Email
Print
ShareAhmedabad: AHMEDABAD: A sure indication that the garba season is beginning to simmer is Ahmedabad pharmacists' estimate that the sale of condoms and contraceptives has
increased by up to 25%.
According to the Ahmedabad Chemists Association, the figure is consistent with the past Navaratri trends. Usually, the sale of emergency contraceptive pills and
condoms rise by 20-25% during the festival.
According to an Ahmedabad-based psychiatrist, Dr. Mrugesh Vaishnav, young people enjoy a degree of personal freedom during Navaratri that is rarely granted to them at other times. The slackening of parental rules and supervision allows some of the youth to explore intimacy with the opposite sex. "Young people are excited by the festive mood and as a result, moral barriers are broken," Vaishnav said. "It can also be viewed as an act of defiance against social norms."
Amid the raging twirl of hormones, which is viewed with disdain in many quarters, there lies some reassuring news: boys and girls revelling in unmonitored liberty are at least aware of the risks, especially Aids.
