gets Arjie into an embarrassing situation just to gain her superiority in the game of "bride-bride". Sonali – Arjie's younger sister. She supports him and understands him when others are harsh on him. Diggy – Arjie's brother. A stereotypical character representing what boys should be like. Named Diggy-nose or Diggy due to his habit of poking his nose in all affairs. Amma/Nalini – Arjie's mother, and first exposure to femininity. Arjie is fascinated with how she would get ready for special occasions and liked to watch the process. Appa – Arjie's father. The head of the family. He makes decisions on behalf of the entire family. Ammachi, Appachi – Arjie's grandparents. Well educated and belonging to the upper-middle-class strata of the society. They are killed during a riot when their car is set on fire with Ammachi and Appachi still in it. Radha Aunty – Arjie's aunt, and his father's youngest sibling. She returns from school in America and lives with Ammachi and Appachi. Arjie and Radha Aunty have a special bond. Anil Jayasinghe – Radha Aunty's romantic interest. Radha's relationship with Anil causes turmoil in the family due to the Sinhalese/Tamil conflict. Daryl Uncle – Daryl, a Burgher, is a friend of Amma and previous lover, who returns from Australia to investigate government corruption. Jegan Parameswaran – Jegan is the son of a friend of Appa, who comes to work for him. He was a former Tamil Tiger, although only admits to being a part of the Gandhiyam movement. Shehan Soyza – Arjie's love interest, whom he meets at the Victoria Academy. He made Arjie fully aware of his sexuality and its uniqueness. Black Tie – Very strict principal of the Victoria Academy. Believes that it is possible to extract work from students only by beating them up. Andre Arokiyasamy – Very funny short gay at the Victoria Academy, With strong ideology of pursuing his career. Themes Gender and sexuality Interplay between sexuality and gender is an important underlying theme in the novel, and it is most apparent in the spend-the-day events at the start of the story. Here, Arjie and his cousins enact a marriage scene in their "bride-bride" game. As the leader of the group, Arjie plays