A Happy Pink Chaddi Valentines!

A month or so back, there was a case of "moral policing" by an obscure Hindu political outfit called Sri Ram Sena (Army of Lord Ram) in the city of Mangalore in the south Indian state of Karnataka. A group of young male activists from the group attacked young women hanging out in a local pub. The women were driven out into the street and several were hit, harassed and knocked down in the presence of media recording the scene. The video clip of the men attacking the women was broadcast repeatedly on Indian television and they have been described as "India's Taliban". The group's leader, Pramod Muthalik was arrested and let out on conditional bail. In his media interviews post the Mangalore pub incident, he has made it clear that his group intends to disrupt Valentine's Day celebration as it is against Indian culture. He claims that Valentine's Day is one of several "international conspiracies against our culture" by Christians.

This is not the first time the Indian youth have been subjected to so called moral policing. It is a rather common phenomenon increasing every year especially during Valentine's Day. There is a clash between the modern India and the (new-old) conservative India. It is to be noted that old/ancient India was never a conservative society- it was a liberal society, where morals did not revolve around the three letter word SEX. India after all is the land of the Kamasutra, its ancient temples are filled with beautiful sculptures of men and women engaging in sex. Some of these sculptures if analyzed carefully are rather explicit and goes on to show how broadminded the ancient Indian society was. Ancient Hindu India considered sex to be a spiritual act, an expression of love and an exchange of energies.

Anyway, the Consortium of Pub-going, Loose and Forward Women (a clever use of sarcasm by a group of young Indian women) launched a campaign against the Sri Ram Sena to protest. They feel that "most women in the country have enough curbs on their lives without a whole new franchise cashing in with their bully-boy tactics". The Pink Chaddi (underwear) Campaign is an brilliant idea reflecting the very Indian principle of protest through non-violence.

According to their webpage:

What can you do?

Step 1: It does not matter that many of us have not thought about Valentine's Day since we were 13. If ever. This year let us send the Sri Ram Sena some love. Let us send them some PINK CHADDIS.

Look in your closet or buy them cheap. Dirt-cheap. Make sure they are PINK. Send them off to the Sena.

If you don't want to mail it yourself, you can drop it off at the Chaddi Collection Points.

Step 2: Send the Pink Chaddi Campaign a photograph of the package.

Step 3: On Valentine's Day we do a Pub Bharo action. Go to a pub wherever you are. From Kabul to Chennai to Guwahati to Singapore to LA women have signed up. It does not matter if you are actually not a pub-goer or not even much of a drinker. Let us raise a toast (it can be juice) to Indian women. Take a photo or video. We will put it together (more on how later) and send this as well to the Sri Ram Sena.

Nisha Susan
For the Pink Chaddi Campaign

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Here is their webpage and facebook group which has around 38, 711 members and increasing every miniute. This Consortium of Pub-going, Loose and Forward Women and their male supporters (including myself) have greatly impressed me with the superficial brilliance of the campaign. However, I feel that this is only the reflection of a deeply divided India and the crisis will only intensify with every passing year.

In a blog of a senior Indian journalist Sagarika Gosh (read the complete blog, it is an interesting viewpoint) had this to say:

"No one doubts that the Sene's actions are loathesome and unacceptable, but sending pink underwear to perverts is pretty undignified too.

In fact, therein lies the dilemma of most educated Indians today. Most of us are scandalized by the Sri Ram Sene's actions, horrified at being told that "love" is foreign to India. We would like to remind the Sene that the love stories of Shakuntala and Dushyant or of Roopmati and Baz Bahadur show that some of the greatest love stories of all times were made in India and in our country love has always been a socially revolutionary force destroying taboos of caste, class and religion. St Valentine is only a newly arrived upstart in our centuries old experiments with romance. Also, where does one draw the line at the "western" influences on India? Does the Sene know that the potato and even cottage cheese from which mithai is made, were, among other foodstuffs, "foreigners" to India, being introduced here by Portuguese traders? The custodians of "hindu sanskriti' are not just absurd, they don't know their history.

Yet the dilemma is that groups like the Sri Ram Sene force the thoughtful Indian to defend things he may see as a fundamental right, but does not necessarily want to defend. However much we may hate the Sene, upholding the commercially-driven Valentine's Day as a supreme cultural resource, or seeing the pub as the shining symbol of our social "freedom" may not be forward movement for India. If young people are choosing urban lifestyles that are desi imitations of Sex And The City, this is hardly a matter of celebration. "

Honestly Ms.Gosh, the modern "western" Indian youth don't care much for the rampant commercialized Valentine's day. It is just another day which we may or may not mark with a romantic dinner or similar intimate time. You should know better.

I agree that "rootless cosmopolitanism removed far from the realities" is a major concern and the real root cause of this 'cultural clash' lies in the economic disparity between the sections of the society. But why are you judging young people who choose an urban lifestyle that are desi versions of Sex And The City? Why do you believe that "We must learn from the Nehruvians of the 40s and 50s who were incredibly westernized, but deeply rooted; many of whom were rich but lived modest tasteful lives. They drank, they smoked and they romanced, yet they were discreet and embodied a tradition of Indian elitism that was rooted in both excellence as well as tradition." ?

Why does everything have to be so black and white? I am a young modern Indian. I enjoy my occasional night outs and my chocolate martinis and cosmopolitans. I enjoy my casual flings and my latest gadgets, travel and clothes. At the same time, I respect and imbibe the values handed to me by my cultural heritage. I value its customs and rituals and I strive for honesty, equality, modesty, growth, moderation and simplicity of life (as defined by me). I am spiritual and I am materialistic and vain- No apologies. I am no less an Indian than you or the so called "defenders of Indian culture" like Muthalik. Cultures are fluid, it will merge with many influences and evolve- stop living in the past. Also, remember that tolerance is the greatest of all Indian ethics.

The Pink Chaddi Campaign maybe trivial and undignified, but it does make a point. Happy pink chaddi valentines everybody! :-)