TALES OF TRAVESTY
DR. JITENDRA SINGH
When Shakespeare coined the famous expression “To be or not to be,” little could he have ever imagined that several centuries later, several miles away, an oriental nation of 120 crore Indians would be spending endless hours to decide for itself the precise age of sexual permissiveness, a La, “To have it or not to have it” and to have it at 16 or at 18?
The outrage over Delhi gang rape and murder in December last made the whole nation sit up and introspect, quite obviously, about how best to avoid such a recurrence again. Very much in keeping with the Indian tradition of evaluating difficult public issues, a commission was set up which put out certain suggestions that carried potential of prompting a debate among the Hon’ble Members of Parliament. And again, very much in keeping with the tradition of contemporary Indian Parliament, the Hon’ble Members belonging to different political parties vied with each other to prove that each one of them cared for women more than the other.
And finally, all the heads put together arrived at the wise decision that a young girl or boy will have to wait till the age of 18 to give consent for a mutually agreed indulgence in sex. The conclusion to this effect could be arrived at only after considerably protracted discussions because there were those who favoured consensual sex at 16 instead of 18 because according to them this could help prevent rape and other crimes against women. Others reminded us that many of our grand mothers were already married and had children before the age of 18… albeit through consensual marital sex.
Those better versed with the nuances of sex might agree that sex is lot much to do with mind and not confined only to physical ability. Going back once again to another Shakespearean endorsement, the bard spoke for millions of lesser mortals across the world when he said, “the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.” Translating this into hard practical implication, many would agree, though secretly, that one could be sexually young at 60 but sexually too old even at 18. In other words, the inference would be that sex, sexualty, sexual activism and above all sexual consent are issues too intricate to be bound within the limited confines of a constitutional law or a parliamentary debate.
Considering steep rise in crime against women across the country, the Criminal Law (Amendment) 2013 describes even stalking as a punishable offence. This could be justified in the context of the kind of times that we live in today even though many an innocently love-struck youth may turn back in wonder and ask “what, then, is the best way to woo the lady-love?”
The fact of matter is that the laws have to be tailored according to the social milieu in which we live and therefore the battle against female crime cannot be won without taking a toll of even the harmless benign overtures of romance.
Be that as it may, whether it is sex at 16 or 18, the moral of the story is that India of 2013 is no longer ready to tolerate any aggressiveness in man-woman interaction. Perhaps, rightly so! The common man, more so the common youth, will have to tune up to this new reality. For, the ball is now in the other court. And he dare not venture till he receives an evident signal to go ahead. Lest he should find himself prosecuted under the new law, Umapathy gives up with poetic lament “Jurm-e-Ulfat Mein Humen Log Sazaa Dete Hain, Kaise Nadaan Hain Sholon Ko Havaa Dete Hain!”
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