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To the Delhi Metro leaked MMS couple, thank you for kissing in public

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Vichitra Amarnathan
Vichitra AmarnathanOct 25, 2016 | 17:18

To the Delhi Metro leaked MMS couple, thank you for kissing in public

When I was a kid I thought kissing is what James Bond did to women and that I am not supposed to even know about it. I actually believed that kissing simply doesn't happen in India. Yet, it's such a basic, normal human expression of affection.

Now we have a video of a young couple kissing in the Delhi Metro and it's on YouTube and probably in people's WhatsApp messages. A lot of them will be watching it and sharing it while condemning it in the same breath.

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I could write an essay on our hypocrisy but I shall refrain. I haven't watched the video and I think it's really sweet to kiss in public. Here's a note of thanks to them.

You see, it's really not easy to kiss each other in India. A married couple from Dwarka were taken to court on charges of obscenity for stealing kisses in public in 2009.

Thankfully, the high court stayed the proceedings because, well, they were married (thank you marriage). If they hadn't been married, perhaps the proceedings would have taken their course.

In 2014, there was a protest in Kerala called the "Kiss of Love" march and that became a big issue. The objective was to stop moral policing by kissing, hugging and holding hands.

But when I said it's not easy to kiss in India I really mean it. Just walk down Bandstand Mumbai and look over your shoulder at the many couples who have to find a secluded spot behind the rocks, far into the bay. Some have actually been washed away by the tide.

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The "Kiss of Love" march had become a big issue in 2014. (Photo credit: India Today)

Let me tell you what is easy in India though. Harassing young girls and women is. Although I was in the dark about kissing when I was a child, I had already been flashed (by a man old enough to be my grandfather) and harassed.

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To me that is completely unacceptable and far more abnormal than seeing a couple kissing. So I don't understand why people are expressing shock and dismay about kissing in public. To whomsoever made the video, I want to ask - do they make videos of people harassing others or being abusive? Because that would put their phone camera to better use.

It's high time they took a look at themselves rather than the couple - you see, we are in a country where politicians and the authorities routinely explain away harassment and sexual crimes as "boys make mistakes". And a lot of these obscene men never get persecuted or prosecuted. Why are we persecuting an act of love? To me, this makes no sense.

Wherever this couple is and whoever they are, I hope they don't feel ashamed and I hope others follow suit. We need to be telling children that kissing is okay and normal and that's what a couple in love do.

A guy teasing a girl, making fun of her, harassing her or forcing her to marry him in the name of "liking" her is abnormal and needs to be reported. Kissing does not.

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Last updated: October 25, 2016 | 17:18
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