We spoke to a few of them and they said –Where do we do? The placards instructed the couples to book a hotel room to indulge in ‘indecent behaviour.’ The couples however said that they did not have that kind of money. “If we were rich, we would have multiple rooms in our homes or definitely booked a hotel room to spend some cozy time,”said one of the couples at Bandstand. Couples who frequent the sea side are typically from the middle class. One couple I encountered was married. They live in a chawl with a family that has five other members. “There is no privacy at home. Yes, at night a curtain is drawn between where my wife and I sleep and the rest of the family. But other times it is difficult to even spend a moment together,” said the husband. Yet another couple said that not all couples indulge in what the students call ’embarrassing’ behaviour – sitting close to one’s lover and putting an arm around him or her is interpreted wrongly.
Moral policing has always been a touchy issue in India, particularly Mumbai where everyone wants to have a say on what the other is doing or should do. Right from the Shiv Sena which decided that Valentine’s Day was anti-Indian destroyed shops selling ‘romantic’ merchandise to RR Patil who decided that dance bars make husbands do evil things. In the same vein, what really gives some rich kids the right to decide what is morally acceptable and how couples should behave in public. Why does nobody take on a fight against dowry deaths or rapes which are far more serious issues than couples necking?
What has the Shiv Sena or RR Patil done about malnourished children on the outskirts of Mumbai. Why can’t the rich Rotract kids fight for a more efficient public transport system in the city. May be they don’t care since they have cars. And the police don’t bother while giving permission to such childish efforts because they think as similarly. If the hooligans in political parties and the rich kids have the same view on morality, education did little for the latter.