A flap over knickers

Here’s a helpful suggestion to all the self appointed czars of Indian culture: bulldoze the Kandariya Mahadeva and all the other temples in Khajuraho and also the Sun Temple in Konark.

Alternatively, cover these temples with massive quantities of concrete to hide the sculptures that have made these temples world famous. That will save tourists—especially impressionable and innocent Indians—from the debilitating effects of viewing scenes of love-making and other amorous arts in the company of their families.

Then, the government must order the wholesale rewriting of history books—which it has already done, but for different reasons—to obliterate any references to these temples as icons of India’s cultural traditions. We’re now fairly certain that these were built, not by medieval kings, but by westerners intent upon spreading their debased philosophies among pure-hearted Bharatiyas.

That should, logically, be the next course of action for the prudish protectors of “Indian culture” in Maharashtra, West Bengal and wherever else they reside— never mind that Indian literature and mythology are full of references to the amorous pursuits of many revered heroes and heroines. The flap in their knickers over the presence of skimpily-clad cheerleaders at Indian Premier League matches beggars maturity, but is in keeping with the recent trend across the country of enforcing codes of “morality” based on double standards and puerile hypocrisy. These same double standards have blocked the introduction of sex education in our schools—despite India being on the threshold of an HIVAIDS epidemic. And surely, we haven’t become the world’s second-most populous country via an epidemic of immaculate conception! The dance steps and attire of IPL’s cheerleaders are no worse than what Bollywood heroines and “item” dancers routinely sport in almost every blockbuster. Yet, we’re told, these pom-pom girls will spell the end of our Indian-ness as we know it. Oh, come on; give us a break.

But on a more serious note, the traction that such “moralistic” demands are getting from a section of people points to a disturbing trend. We have to decide now: we can be a free, open society where different, even morally indeterminate, strands of thought flow freely, or we can become one that is regimented and policed by a bunch of hypocrites on the same ideological wavelength as the Taliban? If Richard Gere wants to kiss Shilpa Shetty and the lady doesn’t mind, who are politicians to decide what they should do?