Last Sunday, I read a news article about two Bengaluru
cops who were suspended after they extorted money from a couple returning home
from a party, insisting that according to the rules, they were not allowed to
walk on the streets after 11 pm. The married duo had their phones confiscated,
were put through a gruelling interrogation and threatened with imprisonment if
they didn’t pay up. The frazzled husband revealed the details about his ordeal
on Twitter and after his tweet went viral, the Deputy Commissioner of Police,
clarified that there was no rule preventing people from walking on the road at
any time of the night before taking action against the errant constables.
Now, this qualifies as a happy ending since too often,
justice is delayed and denied in India. It is also a heartening reminder that
occasionally, social media can be a useful tool to redress a wrong. However, I
couldn’t help thinking that this ugly incident is so typical in modern India.
For some reason, so many get outraged and there is a lot of finger – wagging as
well as outright condemnation when couples are spotted doing something as
innocuous as holding hands and walking on the road. Practically everybody wants
to throw the book at lovers if they so much as kiss in darkened theatres or
parks. The backlash is instantaneous and often ugly, forcing smitten youngsters
to sneak around and seek out isolated places far from prying eyes with the
result that they often put themselves at heightened risk for harassment,
blackmail, and further violence.
On the other hand, the average Indian doesn’t get hot
and bothered when folks piss and poop in public uncaring about the strain they
are subjecting unwary eyeballs to. Those who are critical about such
unacceptable behaviour are themselves criticized for not checking their
privilege and told that there are more temples than toilets in India, as if
this somehow makes public defecation acceptable. Most are similarly unconcerned
when gross uncles burp/fart loudly or dig their nostrils in full view of all
and sundry. However, the same people insist that all things remotely related to
love and sex be treated as filthy (chee!) to be confined to dark, dingy rooms,
preferably beneath suffocating sheets if you are married and strictly forbidden
if you are not.
After all, this is our culture, never mind that the
Kamasutra was written in India and temples at Konark and Khajuraho reveal that
in the distant past, Indians had a more enlightened view on intimacy and
erotica. No wonder so many of us are incapable of healthy relationships and
hopelessly ignorant about reproductive health or practising safe sex. We would
do well to go for an attitude transplant as a nation, instead of persecuting
lovers and blaming films like Arjun Reddy, Pushpa and Kantara for the prevalent
toxicity or there will be more news stories about couples getting killed or gruesomely
punished in a land where hatred and intolerance has prevailed over love and
acceptance.
This article was originally published in The New Indian Express Magazine.
