Innerwear Revolution

Recently, I was roaming around in a mall and in a moment of curiosity looked at undergarment section of an international menswear brand. From the surface, there seemed nothing new but give it a second thought and you will find how conscious Indian men have become as far as underwear part is concerned. The transformation has occurred across all the age group. Till few years back, it was hard to see a reputed undergarment brand setting shop in too many parts of India. Indian men were never known to be fussy about undergarments. But in a span of few years, things have drastically changed.

Go back to 2003 or 04. The popular brands during that period were basically Rupa or Roopa?(The name Rupa reminds me of few crude jokes!), Dora, Lux blah blah. But thanks to ‘Salaam Namastey’ phenomenon where Saif Ali Khan so famously flashed Tommy Hilfiger boxers, Indian youths have also become more aware of sex appeal of branded undergarments. Now, ask any urban youth and he will tell you difference between micro fibred boxers and tech cool briefs that combat moisture. Movie stars like John Abraham and Ranbir Kapoor also contributed their bit in making derriere a new object of sex appeal. In any case, a man is more loyal to his underwear than any other piece of clothing. Underwear is one piece of clothing that is closest to any man’s skin so naturally wearing a leopard printed boxers or well fitted thongs feels nice.

The coy ‘chaddis’ have given way to psychedelic briefs and Mickey Mouse boxers to daring thongs. Materials also have found new symbols in Lycra, micro fiber and pima cotton. It’s cool to flaunt the underwear waistbands from the jeans. Blame this new phenomenon to increased purchasing power and over exposure to fashion. VIP and Lux please give way to Tommy, Jockey, Calvin Klein and Paul Smith. ‘Andar ki Baat’ has totally turned into ‘Baahar ka Dikhawa’! Rumors are rife that soon enough fragrant, fluorescent, air-pocketed to even techie type innerwear will be available.   

A recent survey says, 45 percent of Indian men would love to try G-strings. That’s makes it official then. Dripping hemlines has become the new mainstream. This new revolution is more like revelation. However, there is one naughty side of this as well. For ages, men have drooled over women in lingerie. Now it’s women’s turn to lust over a men’s pink brief! Ladies, you can stop salivating now!   

: Image courtesy omi24.blogspot.com

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Bad Girls Finish First

So Archie proposed to Veronica after 68 years of dithering! What happens to Betty now? The miss goody-two-shoe is left stranded with her tears and amazement at Archie’s misjudgment. Does this give you a signal? Yes, it does! The circle has completed and notion of romance has taken a beating in an altogether different context. It’s high time we accept reigning power of Veronicas’ over Bettys! That also indicates good girls tend to finish last in modern day world. Am I giving too much importance to a comic character? I don’t think so.

The change was visible since last few years. Men no longer crave for ‘sweetie-pies’. Every guy worth his salt prefers to have a glamorous and aggressive gal by his side. Of course, men from hinterland will tend to differ but I am talking from a strictly urban male mindset’s view and from the experience gathered over the years. New age guys prefer so called bad girls because it culminates in his ego fulfillment. Just like bad boys, bad girls are more fascinating and tough to get. Any guy who gets a girl without any sort of struggle loses the potential achievement of conquering a seemingly tough task. The era of submissive plain Jane is long gone. The trend has reversed so dramatically.

Men love to have a girl who lives by her own rules and is fiercely independent. The point is a guy would love to get a girl he wants and not the one the whole world thinks he should end up with. The notion of having a girl who is boring and predictive is far from exciting. Bad girl symbolizes someone who can drive a guy crazy, who can make his head go in a spin. Girls who moons for a male are no more appealing.  

The mindset has changed largely due to the fact that men have started to become more comfortable with their wild thoughts. The need of conforming to family pressure and traditional domesticity no longer holds the same weightage. The change has occurred because we have started to live in a nuclear set up. The sheer fact that, a seemingly bad girl will bring more excitement in his physical, mental and emotional life is extremely tempting.  New age Veronicas represent newly found self consciousness amongst females and an adventurous streak. Probably, she would much rather prefer a bungee jumping as the wedding gift instead of 3 days 4 nights stay at Shimla.

The texture of society has also changed to a certain extent. Female sexuality was never this confident. Androgynous society is what we are fast turning into. Men would love to have a Veronica who is in control of her emotions and subsequently her destiny instead of relying on men for every trifle issue of her life. Check out recent movies. Do you remember the way ‘Paro’ carried a mattress for her sexual escapade in Dev D? Or females no longer giving sex that sacred importance as was shown in ‘Life in a metro’? Even a Priyanka Chopra prefers to sleep with a married man to fulfill her career ambition in ‘Fashion’! We would love to have more tempestuous, chic and stimulating Veronicas in our backyards in exchange of a docile and sacrificial push over Bettys. Who is not going to fall for a female who adds competitive excitement to a relationship and adds some zing to your life? Finally, there is no such thing as black and white today as far as girls are concerned. Bring on the Grey female characters! Your time has just started!

: Image courtesy blog.lifesip.com

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Losing Thy Virginity

Let me try to infiltrate the border of modesty. Let’s talk a bit about virginity! Well, the word itself is fascinating enough. There is some mystery/sacred feel associated with the word. Whenever this word comes out in open, a furor is bound to be created. So what do Indians think about the term virginity? As far as I think, there has been an attitudinal shift in the minds of youngsters (strictly youngsters). Somewhere down the line, the term has lost its relevance in urban world. We are yet to be as free as the western world but mindset has definitely shown signs of improvement.

The point is, does this overhyped word really deserves as much attention as it gets? Not so long ago, it was fashionable to remain a virgin till marriage. Virginity was considered as a pious concept that must be preserved for the ‘One and Only’ on the wedding night. We Indians are quite conservative when it comes to sexual encounters at an early stage of our life. Incidentally, Indians are considered as second oldest when it comes to losing their virginity! Yes, the average age is 22.9 years!! Case of missing too many early opportunities, huh?!

The problem being faced by us is double standards adopted by the society. It has been rightly said that, a conservative society tends to be hypocritical. That implies that we have different set of standards for male and females. Anyone remember that famous quote by south Indian actress Khusboo; ‘no educated man should expect his bride to be a virgin’. Well, what followed next were many days of protests and violence apart from quotable quotes from our religious/political figures! Why surprised? They had to uphold our tradition and culture after all, no?! She finally had to apologize for stating the truth!

Male can lose their virginity as and when they desire but they cannot accept the same when a female does so! I remember few of my friends who got a relatively higher level of education (read MBA) were dead firm against marrying a non-virgin girl. However, they opined that for men, this rule does not hold any water. Needless to say, I was amazed at their brazen behavior and chauvinistic approach.

One of the reasons why you find urban youths being more open about virginity issue is they don’t want to be look like a first timer. No young person would love to admit that he or she is yet to taste the forbidden truth. Peer pressure, you see! But somewhere winds of change have already started to take place. It has almost become a non-issue at few major places. By any mistake if you happen to ask a youth the virginity question, you are most likely to be responded with “excuse me? Was it that important to ask?”

Finally, if you are in love then what’s wrong with having sex with your partner? Let’s get real. Love is not just about spiritual and mental connection. Physical proximity plays a big role as well. However, those with penchant for one night stands need to be cautious. Once the miss honey had her quota of fun with sugar daddy, far reaching psychological repercussions can take place. (Did that sound like a victim stating his experience?! Lolz!). On a serious tone, why I am saying this because not all first experiences can be enjoyable. Some of you may have some disastrous experiences that are likely to change your attitude towards sex forever. So my dear folks decide on your own whether you are going to taste the forbidden fruit or take the plunge of celibacy! Though, I won’t advocate the later one, pun unintended!  

: Image courtesy mindfeck.info

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Racism Row : Are Indians Really the Victims?

After 10 long days of procrastination, finally thought of nailing it down. Yes, I am talking about writing! It’s not that topics did not come to my mind but…but..Well, there is a great shameless but…

One news that kept staring at us was/is racist attacks on Indians in Australia. Is this is mere coincidence or plain luck that newspapers never feel any dearth of news? Check out the trends in last one month. IPL, Indian elections, new government formation, Share market rally and the latest Twenty20 world cup! Something or the other keep blessing newspapers and channels and we the poor souls are being burdened with information overload! I wish, someday I could just skip the morning paper but blame it on my most regular habit, I can’t really start my day without looking at few junk news!

Ok, about racist attacks on Indians, I saw an article by Jug Suraiya and I could not help myself getting inspired from it to scribble few lines..err..Paragraphs! Somewhere, we Indians keep finding ourselves in racist row. Remember, our very own Shilpa Shetty emerging as new anti-racism icon! Well, the moment she became a part of ‘Big Brother’, a sort of history was created. Few tabloids even compared her with deeds of Mahatma Gandhi who stood against the might of white Africans a century ago! I would rather not dwell on merits of that comparison. The point to be noted here is what we sow, we reap. We just can’t crib about being the victims all the time. Finding me unreasonable? Tell me, aren’t we racist? Yes, we are one huge breed of racist ourselves. We define racism on the basis of black and white. Black is considered as inferior whereas we always give white color that superior feeling. I have already talked about a certain dimension of this aspect in complexion article.

During my days at Delhi University and even today, I often saw locals treating African students in absolutely disgusting way. They called them ‘habshi’ that is equivalent to being called ‘nigger’ and that is as offensive as it comes! North India has always been besotted with white color. That is very much in tune with TV commercials advocating usage of fairness creams. Having said that, it reminds me that even John Abraham has started to advertise for a fairness cream!! (Dude, you look nice the way you are and if you are so concerned about it why don’t begin the charity with a gift to your girlfriend!)

So why this fascination? Because we were first invaded by superiority of white ‘Aryans’ and later on British? We are a different kind of racists because apart from color discrimination, we decide about the quality of the people based on their castes. Remember, when did you last try to sincerely ask a north-eastern student his name instead of calling him chinky? Or people from Bihar are called biharis and assumed to be ill-mannered, uneducated and malnourished. Bengalis are supposed to be ‘Phattu’ (coward) and south Indians always talk in ‘laa-ille/ ille-po’ sort of language. Gujjus always seek money and as Jug Suraiya pointed out they love ‘heavy SNAKES for tea’! Well, tell me if that is not racism then what ist? But yes, we live in a country that represents ‘unity in diversity!’ so much for equality! So much noise for the sake of being the victims in Australia! Probably, the truth is we are not meant to handle racism because it reminds us of our own ugly reality.

:- Image of Indian students protesting in Melbourne

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