Delhi Gets Kinky?
Posted In:
Reema Behl
.
By Journalism student
Story By
Reema Behl
Mr Arjun (name changed) was not a wee bit
startled when a young girl of seventeen came to his shop in a posh colony in South Delhi and asked for a pair of handcuffs laced with
pink fur. Reason? He owns a one of its kind shop in the area that sells kinky
stuff that has garnered immense popularity in the pre-wedding bachelor and
bachelorette parties.
"Usually people confuse all this with
porn and think that I am selling pornographic DVDs and will probably give them
the contact number and details of a stripper that they can call for their
parties. My shop is selling things for party decorations and to tease your
friends by gifting them such things. The idea is to have fun with it," Mr
Arjun claims.
Well, fun it is that the young Indians are
having. Since the idea of organizing a pre-wedding bachelors party is
restricted to the upper echelons of the society, many others might not even be
aware of it.
Ms Sonika (name changed) is a salesperson at a
popular lingerie and cosmetic store in the GK1 M block market of south Delhi . She reveals that
once a revered godman from the neighbouring state of Haryana visited their
store. It was ordered to be closed for the duration that he remained in the
shop."He purchased a lot of things that I cannot even think of telling
you," Sonika says.
At the rear end of the shop a lot of
merchandize including edible thongs, chocolate spreads for the intimate parts,
playing cards with nude pictures etc are kept hidden from the public eye. But
the regular customers know where to head to. According to Sonika, people get to
know about the shop generally from their friends. “But this is something that
is kept under wraps," she adds.
When asked why, Sonika
claims apologetically," All this is essentially the excess surplus from Bangkok and by blatantly
displaying it; one can jeopardize the name that the store holds in the market."
The reason for these apprehensions may be
probably due to the fact that the Indian law is not exactly on the shop’s side.
Chetna Aggarwal, (B.S.L.-LL.B.), former Associate at Lakshmi Kumaran and
Sridharan, states, “The sale of sex toys is banned in India . Under
Section 292 of the Indian Penal Code, sale of products considered ‘obscene’ is
a punishable offence but the intention of the legislature must be understood
here. While the use of such toys to corrupt minds is wrong but its use inside
one’s bedroom is something personal. The law is not against that.The definition
just varies on a case to case basis.”
Surprisingly the fact that sex toys are banned
in India
has not really acted as a deterrent and the industry is thriving,
surreptitiously at some places and overtly at others. Sonika claims that most
of the clients demanding such erotic and kinky products are middle aged men and
women while Mr Arjun says that most of his clients are young boys and girls.
If not such shops, then there are innumerable sites on the internet
where access to these 'naughty things’ is
just a click away.