Affection: Made to be Displayed?

Public Display of Affection/ Pictures By Dr Rajat Chabba

We got these pictures from our columnist Dr Rajat Chabba, I was amused, not just to see the wonderful shots, but also the apt punch line, which gave me a subject to write on, ‘Public display of affection’ as Rajat also put it.

It’s been an age-old subject which is talked about, debated but seldom reaches any conclusion. Is it right to indulge in public display of affection? And if yes, to what extent?

When I was in the United States of America in March-April this year, it felt this issue was not even an issue there. In an open-minded country like the US, no eyebrows are raised when a young boy and girl are seen kissing in a busy market area. It’s no big deal there and nobody questions them or even looks at them, unlike a country like India, where moral policing steps in, if at all even a couple is found sharing closeness in a public park.

The issue here is serious, not because Indians are not open-minded, but because Indian society is still not accustomed to it. Many things have changed and so have relationships between the opposite sex, but we are still conservative, and rightly so, because that’s what makes us Indians, as our culture doesn’t permit it.

We have to be different from others and it’s not that I am rejecting public display of affection, but only supporting our culture and values. When I was there, I didn’t feel any oddity in people expressing their love and that’s because it’s accepted there and is not felt something which should not be done in a public place.

It’s nothing but how we take it, and it’s the culture of every country that distinguishes it with other. There’s nothing wrong till it’s just expressing your love, but it depends where you are and to what ‘extent’ you can express it. And I never found it going beyond that ‘extent’ even in a country like the US where openness is the way of life.

BY AMIT ROY

Amit Roy is the Moderator of The Sip of Life and can be contacted at amit@thesipoflife.com. If you have any views on the subject you are welcome to leave a comment below.