Today, I'm doing the second ever Zoom interview with Mr. Suresh Pandas, who's Mr. Gay India 2019. Yes? Yes. We're doing an interview with Suresh because he's very unique, and I'm very honored to be able to include him in our series. So, you're in Bangalore, India, is that correct? Yes, that is correct Doug, yeah. I've never been there, but I've been to Delhi, Agra, Jaipur, and I've been to Mumbai more times than I can remember. Oh, that's nice. Yes. So, let's go to the very beginning. Tell us a little bit about your family and your early life. All right, so with regarding to my family, so we're just four, my parents have two kids. I'm the second born, so I would say that I'm a little more loved and a little more spoiled in every way possible as a second born, which is pretty much everywhere across the world that second born is more loved.  My parents were always there and there was no differentiation in any sort of kinds. But I think all the differentiation of who I was started when I go to school, right? First and foremost, yes, I did have a little bit of mannerisms and behaviors which were very feminine. And so I was been in the center of attention for the wrong reasons. And there was another reason also, which is, I'm for sure, you may not kind of comprehend it completely, but yes, color, skin tone as me being dark, you know, was something as an issue for me, not for me personally, but for people around me. And I was always been called out various names for my color and for my mannerisms. So right from childhood, you know, I was always been made feel bad about who I really was. Not an easy time, but I decided that I'm going to kind of survive that. I was getting very angry, very frustrated. And my only way to release the frustration was, yes, I used to cry a lot, because that was one way of, you know, getting things out of my system and not being part of any groups. Even in school as part of the curriculum, you need to be associated with the groups or with your, you know, classmates. And I really hated that for a simple fact is they were the ones where bullying and calling me names while I had to interact with them, play with them. So right from young age, I really didn't like sports, which were more of a teamwork. So I hated football or cricket or even basketball as a matter of fact. But I had this inclination towards sports. So I started getting into athletics because, you know, that's a single person sport. And I also kind of navigated towards playing tennis. So I'm a huge, huge tennis man.  I love to, but I don't get the time or the opportunity. But I used to play tennis until all the way to my university. So I was a university level tennis player. And I always like to say, Steffi Graf is my idol, my fan, and my then online trainer as well. So I used to record all her matches and those, you know, those tapes that you used to get and then rewind them, watch them every time again. So for me, I think that was my way of really getting my frustration out and getting my anger out through playing sports. Why don't you have the chance to play more now? It's just that it's timing and there are not many tennis courts available. And even if they're available, you know, the timing really does not work. But yeah, I would love to. I do have two tennis rackets with me and every time there is a grand slam that kind of comes up and I'm like, you know, taking the racket and I'm kind of swinging and doing all that jazz that kind of works on. But yeah, hopefully I'm just pushing myself to, you know, see if I can really get there. So I would love to do that. Moving on, I think there was an incident in my life which kind of was a little bit of a motivating factor for me, which I'll talk a little later. But I think with that strength or with that push that I had, I was able to survive my school and my college days as well. So yeah, I mean, it's not been easy, but at the same time, you know, I think now looking back, yes, I've learned quite a lot from those days. Yeah. You mentioned skin tone a little bit ago. Yes. Yeah. How is that viewed in in society in Indian society? Oh, India was like, I mean, to be honest, I think most of the Indians or majority of the Indians are, you know, probably the wheatish or the dark skinned or the brown skinned people. But we have one of the biggest and the largest, you know, consumption or the consumers for fairness creams is in India. We're close to a $50 million market or I'm not sure it was a $50 million or $50 billion market, but you can see the number of people wanting to be fair. Fairness creams are at its peak here. Again, you know, if you have to go back a little bit in the history as to why this fairness thing kind of really crept in was thanks to again Britishers. They came to India, conquered us and they stayed there for 200 years and they always kind of said that the fairer sex is the better sex. But, you know, if you have to look at our history, look at our architecture, go back and look at some of the painting that were being drawn, which were in color and none of them were like, you know, majority of them were, you know, on the darker side, or the darker skin tone, but still, you know, because of Britishers coming in and being with us for 200 years, they kind of really made us feel shitty about our culture, our skin tone, anything and everything about our, you know, the habits that we had. So this was one of them and this kind of really inculcated into the culture for such a long time that anybody dark is down upon or they are considered to be of a lower class, you know, so that's how they used to kind of associate. And this saved a lot of problem for many, many people. I mean, as a guy, imagine if I'm going through this, girls have it even harder because, you know, when it comes to the time of marriage, then they always want, no matter how dark the guy is, the guy always wants a fair girl.  You know, so it has been very, very, how do I say, it just hampers your confidence when, you know, people start talking about parents love you, your your relatives may love you for who you are and your skin tone. But it is the society and all the media and all the kind of information that gets passed on. We start feeling shitty of our own skin color. Yeah, so yeah. Do you feel you have resolved that issue within yourself? I am still in that process so you know to go to this thing. Actually, there is this little bit of an incident. Excuse me a little bit of an incident which happened in my life I think when I started working when I was in Bangalore. Until then, you know, I was really never confident on my skin tone because I always rejected as well. Oh, you're dark. Oh, you're not interested in dark boys and all of that jazz. But I think I met this lovely British couple who came down and they were staying in Bangalore for a while. And I met them through a common friend and you know, we hit it off right so we hit it off and you know in a fact that we were getting to know each other we used to party and all of that.  Or if you're being sarcastic right so I was curious about it and I said, why do you say that.  We are fair and we go to the sun we turn red we fall sick. You know we turn a different color. And for heaven's sake we have to go ahead and sit out we have to bake ourselves under the sun, you know so that we don't really have any issues but look at you. You're pretty much the same every time so I think I would rather have your skin tone than anybody else's you know, at the snap of a finger I would love to do that. And for me, I think with regarding to my skin tone issues or my skin color. I think that's where it kind of brought that whole change. Though I'm still struggling with it at times, but I think the confidence level which was at minus 200. It came up to probably, you know, 50 60% and you know, from there it was a gradual progress for me to accept myself and be comfortable with myself. But I still struggle at times when people compliment me for my skin color and all you're looking very beautiful or you're like the dark chocolate. I, you know, I want to believe it. And at the same time I don't want to believe it. You know, I'm kind of in that flow.  But then he loves my skin color and he adores me for who I am. But I still have that it's an ongoing process for me. You know where it's still not completely resolved but it's I'm getting there. Fascinating. Yeah. You mentioned as a little boy. Right. You had feminine mannerisms and whatnot. How did you learn about homosexuality when you were young? Or did you? To be honest, I really didn't know anything about homosexuality until I got into college. So I knew I was different right from the time I was in school. I knew I was completely different. Because when boys used to talk about girls and girls you talk about boys and I was like, why am I not able to think that ways? You know, I used to look at a boy and I used to feel so cute and you know those butterfly things that runs and you know you feel and you get that happy feeling. I was getting that when the guys in my school were talking about the girls and vice versa and I was like, you know, why is it anybody talking like this? Like what I'm thinking. And I was not able to share with anybody because I was getting bullied. So I used to kind of shy away from, you know, even talking about my feelings in that aspect. And, you know, for some reason I thought that I'm the only odd person out. I'm the odd kid out in that. And I think until I came into college when I had access to internet is when I got to know that, oh, there is something called gay, there is something called homosexuality or, you know, guys can like guys and girls can like girls, all of that. So I think the word gay, I think I got to know only when I was in college. I was able to. So when I was one of the days when I was going back to my hostel rooms is when I kind of said that out loud to myself, Hey, Suresh, I think you're gay. You know, when I was able to say that to myself, I felt so relieved. I felt so nice about myself.  I think that was, you know, yeah, but I still didn't tell anybody about that because I was not sure because nobody spoke about it that time. Right, so everybody was talking about, oh, I have a girlfriend. Oh, the girls you see, I have a boyfriend. Oh, I don't like girls. I don't like boys.  No, they were friendships, but there was nothing of this of the same sex. So I really wasn't sure where it was going. Well, if you accepted it within yourself, at least at that point, tell us about how you came out then. Wow. So after coming out to myself, I think during college again, I decided to come out to my best friend at then.  I just wanted to brush off, you know, those topics and conversations. One day I decided I'm going to come out to him. And I actually came out to him.  I, you know, this is who I am. I like guys and, you know, I don't know if you want to continue our friendship. It's absolutely fine if you kind of, you know, step away from this friendship. But I totally respect that. And I just walked off. I didn't wait for his reaction. And for the next couple of days I was, you know, avoiding him, not wanting to get into conversation because somewhere I felt a little, you know, bad, guilty, all of those feelings came like, you know, why did you have to save that out?  Why are you bringing our friendship in between this? You know, everybody has a type, right?   So you have a person who's, you know, from the same sex. I don't understand that right now, but I'm fine with it because end of day everybody has, you know, their own choice. So never ever bring our friendship ever again. So, you know, when he said that, I think that was one of the most, I think important moments for me because that he was the first person that I really, really came out to after coming out to myself. So I think that really boosted my confidence, you know, from that first perspective. Yeah. How did it progress from there? Oh, it was crazy. I did come out to a couple more, but then it didn't go that well. But I still didn't get bothered that much. And I think as time progressed, I had to come out to my parents. Okay, so here's a little thing about India. I'm for sure everybody knows that in India marriages are predominantly done arranged and parents play a very important role in that. And for me, also, it kind of happened the same way.  You know, you need to take your family forward so you have kids and all of that. While I was telling them, you know what, I don't want to get married. It's not a thing for me.  You cannot do that. You know, so I left it to them. I was still avoiding. And also in India, what happens is that we have something called horoscopes. You know, so horoscope matching has to happen. And even that time also the horoscopes were not matching.  So why are you forcing me? Yeah, so in India, it kind of works. A lot of them actually have this, how do I say it's an alignment of your stars and all of that, which kind of comes in a paper. And based on that alignment, you know, you try and align yours with the girl that you want to get married to and see if it really is for the better. Hopefully there's no going to be issues and blah, blah, blah. And parents believe in that and put up with everybody in the culture. It's an Indian culture. So we believe in that. So that was not happening. And my mom was saying, no, Suresh, don't worry. You know, for every person, there is another person there in your life. So we have to search for that other person and the search continued. And finally they found a girl. And I was like, okay, all right, so it's time to have a discussion. By that time I knew about myself.  I have a lot of friends who are girls, but nothing, you know, physically, right? It's only emotional connect and I can be the best friends and all of that, but nothing more. And I've made this conscious decision that I would never ever get married to a girl because I don't want to mess up her life for no fault of hers. Right. So when the time came, I told my parents that, hey, I'm gay and I don't want to get married to a girl because I'm not sexually attracted to a girl. But I have those attractions towards a guy. They flipped. They really didn't understand what I was trying to tell them. And it was a tough time. So, you know, there was a lot of anger, frustration and, you know, crying definitely. And I think, you know, a lot of things my parents took on themselves saying that what did we do wrong in our upbringing?  Then why are you like this?  Did we do something in the past? Or, you know, they went back to their wrongdoings. They said, oh my God, did we do something wrong that is affecting you like this and all of that. So it was difficult. But I think I held my fort in the fact that I said, you know what, I'm not going to fall for pressure. I'm not going to fall for the emotional blackmail that's going to happen, you know, and say that I'm going to give it into marriage. So I had made myself clear. And I also told them that I would never, you know, leave them. I would never leave them and go away for this reason. But I also had a backup plan in the fact that if my parents had to throw me out, I reached out to my friends and I was ready with a bag. You're saying that if my parents are going to throw me out that I'm going to come over to your place and all that. But I think my parents don't hate me for who I am or my choices. I think they're more concerned about my future. If I'm not getting married, then what's going to happen to you in the future? Who's going to take care of you? Because for them, they are very much in that, you know, sphere of thought process that only a woman can take care of a man and she completes him, right? It doesn't go anywhere else or it doesn't go any other way. So for them to digest or even process that was a big thing. But I said, you know what? I'm going to be there. I'm going to be happy and I'm going to have a happy life. And I, you know, they still stay with me. So my parents live with me and I'm very much, you know, there and all of that. It's a process for them. And, you know, after that conversation that I had, a couple of three months, it was not that great. But I think they're slowly understanding. They've not completely understood. They still shy away from having those conversations. But they never forced me to get married again. So they said, you know what? Yeah, this is your life. But at the same time, we would love for you to get married. But what to do? You know, I kind of realized that there are hopes and dreams of me getting married have crashed. And they're still struggling with that. So I know that, you know, it's going to be an issue for them. But I'm going to be there be supportive and walk them through this process. So yeah, I mean, that's my, I would say coming out story to my parents. But yeah, how do I say? I mean, I've been fortunate enough to have parents who didn't kick me out or throw me out. And they struggle to understand, but they are there. They're supportive. They know quite a few things about me. And though as comfortable as it is for them, they're kind of letting me live my life. So I really appreciate them for that. Yeah. That's incredible strength. Yeah.  Right. So I think I need to respect that. I need to honor that in every possible way I can. Absolutely. But yeah, it's my understanding that Indian culture is conservative about homosexuality. Am I correct in that? I'm sorry, I didn't get the question now done. It's okay. It's my understanding that Indian society is very conservative regarding homosexuality. Yeah. How do you see that? I mean, again, as I said, you know, again, thanks to Britishers because before Britishers coming in, I think India was very, very inclusive of everybody. And homosexuality was their lesbians with their trans community was very much popular and very much there in the, you know, society as such.   We are the land of Kamasutra. We invented sex and we told people how to have sex. But look at us now.   No, yes, yes, the kissing has gone a little bold. But before, if, if, you know, if a guy and a girl had to kiss, they would show that it's kissing, but then they will get something in between that like your two flowers.  It was never, you know, as a table of, you know, a conversation on the table. So it was always like, you know, between parents and parents do it, whatever they have to do does. And when the kid grows up and when they get married, they figure things out. You know, it's all about they will figure it out. And, yeah, I think with regard to homosexuality, that's how it really came in again because of section 377, you know, that being there for such a long time that kind of really, you know, brought in a lot of issues for us.  They brought it even to the religious conversation saying that it is wrong. It is a sin. As you know, I mean, Christianity says it's a sin.  Even Hindus say it's a sin. But I think our, you know, our culture, Hindu culture, our mythologies everywhere. I mean, there was, I think gender fluidity was very common. We had the gods transitioning to, you know, from a male version to a female version.  And we spoke about trans community in a different form altogether. Our Indian mythology has so much of acceptance of, you know, various or, you know, the whole spectrum that somehow it got lost in years to come.  It's not the right choice because society looks down upon it and it is not a good thing to do. So, yeah, we still struggle. But for the, for the international audience, would you please explain what is 377? Okay, so section 377, I will give you the exact statement of what it says. Just give me a quick moment. I'm going to pull that up. So they called it that anything a carnal intercourse against the order of nature is considered punishable, is considered as a punishable offence. So if you need to have sex, you need to do it only when you are planning to procreate. If you're not procreating, you cannot have sex. Or how do I say if you have any other form of sex, which is anal or oral is considered to be against the order of nature.  It is considered to be against the order of nature.  And this was again, you know, Britishers really brought it in and they messed it up for us, you know. So I will read out the exact, you know, law which says whoever voluntary has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal shall be punished with imprisonment for life. Or with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to 10 years and shall be liable to fine. So that was the law. Wow. Yeah. So it was crazy and it was predominantly against used against the gay men and the transgender community. Now, lesbians were never a part of this because they are intercourse never involved penises, right? There was only vaginas, so they were never caught on it. And, and also the heterosexual, you know, all the men, the straight men enjoyed it because more the better. Right, instead of one woman, now you have two women who are having fun. So all the straight men used to enjoy lesbian porn more. Right, so it was never considered to be a taboo, but it was considered to be a, you know, a good thing. But when two men come into picture, they had issues and the trans community when they come in, that's an issue because there there was no penis vagina.  So, I mean, yeah, that that that law brought in a lot of issues with the community, especially the gay men. So the police used to bribe or used to go ahead and force them into bribery by you have to give them money. You know, there was a lot of harassment bullying in every possible form. So it was not easy.  Right, so they always given for that whole bribery or that, you know, thing, because you cannot go back to the cops and say, you know, he was harassing me. He was asked why, you know, it's like, Oh, I was with another guy. Okay, so what are you doing with that guy?   So, yeah, I mean, it is still an issue. It's still a huge issue, but I think with the law getting away. I think the conversation has really come in from various aspects in regards to trying to normalize the conversation that yes, we exist. And we are very much part of the society and you know, yeah, there's a lot of work that's been happening since, you know, September 6, 2018.  Oh, I came out in 2014. So that was four years before section 377 getting away. But I think, as I said, you know, if I have to go back and tell you there was this incident in childhood that I kind of went through. So, because of the bullying and the harassment that was happening, I decided to kill myself and not once but three times. I tried to kill myself three times and it was unsuccessful. But the third time something really stopped me. Something really stopped within me saying that Siresh, you cannot do this. This is not the right thing for you to do. There is something, you know, that you don't know right now, but there is something there for you, which is there in the future. At that point of time, I really didn't understand, but you know what that because that calling came in so prominent and it was very strong, I said, okay, I'm not going to do it. And I made a promise to myself that day, you know, no matter what happens, I am going to go ahead and fight it out. Whatever the situation comes in, I think I'm never going to think of ending my life and I'm going to fight it out and I'm going to battle out no matter what I'm going to march forward. So that's why if you remember I said, you know, my childhood, my schooling and my college was not that great, but I said I had to move on because I knew that I had to go past this and I need to figure that out.  And that encouraged me to, you know, identify myself, talk to my friends and, you know, come out to my parents because I kind of knew what it is.  And I kind of, I keep telling this, you've kissed dead, so what's going, what more is going to scare you? Nothing. So go forward with that. Good point. Right, so yeah, so I mean, anybody comes to me and kind of talks to me in a different way, I can give it back to them. What are they going to do maximum? Yeah, kill me, all right, go ahead, but I would live my life the way I want to live, right? So that was very, you know, that was very strong in me. And I think after coming out to my parents, I felt this relief that I was not scared anymore, you know, because I was always worried about who's going to tell my parents that, you know, their son is gay. So now that that's over, that's behind me, I was like, you know what, there's no stopping back. So I actually came out on Facebook in a very different way. So after coming out to my parents, I decided I'm going to walk my first Pride March. And, you know, I did that. And I think the next day morning after the Pride, I got up with a very happy smile on my face. So the dream was very clear and very vivid. I was at the edge of a cliff, and I was looking down at people. And I was screaming out loud and saying, I'm gay, I'm happy, and this is who I am. And the people below are all the folks from school, from college, some of them from work as well.  And that's when I decided, you know what, I think the world needs to know now. And I opened my Facebook. That time I was a social media, you know, I was pretty much on social media all the time. And I opened and I did a life event on Facebook, you know, saying finally out of the coming out of the closet, out of the closet. So that was my headline and I kind of wrote a little note on that and I said, you know what, this is how I'm going to come out to everybody. Wow.  I don't know how much is true because I go by people based on face value, if you're good to me, when we're having a conversation, I'm good to you. I don't care what you're talking behind my back because I think by that time I was way past it.  I know people are going to crib about me or do something. But for me, what I knew is I just need to go forward. Right. So with that intent, I was just moving forward. And I think my kind of life took a complete different amazing turn ever since I came out. Everything was going as an upward graph. Be it at work, be it with my advocacy about the community everywhere. So it was all, you know, the upward graphs. I was very happy about it. And my friends were very concerned. I would say that because I came out in a time when section 377 was still there. There were like more varied. Hey, Suresh, what's going to happen to you? You're kind of putting yourself out there, you know, on Facebook, on a social media platform where people can see you and know what you're doing and all of that. And I said, you know what? I'm tired of being scared. I think I'm done being scared of, you know, what are people going to think about me? I'm like, let them think any ways they're going to think. Yeah. Whether it's good, bad or ugly, they're going to think any which ways. So with that, why do I have to live my life in a very different way so I can live my life the way I want to.    That was my, you know, intent.  And that's why I want people to remember me that I was, you know, I was not fake. I was genuine. I was honest. And I was being myself. So, I mean, that was a kind of boldness that I went on with and that kind of, you know, it didn't rub people the wrong way, to be honest, I think I was very approachable.  I never was aggressive. I was the very, I used to collaborate a lot. I had people who are against the views. Also, I would say, all right, that's your view. That's absolutely fine. But can I live my life? You know, I'm not going to step into yours. You don't step into mine. Let's move forward. Right. So with that intent, I think I didn't rub off to people, but a lot of people got, you know, encouraged, they got motivated and all of that. So I felt I'm doing something right. You know, so yeah, that was me about being out and open there. Yeah. But how about professionally? Has it impacted you work wise? To be honest, again, there I was fortunate. I think my genuineness and my authenticity kind of really came through. I came out again. I came out to my manager and like, you know, again, it was a Facebook event. So I did have my friends and colleagues as there as well. I think they applauded me for who I was and for what I was doing. But I don't know what they spoke behind my back. Again, as I said, I was really not concerned about that. But anyone who came across to me spoke to me. They kind of just said good things about it. Right. So I didn't kind of face that sort of discrimination that a lot of people face. To be honest at workplace also, I initially for, you know, in my organization, I've been there with my organization for 16 years. But the first 10 years I was in the closet very much until I came out to my parents. But after that, I was very much, you know, honest and, you know, being there and I put my work front, right. The first priority was work and that is the reason out there, but I was also being myself. And that kind of really pushed and, you know, my productivity, my creativity, everything went completely authentic. Right. So I was no more hiding behind anything and all of that. So they could see that my work was getting much better. And surprisingly, I only got support. I was very, again, as I said, I'm very fortunate. You know, I would say yes, I am that privileged person as a privileged out gay man who had a good, you know, support from various people. And for me, it was more about how do I bring this out? How do I talk about this to people so that, you know, others get motivated. You know, be it the straight people or even people from the community who can get some confidence, some strength that they can just be themselves. Well, tell me a little bit about the gay scene in India.    So we had pretty much those cruising spots, you know, in India as well.  I think the lesbian community, there were not many lesbians out there. And even if they were there, we're very much, you know, hidden or not very out. But the gay men were up there and, you know, we went to bars and there was parties happening. And yeah, I mean, I think since the law being removed, I think there are some of these places which have been inclusive. But there is no specific prominent place. We don't have something like the Castro Street in India.  But then we have these small pockets, one, two bars here and there, which are supportive.  So he has opened up his hotel to all the gay community up there, which is called the Lullet group of hotels. It's called Lullet group of hotels. Okay. The Lullet, yeah.  We don't have sonas. Yes, I would love for them to come down and see if they can happen. I visited them when I was traveling, but yeah, you don't have them here. And parties happen every weekend. There's a Saturday night party which keeps happening in almost all the big cities. The small towns are not yet there, but well known places. Yeah, you know, in Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai and then Bangalore and some of the IT places. And you know, the software technology cities are also being very out there. So yeah, we do have it's growing, but again, there is a little bit of reservation, you know, but we are changing. We're trying to work on that and tell them the bigger side as to, you know, we have the money to spend just, you know, accept us and just let us in and we will spend the money for you. Tell me about your title, Mr. Gay India. Tell me all about that. All right, so this has been starting off from 2014-2015 is when it kind of started off. It was more focused on community events in the sense like are you out? Are you proud? Are you of the legal age?  So this was more specific towards gay men, right? As Mr. Gay World India, so age no bar, color no bar, you know, physical stats no bar.  So for me, I think I never knew about this until I really started, you know, doing a lot more work for the LGBT community. Within the corporate space and then, you know, taking it further, talking to a lot of organizations and, you know, while meeting a lot of people, this sort of thing came up. And I was like, by that time I was already in my, you know, 30s, mid 30s, I would say. Okay. And I was like, you know, should I really do it?  You know, for me, I always saw that on television. And somewhere down the line, I envisioned myself to be a part of it. Right. There was this, this was young boy, you know, young boys, you know, passion or the dream to walk the ramp and all of that because that was something that I really enjoyed. I did try to be a part of it. Again, I got rejected because of my color and my mannerisms and all the ways to walk and all. So I said, hey, can I do this now? And I told them I'm 37, you know, can I just be a part of it? Or they said, yeah, obviously, I mean, jump in if you have the internet. I was like, wow, okay, let's go with it. You know, but I think on a larger context, I wanted to see how I can reach out beyond corporate space because this opportunity gives me, you know, an opportunity for me to go to various other sections of the society, be it colleges, be it schools, be it to even, you know, grassroot level conversations. And I think that really fueled, and I wanted to also break some stereotypes. Firstly, at the age of 37, you can still dream, you know, because in India, once you become 30, it's like, you're almost half dead. You know, that's how it is. Like, you know, ageism is again something which is very prominent in India because, again, it's a very heteronormative society, right? By the age of 30, most of the guys and girls, girls are getting married even faster. But for guys, 30 is, you know, the age when they get married, they settle down, you know, plus or minus two years. So between 28 and 32, a guy's married off, right? So then they say, Oh, you've moved into the next phase of your life, which is a family life, right? So then you have your other responsibility.  So with that stereotype coming in there, I wanted to break it that you can't really do what you want to do.  Now, if you don't have a partner, oh, you're getting old, oh, who am I going to find? What are you going to do in your life? You're going to be all alone. Now, at that point of time, also, I wanted to kind of tell people, yes, you can go beyond that, you know, you can do your dreams. Because by that time, I had traveled abroad for a few places and I was able to, you know, figure things out. It's not that a bigger deal to be 35, 36, I think that's a ripe age or a good age.  But a lot of them here were really not sure. So I said, can I break that stereotype?  Because, as I said, being fair is considered for everything, anything, you know, being fair is good. I want to break that. And being an IT professional, this is not something that a regular IT person would want to be a part of.  You start using hair, then you're, you know, there are a lot of these, you know, small little cultural issues which kind of become a big problem for men. And then the other thing is about, we have this differentiation between North India and South India. So a lot of people from South really don't do this. It's mostly people from North. So I wanted to break that stereotype as well. So I want to just break stereotypes and bring this conversation that we can really do something as well there. So with that intent, I went and I wouldn't say that I didn't want to win. I always wanted to win. But I said, I'm going to give my best. Whatever happens, I'm going to have a good time because I'm going to go meet people, go to meet some amazing panelists, amazing judges and learn from them. And I won. And I won that. And I think when I got the, you know, prize when they gave me the trophy, I just went back to the time when I was in childhood, which I, you know, spoke about that purpose in life. What is that purpose in life that you have. I was able to see that purpose in life then when I was handed over that prize of winning Mr. Gay India. I knew I had to do something for the community because I think all the things that happened in my life from that moment when I try to kill myself. And that I won the title. I knew the whole process of building and, you know, the way I was getting molded by I think the universe or the forces of the universe knew or pushed me in that direction. And I was able to see the jigsaw puzzle pieces very clearly then. So, you know, I was a trainer. I am a trainer. So, and, you know, I wanted to make sure that I speak good, you know, languages, at least English. I used to speak well. I used to make myself clear. And I used to make myself confident, you know, so all of that lost thing as that young boy that I had, you know, given up on life to the time that I had kind of won the title. I knew what my purpose in life was. So I think that was my aha moment. Like, yes, now you know what you need to do. So I never shy away from having conversations with people I never shy away to go to, you know, organizations or events and do this because I know this is what I need to do. I have the privilege, you know, as, you know, from a friend who has been supportive to a parents who are kind of accepting to an organization which is supportive friends who are also very more I mean my colleagues are very supportive with that position privilege and opportunity can I do a lot more for the community. You know, I think that was my bigger intent and during that time and by that time I was already in a relationship. And my partner was very supportive. You know, with that being said with all the good things that I had my back and I kind of go reach out to the masses, tell them yes there is a possibility at 37 you can win a title at 35 you can have a boyfriend. You know, you can have a partner you can do things that you really want to do. Wow. You know, so I was like, wow, okay, let's do this let's go on and I got opportunities to speak at various, you know, places in India and abroad as well. You know, I mean, before the Mr. Gay World India title also I did do as from a workplace perspective. But I think even after that also I did get opportunity for me it's all about talking, you know, if I'm outside India I talk about what's happening in India. And when I'm within India I talk about these grassroots level issues where people, the heterosexual people have the opportunity to bring that change. So can I influence them, can I touch that chord, which you know can trigger them to, you know, become a supporter and ally for the community, I was doing that. I kind of knew that, that Mr. Gay World India had a purpose and now I know what that is. Where is the contest held? Mumbai. Okay, is it? Yes, it is every year, the last week of January, which culminates most of the times into the Pride March. So the winner of Mr. Gay India, he walks the Pride March in Mumbai. Oh, I didn't know there was. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Fascinating. Yeah, it has been happening. So, oh, that's fascinating. So are there other organizations in India that support gay people? There are a lot of, you know, community based organizations, which are very much there. So every, you know, state has a lot of these CBOs, they call it so community based organizations, CBOs, or NGOs, you know, nonprofit organizations. So you have the CBOs and NGOs which work on grassroot level issues, be it for LGBTQ issues on a high level, it could be people living with HIV awareness, then, you know, for sex worker communities as well. You know, in the LGBT community also it's more for the transgender community because the trans community India is really, really huge and in the sense it does a lot of work because trans community in India is more prominent and than the lesbians and the gay community because they were out there all the time. I think even when, you know, the government of India recognized the trans community as the as the agenda though it is not appropriate but at least they gave them that recognition so a government, you know, forms, all the official forms by the government have male, female and others. So the others are to be inclusive of the transgender community, yes. But what about other aspects of the community? You've mentioned of course gay, lesbian, trans. Do you have a kinky community, other groups? Alright, so in with regards to BDSM or the king community or the king culture, it's very pocketed and it's very, very secretive because again, sex is a taboo. So with this kind of, you know, excess pleasure or extra pleasure is considered even more bad. Right, so I mean I was from a young age again thanks to porn. I got this opportunity to kind of, you know, look at leather so and kink and all of that. And I was never sure where does it really happen or what happens and blah blah because India there was nothing of this sort happening. And even if it used to happen, it used to happen among the high class society people. Right, so for me, my first experience I would say was when I was in the US in San Francisco. Yeah, and I was fortunate enough to attend the Folsom Street Fair. Yeah, and I think that kind of really, you know, gave me the opportunity to explore in the sense to understand, learn and get to know what it is all about. See, yes, Folsom was there, but even before that I did travel and I did come to US before. I did learn from other people as well.  So I was just learning all of that then. But Folsom took me to another level and I kind of knew then I kind of knew, you know, what am I taste, what do I like, what is that I don't like, what excites me. And for me, I wish we can really bring that I've been trying to see if any, are there any people who are from the leather community here who are interested genuinely. But there are not many up there who are quite open and, you know, talking about this quite openly, but I'm trying to, you know, see and build and connect, but yeah, there's not much happening, you know, but I'd love to because I think we are quite pinky. It's just that I wish on the right way. You know, I think it's all about getting to know the right process and the right things and the right ways and how you can go about and enhance your pleasure. So yeah. Coming back a little more serious now. There's a lot, unfortunately, there's a lot of violence toward transgender people. How is that in India? Sorry. I just went a little off the network, I guess. Can you hear me now, Doug? Yes, I can. So the question was, okay, sorry. Yeah, can you repeat your question? There's, unfortunately, there's a lot of violence toward transgendered people in many places. How is the situation in India? It is not easy, I would say, but having said that, it is not that difficult as well, I would say. I may be, you know, I'm not sure if I'm going to get beaten up for this or whatever saying the wrong thing, but you know, I think the trans community in India is by large a very strong community by itself.  The hijra community is quite prominent in India and everybody knows about them. With that being said, they have their own foothold in places. Yes, there is abuse by the police, there is abuse by the general public also, but I think it doesn't get that violent and extreme like how much we hear in the US and in Europe a lot more. And, you know, because from centuries and centuries, we know that there is a transgender community, the hijra community is very well known to everyone. And they have their ways of surviving is through begging on the streets or through sex work, right? So with that being said, they are very known or very much known in the community and in the society. It is just that they're not integrated into the society. Now, I know how the West or in the US, you know, though the Native Americans did have this as the third spirit or the second two-spirited people, but somehow it got lost. And, you know, they never considered the transgender community to be. They still think that it is a new thing, but it is not. It has been there. It is just that they don't acknowledge it. And I think the awareness factor for the trans community in the West is a lot more less, and that's why it becomes a little more violent. And also the other day I was watching this show on Netflix. I don't remember the name. It was about the transgender community and the visibility that they were having.  Give me a minute. I'm going to pull that name out and tell you because I am telling everybody about this that you need to go watch that show. It was an eye-opener because I think the way even media was portraying the trans community was not in the right way. So I think that's when people are thinking the trans people are psychopaths or serial killers because that's how they were going about with that. So I will quickly share that name, if you don't mind, because I put that in my list of watching as well. And I'm recommending that to everyone possible. Saying that you need to go watch that. Okay, for some reason I'm not getting that now. It's called contagious or something like that. Okay, if I don't get it now while we talk, disclosure, yes. Disclosure? Disclosure. Okay. Yeah, it's a documentary series which was just released a couple of, I think a week back. So it is a must-watch. It is about all the trans community which have a representation and the struggles that they have gone through in the form of Bollywood, in the form of Hollywood, in the form of regular awareness. So I kind of realized that and then I was thinking about, you know, but in India, how it is, yes, the trans community are very well known. They're always seen anywhere. Yes, they have looked down upon the, you know, they've put it in a very derogatory way, but the existence is not lost. They're very much prominent. I think in India for some of the gay rights movements or the LGBT movements, they are the first ones to come out there and fight for it. Good. You know, yeah. So I think the trans community, I think across the globe have been the ones who've been very vocal and who have kind of contributed a lot towards the LGBT movement in their specific countries as well. I think even the same in the US, right? It was the trans people who kind of came out. I mean, the whole Stonewall incident was because of the trans people out there and the police brutality that kind of really came in. Even in India, if you see anywhere that you see, you know, even during the Pride marches, you would see a lot of the transgender community people coming out there celebrating being themselves while the other sections of the community also being there. But they are there out in the front coming out and doing the work as well because they are somewhere associated to the, how do I say, they're associated to the nonprofits and the CBOs as well. So they kind of really do have that whole conversation going on there. What advice can you give to people in India who want to come out? An advice, I think first and foremost, accept yourself for who you are, come out to yourself first, and then I would say don't give up or don't give in to family pressure. I know it is very easy and it's very prominent. Don't give in, but at the same time, be independent financially as well so that if something does not go right, then you need to take off and find your way to mend. And even if you're not able to, I think there are a lot of organizations and a lot of help that one can find now these days through the social media and all of that, that we can try and help you out. So there is a way to live your authentic life, just be patient and find the right time because a lot of environments are not very good, especially during COVID situation is really horrible. A lot of people are staying in very homophobic environments. So don't give up, hang in there. Once situation gets better, take a call and do the right thing. What is the biggest misconception about you? Can you repeat that question again Doug? Sorry, I think there were some internet issues. What is the biggest misconception about you? Misconception. I think I'm too arrogant, non approachable, things very high of himself. I think that's the misconception people have. And yeah, I mean, that's what I've heard. People think I have attitude and yeah, yeah, all of that. Well, Suresh, I would like to thank you very much for this amazing interview. Thank you. Again, a pleasure being acquainted with you. And I hope I will meet you in person sometime, either in Europe or in India or here in the US.


me. Eight of 10. Von Miller for the Bills. And sweet level, Jamar Chase to 49. Nice one there for the Bengals. Boye Maffe, Snoop Connor. Silver, Traylon Burks. Blue, Jalani Woods Rookie to 25. Nice one there for the Colts Color Match. Juju and a Lamar Jackson. Drop you guys on LinkedIn number four now. Number four is the last break we currently have with spots today, 17 to go. Paul Lamb taking one each of the Bowman. Thank you, Paul. Silver, Alan Robinson. There's a red to 49. It's gonna be Russell Wilson. Nice one there for the Broncos. Broncos Country Let's Ride. Axel and Matt Rine. Disco to a Tiger by Loa. The Dolphins. Good Dolphins. Plano Key, Isaiah Spiller. I think that's a Uno de Inno. I believe that is. Mike White, Matt Brown. Come on, baby, let's see somebody big. Mike White, Matt Brown. I think so. League Willis, Erica Zucano. Gonna be one of one, Mac Jones. Go to the Patriots. Let's go. Black Disco. Congrats, New England. Who's got the pats?  Vinnie L, yes it is. Congrats, Vinnie. Number 14 on the year. How to select, baby. One of one, Mac Jones. Let's go, dude. Very nice.  Congrats, buddy. Christian Watson, Rookie. Silver, Kurt Warner. Red to 49, Kirk Cousins. Kirk O'Chains. Rashid Shahid. And Zeke Elliott. All right, we'll take that for sure. Nice little one on one, Mac. And the Roeback Patriots, that's one too. Yeah, do like favorite units. Do like those. Those are clean, man. Silver, Jalani Woods. Red, Christian McCaffrey. Color match to 49. Nice one there for the Niners. Hidden Hurst. Base. There's Trent McDuffie on the disco. Hey, Jalen Hurts and Aaron Rodgers. Kobe Dean, Adam Thielen. Red to 49 for the Vikings. Vikings picking up some nice hits there as well. Logan Hall and in Hudson Center, Rookie. Down to 16 to go, everybody. 16 to go. Last break of the day. Ooh, a gold again. Silver Bob, Rhonda Elmore. That's gonna be gold, Hassan Haskins. Nice one there for the Titans. Seven of 10, gold disco, very cool. Take that all day long. There you go, Tennessee. Nicholas W. Rats, buddy. Collar Gordon and a K-Von Tibidou. One of the K-Von Tibidou. Kenneth Walker, Rookie. Silver Bob, Austin Eckler. Red, Amon Ross St. Brown to 49. Lions, Hassan Haskins, Saquon Barkley. Another gold, Jordan Brooks, Sweet Level. Four of the Seahawks, four of 10. Here we go, Seattle. Nice one there, Victor O. Dylan Parham, Gabe Davis. Another gold, back-to-back golds. Jamar Chase, Brian Hanger, some punter mojo. Let's go, seven of 10. Let's go into the Cowboys. Let's go, Dallas, David S. There you go, buddy. Jack Jones, surely he won't do anything bad in an airport. And David Montgomery. Surely he won't bring two loaded firearms into an airport. Silver, Traylon Burks. Red, Magi Sanders to 49. Nice one there for the Cardinals. Tom Brady and Trent McDuffie. Nice break there again, everybody. That was Dallas at Everett Kegler. What's up, Tocque? Tocque, it's been a minute. What's up, dude? There's Blue, Jelani Woods. These are off to 25. Ron Dillmore, gold to 10. We had four of them. Vaughn Miller, Hassan Haskins, Rookie, Jordan Brooks, Brian Hanger, and the one-on-one. Mack Jones, Black Disco for the Patriots. That is gonna do it for the break, guys. Thanks again for the fill. Up next, number three. David F. for the spots. Mike B. with a spot in, triple threads. I would probably just bet it. We're down to 15 to go now, everybody. 15 to go. Yeah, Randy. Yeah, that's what I'm saying, dude. Honestly, dude, Bobby, jeez, man. Jonathan with a spot. Let's go, Jonathan. Give me one second, guys. I'm gonna ask for some. Claw, one-of-one platinum. That is nasty, dude, on the throwbacks. Raptors and Clippers. Luckily, this is a left-side serial numbers break. There's the Demons Fettel. And how about a red wave to five? Joke on you, rookie. No way already. Boom. Wow. There we go, Pittman. Had the gold of this exact card for you. That is some last-pack magic right there, Steve. First place. Congrats, Matt. And Brown's Jim Brown. Out of four, all-pro just passed away in the past few days. Rest in peace, Jim Brown for Cleveland here. One-of-one, Larry Fitzgerald. Star Swat signatures. Wide receiver madness, Larry Fitzgeralds. He signed the whole lot recently. That's a legend right there. One-of-one, Logo Patch Auto, Star Swatch. That is from 2020, actually. Larry Fitzgerald. Check this one out. We got Zool Auto numbered to 50. It's gonna be Bo Nicks and Caleb Williams. Boom. Sick one there. Caleb Williams, the Heisman Trophy winner with a C as well on the patch, 30 of 50. Got the Oakland A's. Super, rookie super. Juan Yepes. Rookie Superfractor, Cardinals. St. Louis, Brandon B, eating ice cream. It's like eating ice cream cake. Sketch, original canvas sketch, one-of-one. That's cool. Congrats to the White Sox. That is an incredible sketch. Yeah, nutty buddies are great too. That is a fantastic sketch. Look at that. I don't know Trout. It says the original art card. The artist is Trout. Like Trout? Just says Trout. That is incredibly clean. Time to go fishing again for Pete. 43 of 49, that's a Trout. Congrats on that one there, Pete. Mike Trout's on the auto. Let's get after it, Pete. Congrats, buddy. What's up? My name is Tink. Thank you for watching Nathan Sports Star. We'll see you right back. Sean Smoltz. Oh my God. Look at the patch on that. One-of-one. Dirk Nowitzki, Game Ward, Laundry Tag Auto. Ka-boom. Chun Wei W with Dallas. W on the tier two spot. One-of-one, Silhouettes. All right. Taylor taking a spot. Thank you, Taylor. All right, I got this random thing. Messin' around here. Type some randoms in, Dylan. P, Anthony P. Billy W. Rad C. S, Lice. No, Timmy, I think Matt's off today. Yeah, Matt's off today. Yeah, he's off today. No, no, he breaks tonight. He does tonight? I think so, yeah. He's over on, he's doing Personals on channel two, I believe. Oh yeah, scratch.he is here tonight. He starts at five. So yeah, Andre P, Anthony D, Billy W. I know Billy, yeah, Billy W. Brad C, Brad S, twice KD, three times. Christopher C, Colby C, Darryl B. David S, twice Edward P, here, EW. Jason L, three times Justin G, Macaulay T. Nathan C, Nicholas W, twice, Nicole C, twice. Ronnie B, Sean M, Sean P, and Tony Y. Cool, good to go. All right, let me get this set up. We'll get going on this random, like a couple of minutes behind again. I'll end in probably like five minutes behind or so. Let me double check on spots really quick here too for the next one. Nine to go on the next one. Nine to go on our last break of the day here, guys. This is number three, right? Yeah, yeah, is he not? I just wins the Masters and falls off. I'm Rambo, what are we doing? Going on everyone, Sam here with latent sports cards, doing the random for 22, but then he selects football, each two hybrid five box break, number three random team style, 30 participants, 30 teams and combos, let's roll the dice. We're gonna go a total of seven times. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven. Brad C, down to Andre P, seven times on your squads. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven. Rams Raiders, down to Steelers. Brad C, Rams Raiders, Darryl B, Titans, Jason L, Seahawks and Niners, Nicholas W, Eagles, Brad S, Bucks, Billy W, Lions, Nicole C, Jets, David S, Bangle, Sean M, Jags, David S, Bills, Christopher C, Cardinals Browns, Brad S, St. KD, Chiefs, Sean P, Broncos, KD, Texans, Colby C, Cowboys, Justin G, Colts, Nicole C, Patriots, KD, Falcons, Macaulay T, Chargers, Anthony D, Panthers, Gary W, Commanders, Nathan C, Ravens, Tony Y, Vikings, Edward P, Dolpins, Nicholas W, Giants, Ronnie B Bears, Jason L Packers and Andre P, Steelers. Got these copied over, guys, get started right away. Thanks again, everybody. Again, guys, just nine to go in number four. Last break of the day, only break with spots remaining. Let's get that sold out. Eight to go, actually, eight to go on that one. Chill, chill. Good luck, everybody. One, Sam here with late in sports cards, Ripon 22, Panini Select football, H2 Hybrid, five box break, number three, random team style. There's a look again at your random results. As always, you can find those on the websites, under the results tab, as well as the link in chat. Yeah, I would say it's like an average of about five autos per case. I mean, two autos per case, two autos per case. Yeah, we pulled one in the first, none in the last one and then potentially one in this and one in the next. We'll have to see. John Walker, Silver, DeForest Buckner. Green is Cameron Jordan. Nice one there. That is gonna be five of five. Nice one there for the Saints, Son Haskins and Malcolm Rodriguez. That's what it was, Lash. That's what it was for basketball. Basketball sometimes you only get one, two. J-Mo Rookie, Cam Taylor Britt, Tom Brady Disco, nice one there on the premier level, right? Yep, Dylan Parham and Gabe Davis. Red, Traylon Burks to 49, sweet level Rookie. Nice one, Titans. Jack Jones, surely he won't do anything in an airport. And, take one, Berkley. No, no field levels in it. Nope, no field levels. Kenneth Walker, that I'm happy about because that stays strictly in hobby. Where it belongs. Silver, Nick Benito. Blue, Micah Parsons to 25, sweet level. Nice one there. And base. Yeah, field level should be only hobby. That's how I look at it. There should not be in retail, should not be in H2O. Gotta be something. There's gotta be something that keeps you, keeps retail and hobby away from each other. Another green. Wow. Silver, Deandre Hopkins. Green, Johan Dotson. There we go. There we go, Gary W and the Commanders. Four of five. Nice one there, buddy. That's awesome. J-Dot, what are we doing? Let's get it together, everybody. Come on. Walking in the doors. Closing doors. Sheets. I was at the Mar-Hamlin Rookie. Disco, Dax Hill. Trey Lantz and Jelani Woods. Red, Tyler Linderbaum. Nice one there to 49 for the Ravens. What's up, Slumber? Damon Clark. Crystal Lave. Silver, Kway Walker. Blue, Aaron Rodgers to 25. For the Packers, 12 of 25. Jersey-Dumbered. Nice one there, Green Bay. Orlando Brown. And A, I say likely. Who is likely, gonna be a good pick. Six to go, I believe now on... No, one to go, how'd I got to one? Well, thank you, everybody. We're down to one spot left on the daytime here. Another gold. Silver to Roe Bernard. Gold, Travis Etien Jr. Three of 10, nice one there, Jags. The gold Etien. Basin-Base, Jalen Ramsey, Akeem Hicks. And Jeremy Rocket-Rookie for the Jets to 49. Make up it's Patrick, John Mechie. So two greens and one gold so far in this half case, not bad. And Jersey-Numbered, Rodgers. Blue, Justin Jefferson to 25, six of 25. Scary Terry, A.J. Dillon. Silver, Jake Ferguson-Rookie. Red to 49, Greg Dulcich for the Broncos. Nice one there. Zion Johnson, DJ Moore on your rookies. I mean, not on your rookies, on your base. Zion Johnson, Rookie, DJ Moore-Base. I'll say DJ Moore-Numberer. No, DJ Moore is no longer 2018, no longer a rookie. I don't even think he's on his rookie deal. Yeah, obviously. Silver, Chase Claypool. It's gonna be a red, decked Prescott to 49, Concourse. Ryan Asamoa and Brock Purdy, Rookie, there we go. Who's out there now? No, it's just a Silver. Or a Discos, sweet level. Sean Watson, Kim Jurgens. Another Green, there's the Green. There's gonna be a Green in here. Skylar Thompson, Josh Jacobs, sweet level. Nice one there for the Raiders, one of five. That's on that Raiders, Brad C. There you go, buddy. Josh Yacobes. So that means there were three Greens in this five box. Essentially maybe one more. Silver, Skylar Thompson. Red to 49, Juju for the Chiefs. Nice color match there. Julio Jones, Devonte Adams. Last box of the Great Good. Look, everybody, let's do it. Let us see something here. Silver, Bailey Zappi, nice one there. The Pats, Blue, Dallas Goddard to 45, excuse me. The Eagles, Majai Sanders, Gino, Crystal Lave, Rookie. That's Disco, Zion Johnson, Rookie for the Chargers. Let's go, two Briggs, two hits. Let's go, Slumber, Dresden Abner. They're coming up here, Juan Brisker. Hayden Hearst, nice one there for the Bengals. To 49, Matt Ryan, and Deandre Swift. And Silver, Lamar, Blue, Hunter-Enfro to 25 for the Raiders. Taylor Haddocky, Isaiah, Spiller. Do a quick recap here. Pretty solid brand, I mean three Greens. You can't really hate on that. We had Blues to 25, Hunter-Enfro, Dallas Goddard, Justin Jefferson, Aaron Rodgers, Jersey number 12 to 25, Micah Parsons, Gold Travis, ETN to 10, Greens to five, Cam Jordan, Josh Jacobs, and Jahan Dotson. That is gonna do it for the break, guys. Thanks again for the fill. Up next is number four, which is still I believe at one. Let me double check this really quick. Nope, sold out, thank you, everybody. Wow, that's incredible. Nine spots, literally just disappeared. Thank you all, I appreciate that very much. All of our daytime breaks are sold out. Forrest will be going live in just a bit. He has got a lot of cool stuff tonight. Bowman Sapphire full case, that's at nine. The first one's at nine. Nine and 20. Top Scrum at 24, Triple Threads at three. Two definitive divisions, 21 mosaic, fast break. Tiered at 10, 23 and 23 on flawless. Only 21 to go on our mega dual case. Last one we're doing this year. Mega dual case, flawless eminence, by the way. And Forrest has the hot hand on those, for sure. Select H2, 28, 28, 28, and 28. Select divisions at five. Leaf Pearl, random hit style at eight and eight to go. Let me drop you guys a link to the break schedule really quickly. Then Forrest going live at five p.m. Live at five. Get this random type then whoa. P, Brian F, Daniel L twice. David F, David F three, or David S three times. Edward P, Evan S, Gary W twice. Jeffrey M, Jonathan W, Justin E, Holly T, BC. Nicholas W twice, T twice. Paul P, Ray G. Sean M, Steven L four times and Taylor P. David F, David S three times. Edward P, Evan S, Gary W twice. Jeffrey M, Jonathan W, Justin E, and Macaulay T. Matthew C, Nicholas W twice, Nicole C twice. Paul P, Ray G, Robert G. Sean M, Steven L four times and Taylor P. Perfect. Cool, cool, cool. Thank you all again. Matt will also be live over on channel two tonight, ripping some personals. I know he's got a little bit of a queue in right now, so check him out. What's going on everyone? Sam here with late sports card, doing the random for 22 p.m. Select football H2 hybrid, five box break, number four random team style. 30 participants, 30 teams and combos. Let's roll the dice. We're gonna go five times. One, two, three, four, five. Ray G, down to Taylor P. Five times on your jeans. One, two, three, four, five. Seahawks down to Bears. Ray G, Seahawks. Daniel L Niners, Nicholas W Patriots. Stephen L Dolphins, David S Panthers, Jonathan W Giants, Andre P Commanders. Nicole C Vikings, Justin E Cowboys, Paul P Chargers, Brian F Ravens, Edward P Titans, Nicholas W Falcons. Stephen L Eagles, Nicole C Packers. David S Jets, Sean M Colt, Gary W Chiefs, David S Cardinals Browns, Evan S Jags, Daniel L Lyons, Matthew C Bucks, Stephen L Saints, Gary W Broncos, Stephen L Bills, Jeffrey Abrams Raiders, David F Bangles, McCauley T Texans, Robert G Steelers and Taylor B Bears. You got these copied over guys, we'll get started in just a moment. All right, give me one sec guys, I'm gonna step out for just a minute, we'll get going. Let's go dude.  What a box man, back-to-back one-of-ones. Her caption? Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. Scoot Henderson, let's go. It all James, Scoot Henderson. Ooh, why are you gonna show that to us, man? One-of-one Framed Auto, Jeff Bagwell, Astro, Congrats, Stroze, one-of-one Hall of Fame Framed Autograph. That's gonna be our first one-of-one Platinum foil. Kauai Leonard, the claw. That is nasty, dude, on the throwbacks. Raptors and Clippers, luckily this is a left side serial numbers break. There's Demon's Fettle. And how about a red wave to five, Joe Guan Yu rookie? No way already. Boom, there we go, Pitman, had the gold of this exact card for ya. That is some last pack magic right there, Steve. Let's go, congrats, Matt. Jim Brown. I said, taking some spots in our playbook mixer and Origins mixer, thank you, buddy. All right, good luck, everybody. What's going on, everyone? Sam here with late sports guards, we're in 22, we need to select football H2O, hybrid five box break, number four, random team style. There's a look again at your random results, as always. You can find those on the website, under the results tab, as well as the link that's in chat. So good luck, here we go. Silver, Jared Goff for the Lions. Red, Isaiah Spiller to 49, nice one there for the charges. Ryan Asamoah and Joe Mixon. Christian Watson, nice one there on the sweet level disco for the Packers, rookie. Dishon Watson, Cam Juergens. That is Nicholas Petit-Fourette to 25, nice one there for the Titans. Oh, Lionloft, Devante Wyatt and Tua Tagawa Loft, League Willis rookie. Silver, Skyler Thompson rookie. Red to 49, Chris Olave. There you go, Saints, 44 or 49. Julio Jones and Devante Adams. So I think it was an Instagram post. I think yeah, it was an Instagram post yesterday. It was like the top remaining create agents and Julio Jones is number two. Everyone's like, man, never did I think I'd see the day where Julio Jones would be sitting in for agency. Yeah, honestly, it's crazy. So true. Drake London rookie. Silver, Aaron Donald. Red to 49 of Calvin Austin of these Steelers, nice one there Pittsburgh. Mike White and Brady. Red, Tom Brady to 49, nice. 49 of 49, last one stamped. Kirby Joseph, Kyren Williams. Got up one Sapphire coming up after this everybody. Garrett Wilson rookie. There's Michael Pittman Jr. Blue, Bailey's happy to 25, one of 25. Good rookie, happy, that's happy. That's Justin Fields, Christian Watson rookie. Silver, Matt Jones. And Justin Jefferson to 49 for the Vikings. Wondale Robinson and Russell Wilson. Thank you all again for getting everything sold out today. I just appreciate that very much. That is awesome. Very, very much appreciated. Silver, Boya Mafia. Red, Zeke Elliott to 49, nice one there Cowboys. We got a Hayden Hurst and Abraham Lucas. Sam Howell, they serve Donald Jermaine Johnson. There's a Cade York Disco. Rookie for the Browns, base and base. Picket rookie. Blue, Derek Stingley Jr. to 25. Nice one there for the Texans. Logan Hall rookie and Marcus Jones. Silver, Rhonda Elmore. Red to 49, Kyle Hamilton. Nice rookie there for the Ravens. 49 of 49, Kyler Gordon. And a K-Bon Thibodeau. Silver, Josh Allen. There's a blue, Deandre Hopkins to 25. Sweet level 16 of 25. Nice nuke going to the Cardinals. Zemir White and E.J. Dillon. Devonte Adams to 49, 49 of 49. Josh Allen and Jared Gall. Traylon Birch. Red, Evan Neil Rookie to 49. How many more breaks you got? Just one more after this. Oh, that seems like the fastest. Oh no, what's the fastest good? Oh, it's very easy. You could probably guess it's the first guess. One, two, three, four, five, six. Silver, Traylon Birch. I told you. Gold, Lamar, nice for the Ravens. Seven of 10. Brad's on that ball, some more. Should I make a TikTok right now and just post it to the US? Make one of them just like you looking at the camera. Yeah. Wow, who made this film? It's a fine piece of cinema. Silver, Collar Murray. There's a Chris O'Lave. Gold, nice one there for the Saints. That's gonna be three of 10. Congrats on that. Nola's got the Saints in this one. Stephen L. Let's go, Stephen. Nice one there, buddy. Get that into a mag for ya. And Channing Tindall. Red is gonna be Tyron Matthew. Honey Badger to 49. Kirby Joseph and Tyron Williams. Okay, there's a yellow. Damian Pierce. I know. Blue, Davis Mills to 25. The Texans, Justin Fields. And AJ Tarell. Collar, are we playing four later on or what? He's been hiding. Zero cards for me today, feeling good and you just got a card. Brian Robinson, Silver, Mac Jones. Brandon Hayek to 49. Wondale Robinson and Russell Wilson. I don't know, the ref saw something he clearly didn't like. Clearly the ref saw something he didn't like. Blue is to 25. Davis Mills, Deandre Hopkins, Derek Stingley, Bailey Zappi, Nicholas Petit-Farre, Gold Lamar Jackson to 10, and Gold Crystal Lave. Three of 10. That will do it for the break. Thank you guys again for the fill. Up next is F1 Sapphire. Said over. So I'd like to hear it.  Over. Over. I don't know if I'm playing with this ref, though. That's actually funny. That's great, that's great, Aaron. Not in the morning. I'll drop you a link to the break schedule. There are some tonight. I think there's a mosaic basketball, fast break, optic choice tiered, two flawless left side serial numbers in the mega dual case, eminence and flawless.  Thank you, buddy. See if this ref can get on tonight. The second you're able to, just let me know. Yes, sir. You gotta do this battle pass, dude. Yeah. Look at these, I got these Transformers. Try to get off to this front, dude. All right, I've got Alvin twice. Jonathan W, Michael T, Nathan R, Paul M, Jeremy H, Jonathan W, Michael T, Nathan R, Paul S, Paul M, Paul M, Paul S, Paul M, and Y, Wayne. I got you, Golden, you got it, buddy. Nah, unless you deserve a red card, you will not get one, which Kyle does deserve multiple, multiple cards. Kyle, you downloaded Overwatch, right?  Good Overwatch, it's fine.  What do you mean, Overwatch two? That's even worse. What? That game stinks, dude. That game stinks. That game stinks. That game genuinely stinks. I never played Overwatch, but it stinks. That's why. What's going on, everyone? God, Sam here with Lay in Sports Cards. We're doing the random for 22, Top's Chrome, formerly one, Racing Sapphire Edition, five box break, number 26, random team style, 10 participants, 10 teams and combos, or 10 combos, I should say, let's roll the dice. Gonna go twice as a re-roll. Gonna go 11 times instead. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10, 11. Alvin S, down to Calvin L. 11 times on your teams. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10, 11. Haas Dams down to McLaren, Sheru. That's what I'm saying. See, Kyle knows the vibes. Alvin S, Haas Dams, Jeremy H, Red Bull Composts. Alvin S with Alpine Prima, Y Wang for RE Trident, Michael T with Aston Martin MP Motorsport, Jonathan W with Alphatari, ART Grand Prix, Paul M with Williams-Carlin, Mad Amsterfoot, Paul S with Mercedes and High-Tech, Nathan R, Alfa Romeo, Virtuosi, and Calvin L with McLaren, Sheru Racing System. Get these copy over, guys, we're gonna start right away.  You'll not catch me on the Overwatch hype train. I will not be aboard that train. What's going on, everyone? Sam here with latent sports cards. We're up in 22 top scrims, four of the one racing Sapphire Edition five box break, number 26. Random team style, there's a look again at your random results. As always, you can find those on the websites, under the results tab, as well as the link that's in chat. So, good luck, everybody. Lewis Hamilton, Iwasa Vershore, and Kimmy Ritman. What's up, Jeremiah? How you doing, buddy? It's gonna be a green. Charles Leclerc, nice one there, 275. For Ferrari, very nice. Total Wolf and Oscar Piotri. For this, you can just do everything 100 and under, so everything other than the yellows. Okay. No block, Dana Ricardo again, and Theo Porsche. Yellow, Marcus Armstrong to 199 for high tech. Charles Leclerc and Kevin Magnuson. Orange, Trennic Vesti, nice one there, five of 25, for air tee. Rats on that one, going to air tee. Jonathan W, Alonzo Espanolcan, Teal, Voltaire Botas, 299, 25 of 99, out for a mail. Hot loaders over here, my lord. We already got a red today though, so. Yeah, I can't get anything worse than that. I know, double red. Match is gonna have to be, these breaks are gonna have to be postponed. Enough players on the field when the top player gets thrown out. Makes you mock her for stappin'. There's Alexander Alban, 299 on the aqua, going to Williams. Lando and Liam Lawson, too quickly. Again, everything will be sleeved in top blood and this big stuff would be mad if we hit something. Caldwell, Sergio Perez. Yellow, Christian Horner to 199 for Red Bull. Bit of Paul D, Lewis Hamilton. There's a Sepia award winners. Lewis Hamilton, 200, nice one there for Mercedes. It is negative, Sergio Perez, 10 of 15, going to Red Bull. Nice one there, Jeremy. Grats, buddy. Your dad sort this when he comes in. I'm gonna top load it in. You're right here that it's out there. You got a top one there, you're just sorting out one. You're just sorting out one. Red, Lando Norris, nice one there, McLaren. Calvin L, three of five. The hand is warring over there. Dude, sounds like PS4. That's awesome, it does. You can add that one, too. That is a Charlotte Thur and McShumacher. See a Pad Corash of Pasadilla here. Lottery Botas, Bestie, Daniel Ricardo. Yellow, Logan Sargent to 199. Nice one there for Carlin. And a vase, that was the, my thumbnail has Lando on it, so it was a sign. Ah, ha, ha, ha, ha, look at that. Look at that. Lewis Hamilton to 100, Sepia on the variation. Congrats on that. Mercedes, going to Paul S. That's awesome. I should have welcomed McLaren spot. Honestly, I can add that. Verstappen, yes sir, yes sir. Blue, Sebastian Vettel, nice one there to 199 for Aston Martin. Green, JQ's, Van Amsterfoot, 54 of 75. Nice one there, going to Paul M. Stroll and Amari Corville. Got that red that you hit in the break. Yeah, I do. Nice. I think it was JQ's. I think it was JQ's, yeah. Nice, Verstappen, Grand Prix winner, Austria, 2021 to 99. Going to Red Bull, Max Verstappen. There's Verstappen, that is card number four on the variation. Sepia, nice one there. Congrats on that, Red Bull, vase and vase. Yellow, Verstappen on the variation again to 199. Nice one there. Here, Ghastly and Richard Bershure. There's gold, Sergio Perez, Grand Prix winner, Azerbaijan, 2021. 42 of 50, nice one for Red Bull again. Is it not the four? I thought it was, let me look. That's green, Lewis Hamilton, nice one there. Great Britain, 2021 to 75.  So many variations, look how funny. La, la, la, la, la, la, la. On the variations, like holding a flag or something? That's for card number one or card number two is them holding the flag. Like the Lewis is him holding the flag in that one. Yeah, the trophy flag, I think that's a different one though. No, but I think that's card number, it's a different. Different card, but still a variation, yeah. Or it's like a short printed one. Whoops, yeah, I guess it is, my pad on that one. What a bot, bot move on that one. Bot move, bot move, bot move. Not a variation, just card number four, nevermind. Yeah, it's the trophy one and the flag one. And there's one other one too, where he's like, I forgot, I could see it in my head, but it's not that one. What bot does that? I'm gonna get myself a yellow on that one for saying it's a variation, but it's not. Sebastian Vettel negative to, no, Sepia to 100, nice one there for Aston Martin. You see Noda versus Verstappen. There's Mick Schumacher, nice one there too at 199 for Hawes. Magnuson and Lando Norris, Vesti Ricciardo. Yeah, it is a yellow on me for sure. Here, Gasly to 75 for Alphatari. It's a big time yellow card to myself, I'll get myself a yellow for that. Nice one there for, where's the Alphatari? Russell and LaClure again. Yellow, Richard Ressure, a few of your stars for Trident, nice one there, to 199. You see Noda and Verstappen as well. Magnuson, Sergio Perez. Teal, Dany Ricardo, that I know is a variation, to 99. Nice one there for McLaren, McLaren did well. Marcus Armstrong, Fernando Alonso. Real quick recap here. Sepia is to 100, Vettel, Louis Hamilton, Wardwinners, Teal's to 99, or Aqua's, Alexander Albon, Max Verstappen, Dany Ricardo, Voltaire Votas, Greens to 75, Louis Hamilton, JQ's, Pierre Gasly, Charlotte LaClure, Gold to 50, Sergio Perez, Orange to 25, Frederick Vesti, negative to 15, Sergio Perez. Votmove here by me, Verstappen to 100. Thought it was a variation, but it's not. My bad on that one, everybody again. We had the Red Lando, that one's nice, to five for McLaren, and then we had the variation, Louis Hamilton, Sepia to 100 for Mercedes. That's gonna do it for the break, guys. Thanks again for the fill. Oh, nice, we got nothing. Let me drop you guys the break schedule really quick. Forrest will be live here in about an hour, 15. Definitely grab your spots. The break schedule is up. You also have Matt over on channel two, ripping personals tonight.  Definitely jump in with him. That'll be a good time. Very good time. So thank you all again for filling everything up. I do appreciate that very much. I will see you guys again tomorrow night with group breaks, no daytime tomorrow. So you're only stuck with me tomorrow night, really, which is, ooh, that's rough. Yeah, I feel bad for everybody. Yeah, but thanks again. Have a good one, everybody.


First things first, you'll need a terminal. I'm using the one that comes with my Mac called terminal. The exact application doesn't matter. Most operating systems have one built in by default. Second thing is you'll need node. If you have node, you likely have NPM installed with it. In the very rare case, you may not. We can see which node we have by typing which node and which NPM we have by doing the same, which NPM. Your node and NPM may live at different paths, but as long as this command returns something, you have what you need. Now, if it doesn't, you're gonna have to download node. Open up a browser, visit nodejs.org, and follow the instructions for download. Close that. Now, back in our terminal, I can find out which version of NPM that I'm using. I'm using 5.6.0, which is the latest as of this course. Anything you learn here will work in any version of 5.