Comment

There are these objections: All this is against our culture. We cannot allow people to be corrupted by young women shaking their bodies. This is all very vulgar. I will see it and if I find it vulgar I will take action. Our culture is being threatened.

And there are the counter attacks: How can this threaten our culture? Has anyone seen a Hindi film recently? Nothing is more vulgar than that. Saying that all this is against our culture is itself against our Constitution. We are free and so on.

This leads to an immediate declaration to take action against Hindi phillums, but they can’t really since Indian culture would collapse without them. (The Censor Board is mainly bothered with foreign films not saying any bad words). Attacker no 2 starts muttering about India being run by vulgarians.

And so we have neatly deflected the issue into the usual argument of us liberal open-minded people against them bigots. Fit whoever you want into whichever description.
I have a third question. Is it the business of self-important policemen to set themselves up as the standard bearers for our society?

What are the qualifications of the police commissioner of Navi Mumbai to decide whether cheerleaders should perform during a cricket match or not? No police commissioner anywhere else in India has taken exception to the performances at cricket grounds, from Kolkata to Chandigarh to Hyderabad to Chennai.

But our guardians of good taste— including former film stars who should know better — get offended by prancing girls in skimpy clothes.

Of course, in India’s most progressive city, we are well used to moral policing. The protests against Valentine’s Day started here before the culture brigade infected the rest of the country.

Our policemen — stretched as they are between catching world famous terrorists like Osama Bin Laden and Dawood Ibrahim, picking up Naxalities, ISI agents, people who read biographies of Joseph Stalin, VIP bandobust duty and arresting people on fake cases trumped up by their seniors — still find the time to worry about girls wearing shorts.

Our politicians — who would happily attend sessions where girls dance for them in private under appallingly sleazy conditions — get full of moral outrage when the public is involved. Many of our most famous sex scandals, where young men and women are used, abused and exploited, involve the police and politicians. But no, hypocrisy must survive.

I have another question: Have the cheer leaders or dancing girls and boys complained that they were being forced or coerced into performing against their will? Have they complained that they have not been paid for their services?

Have they complained that their craft and hard work are being demeaned and cheapened by these protestors, who have tagged them as sleazy? If they have made any of these complaints, then the police should take action against those who have targeted them. If not, then they can pay for a ticket and watch a cricket match. Okay, that’s a joke. We all know they don’t pay.

And yes, there is that other question about freedom. Although there are laws about public obscenity, it takes a very dirty mind to get so offended by girls dancing in shorts. If you are, turn off the TV and don’t look. And shut your mouth and wipe off the drool too.

As for the politicians, of course they have to be very concerned about public morality. Nothing else of importance happens in our country. Farmers’ suicides? Oh, we’ve waived the loans. Rising prices? Media inflation. Food shortage? Rumours spread by our enemies. Nuclear deal? Rumours spread by our friends.

No, in Maharashtra, we have a few searing problems to take care of — dancing girls. Whether in bars or in cricket matches — we just can’t stand the heat.

For sale: Item, one culture, 5,000years old, terminally damaged by cheer leaders.
Email: b_ranjona@dnaindia.net