Kama Sutra II

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal">Imagine Bollywood stars telling kiss-and-tell stories. Imagine Indian netas caught in sexual shenanigans. Picture <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">desi </span>versions of Beckham, Lewinsky or Hugh Grant. Would there be as much ballyhoo? Would we have chewed our nails over the moral reverberations of the confessions? <br /><br />Our minds would have surely tingled over salacious details.We would have clucked our tongues over the "sufferer". But no, we wouldn''t give room for as much tehelka over the matter as we would with corruption or with crime. <br /><br />Bangaru Laxman lost his party post after the Tehelka expose caught him accepting cash on tape. And ''Big Bull'' Harshad Mehta had to eat humble pie after the stock market scam came to light. A romp is a romp is a romp. Specially, if it involves parties with pelf and pomp. <br /><br />It''s venial sin. That''s our instinctive response to celebrity peccadilloes. Not because of the pride we take in the professed heritage of Khajuraho and Kamasutra. Not because we treat kama as part of the dharma, artha and moksha cycle. <br /><br />Primarily, we tend to make excuses for the powerful and the glamorous. "A sexual escapade actually makes the powerful and glamorous seem even more so. There is this whole business of them being demi-gods and hence, unlike us mortals, not restricted or restrained by existing moral dictates," says writer Anita Nair.<br /><br />Those in high places are achievers and are entitled to a liberal measure of eccentricity and irregular behaviour. We believe they redeem themselves with their genius or their achievements. <br /><br />Playwright Mahesh Dattani ascribes this disposition to the strong sense of class hierarchy. <br /><br />"When a person in an exalted position has an affair, it won''t demean the person in the eyes of the public. It even adds exotica... Whereas moral judgment is a big deal in the US and persons higher up in class structure are subjected to judging by others," he says. Perhaps why we''ll never have a debate on the "logistics" of Lewinsky revealing her thong.<br /><br />Style guru Prasad Bidapa believes there is no schism really in attitudes towards personal and celeb escapades. "India is a country of big double standards. Everyone has a private and public face. And don''t just single out men, I know plenty of married women who have extramarital affairs."<br /><br />Yet we take voyeuristic pleasure in any affair, be it about celebrities or people we know. At least, we seek refuge in innuendo. Ad guru Alyque Padamsee points at this to say: "We are a nation of hypocrites, public piety and private sin. We have pushed so much dirt under the carpet..."<br /><br />The morality carpet, indeed. With a soiled sheet underneath.<br /><br />(<span style="" font-style:="" italic="">With inputs from Smitha Rao</span>)</div> </div>