Ranveer Singh: The First Condom Man!

Well the jury is out. We have Ranveer Singh pretending to have sex, we have him singing sleazy songs, we have him repeating dance steps, we have him doing erotic moves and in between all this, we have him sing the line : Do the Rex. A cute little pun on Do the Sex. And aka Durex, The condom company .

And people like it! It is Durex ad and there is no discomfort, people watch it.

The lyrics goes on to say "Iss tale ki chabi ko tu jeb mein rakh,  Kya pata kab khul jai tera luck, Jab you and me raazi, toh phir kya shak, Just give it to me baby, I am a fine f**k " . I am not sure if Honey Singh had any role to play in this sexual revolution but Ranveer Singh might have promoted some amazing Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights (SRHR) in his rapping.

He tells people about choice, about pleasure, about information and about safer sex. All in the package of a bollywood number. What else do we need in an Indian Ad? We have the Bollywood songs, the sexy actor and the sex. A perfect little story and yet it says things that actors never dared to promote in mainstream.

Ranveer Singh is finally using his sex appeal and macho brashness for something productive and some enlightening in a way. He is being shameless and for a change it is for an amazing cause. Corporative Companies might have not thought about SRHR issues, but if it atleast makes talking about condom a little more comfortable, Ranbeer Singh you deserve a bow!

Durex, became the first ever company to bring a mainstream bollywood actor to come and endorse a condom company. I am little hesitant to call it an ad on safe sex, but yes, I am still give them the credit for bringing condom in the picture , with an extremely hot looking male actor and in between all the tamaasha promote pleasure within sex.

He speaks about sex, he celebrates pleasure. He goes all naughty. Even enacts some groovy steps, enough for Indian audience to go gaga. He smiles, smirks and even hits few women to spice up the screen.

The ad might have a lot of issues with it: be the hetronormative model, the ultra emphasis on man's pleasure, but as long as it puts the onus on the man to use a condom, as long it discusses a culture of condom usage, I will bear the dhichak music and dhinchak dance!

Durex has gone ahead and made him the brand ambassador. It has been reported that he himself has written the lyrics and rapped it. He believes in the lyrics and wants India to have safer sex. Point is: Is India ready to see him rap his beliefs on the primetime television. I am pretty sure, Arnab would want to know this, atleast the nation does want to know this.

Go Watch his groovy moves :

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1qEnquUFjw)

A Walk through Kamasutra text - A work in progress.

Treatise of Kamasutra is used as an authority whenever there is a discussion of erotica and homosexuality in Indian subcontinent. It has been manipulated by various authorities. I am yet to find people who have actually read this text. I have heard people referring to it as science of sex, a porn material, methods to enhance sexual life, but very few have read it. Very few have even seen the text.

I started reading Kamasutra as one of the erotic literature in Indian material. I never thought of this book as something with academic references. Maybe it was my academic background, that did not let me believe in mythology. It always sought for sources and authorities. Somehow I never thought of Kamasutra as a well researched material.

My entry point to Kamasutra was through lens of female sexual desire and different authorities that have discussed female sexual desire in detail in reference to Kamasutra. I was looking for a description that sought for female 'sexual desire' within the pleasure context.

Of what use is the practise of virtue, when its results are so uncertain?

Kamasutra 1.2.21

I was looking for treatises that discussed female desire from a woman's perspective. Things that she loved and things that she may please to do. Kamasutra has its own limitation as it perceives desire from a male perspective and sees the enhancement of female desire as a serious concern in relation to male desire. However Kamasutra still  provides us with a different understanding in comparisons to other colonial archive on sexuality that is available to us. It is one of the first texts which discussed the motivations of courtesans which were not influenced by the money factor.

Kamasutra contains of 7 parts, 36 chapters, 64 paras and 1250 verses. It is believed that goddess Rati herself revealed to Vatsyanna the secret knowledge entrusted to him by consort Kama, the god of love. Vatsyanna based his work on texts of his predecessors like Babhru ancient work on erotics.

Dattaka's standard work on prostitutes. Vatsyanana's work was considered revolutionary not for the text, but for emphasising the female desire and locating it outside the male desire. Previous to his work, it was considered by all scholars that female desire was similar to male desire. He was one of the first who established a difference in the way these two categories perceived desire.

Kamasutra is divided into 7 parts which are:

a) General Observations

b) Amorous approaches

c)Getting a girl

d) Rights and Duties of a wife

e) Other Men's wives

f) On Courtesans

g) Secret Practises

The text of Kamasutra derives its authenticity from various different texts that have extolled on desire. Vatsyanna presents his work as a compendium of opinions of ancient authorities on the subject.

Shvetakettu Auddalaki composed the first text on erotic love in 500 chapters. This book was believed to be responsible for putting an end to unbridled sexual coupling and a certain profligacy in relation to intercourse with married women – prominent in Mahabharatha(  one of the epics in Hinduism). He was the first person who made the novel suggestion that men should not generally sleep with wives of others. Babhru of Panchala and his sons condensed treatise of Shevakettu into 150 chapters. Some of the other texts were Suvarnanabha who wrote  on erotic advancess, Ghotakamukha  on seduction of girls Gonardiya on duties and rights of a wife, Gonikaputra on sexual relations with other men's wives, Dattaka on courtesans and Kuchumara on occult sexual lore.

This is just a beginning in my search for analyzing  this text itself. Wait for more!

Love, Sex aur Dhoka.. What can we do?

On 11th of April, 2014 it would be 4 months since the infamous Suresh Kumar Kaushal vs Naz Foundation Judgment was delivered by the Indian Supreme Court. What started as a long battle for human rights, also included exposing a lot of groups to the mainstream focus with its own repercussions. The Supreme Court judgement and the media frenzy around it made homosexuality as a household news issue. Some sections of the society were getting sensitized to the issue, while some found themselves battling with newer problems added to the stigma around homosexuality. There were media stories covering issues of homosexuality, debates exclusively dedicated to this issue , scores of protests criticizing the judgment.

Supreme Court judgment directly affected the lives of scores of people who were finally out to their family and friends. Their coming out in the recent 4 years was back in the questioning fold. Some of them were thrown out of their families, a lot of them lost their emotional and financially support. Suddenly a lot of them found themselves in the middle of extortions and ransom scandals. Not everyone came out seeking for help, and not everyone was ready to help.

In the recent Mumbai case, a party member of AAP personally got involved in nabbing the 3 guys who asked ransom by threatening to disclose the person's sexuality to his families. A lot of such cases has been recorded in the past, but very few sought intervention from the criminal justice system. Why is that people are not seeking criminal justice ? Why is there a fear that the police themselves will book them under Section 377? Is there any remedy for such scenario?

What I am trying to do is, to provide information around issues of extortion. What can someone do, when one finds oneself in such a situation where the person is threatening to disclose some information regarding the person and in return is demanding money. Indian criminal system provides legal remedies in such a scenario and one can always explore the police machinery.

So for example in the case of ransom and extortion where one threatens to disclose the identity of the person, one can book the harasser under Indian Penal Code,1860.

a) Remember no one can book anyone under Section 377 of IPC for being a person from LGBT community. It is the act which is penalized, not the identity.

b) One can always deny the act.

c) If one is faced with a situation, where one is at the receiving end of a ransom demand. Please go ahead and report it to the police.

d) Seek a lawyer friend and visit the nearby police station. The police can always nab the person under specific sections of criminal justice system.

Section 385 of Indian Penal Code,1860 (which provides punishments for criminal acts) provides 3 years imprisonment and fine for act of extortion.

Section 386 of the Code also in addition to this, provides 2 years imprisonment and fine for putting person in fear of injury in order to commit extortion.

Thus acts of extortion in the form threatening calls or any sort of ransom demands can be covered under these sections. The harassers can be booked under these sections and taken into custody.

For any further assistance, there are several organizations that can provide legal assistance: I am mentioning some of the organizations in Delhi:

Lawyers Collective : -+91-11-46805555 

Naz Foundation :+91 11 2691 0499 \ +91 11 41325042

                 +91 11 40793157-61