Professional Documents
Culture Documents
id=792
Savita Bhabhi The second case is more bizarre. There was a cartoon pornographic portal which portrayed a lustful and ever sexually indulgent lady called Savita bhabhi. She was always having sex with assorted groups like door to door salesmen to neighbourhood kids to fashion show referees; the site was located in London. Its owner came out from his assumed name of Deshmukh to the real name of Puneet Agarwal. When his real identity became known, his family and community were aghast and he was forced to stop it. Pritish Nandy, writer and film producer, wrote in a national daily that Savita Bhabhi is a symbol of freedom, of empowerment, of the sexuality our women can wield if they are allowed to escape the sham world we Indian men trap them in because of our own fears of sexual inadequacy masquerading as machismo. Adman and TV commentator Suhel Seth added that the fact that she was called bhabhi indicates a perverseness that always existed [in India] but we were in denial about. This is the level of our mental bankruptcy and moronic approach to any social issue. There are many more of this type parading as intellectuals and social activists. These vultures are for the philosophy of anything goes. It is for the TRP and not for any value system. An assorted group of freedom fighters jumped into the fray to defend the right to pornography, when the family of Puneet Agarwal itself felt that he cannot do just any business just to get a return on investment. That man was shamed by his family and community, but the TRP crowd was in a nauseating brawl with government, regulators and all types of societal values, oblivious that they were shaming themselves. This trend started with the former Minister of Child Welfare [Renuka Chowdhary] starting a movement to fill up pubs with young girls as some girls were attacked in a pub in Mangalore by some fringe elements. The print media and TV, particularly the MSM variety, made a big issue of it and encouraged young boys and girls to go to pubs and drink. Drinking was made a virtue in the name of freedom and right. Page 3 has taken over the papers. It is time that all pages be numbered Page 3, perhaps as Page 3a, 3b etc. These whiners who hardly pay for their drinks - they are freedom fighters since they always want things free - have the audacity to suggest what is good for the women of this society. They are arrogant, abrasive, and absurdly self-indulgent. Indian society is accommodative and understands the complexities of human nature. It does not insist on linear behaviour. But the wretched and the crooked among our media want to pitch a war between modernism and antediluvians, and between rights and suppression. They have made a grave error of superimposing Western debate on Indian society.
We think that when shamelessness is equated with freedom and modernity, there is a need for transparency and full disclosure. The denizens, anchors, editors, and correspondents who parade such shamelessness as sacred should disclose whether they belong to such category? Whether they are from happily married families or from broken families? Whether they will encourage their wives and Bhabhis to behave in such fashion since it is a symbol of freedom? They should also disclose their love life, family life and children who go to school. And provide information if such freedoms are encouraged and provided to them. If not, others will put it in the public domain. These anchors and editors cannot get away from personal responsibility and personal behaviour when they speak of societal norms. It is high time some sections of our media at least expose these vermin who are out to peddle poison as freedom, and perversion as sacred. Let us understand the importance of shyness in some situations, and appreciate silence in many situations. There are still concepts of virtues and perversions, and let it not be forgotten in the TRP race.
The author is a Professor of Management; the views expressed are his own