Practise safe sex, use a condom. Don't worry about ads

One in every three pregnancies in India ends in an abortion - that is 1.6 crore abortions every year, says Lancet in a recent report.

Let that sink in. Now, read this: Only 5.6 per cent men surveyed by the National Family Health Survey use a condom. Birth control is a woman's problem; so is pregnancy - wanted or not. And I'm not even getting into mass sterilisation camps - a reality so horrific that the Supreme Court has ordered the government to begin winding them down.

We, of course, know that we are the second most populous nation in the world. We are the third-largest hub for AIDS patients. And one news report claims a 400 per cent rise in sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) since 1981.

Take your pick from the grim statistics, but whichever way you look at it, the sensible solution would be a public awareness campaign through print, social media and certainly television.

"Usa Condones", was the message on the back of every bus in the late 1980s, when I was a student in California. San Francisco was at the epicentre of the then relatively new HIV/AIDS epidemic and in my naïve confusion, I would look at the sign and wonder, well what does the US condone? Till of course, the penny dropped: use condoms, was the translation of a ubiquitous message to Hispanic speakers. There was no place for squeamishness in any language.

Thirty years later, in India, the ministry of information and broadcasting has, for reasons not immediately clear, banned - advisory is the official nomenclature - not a particular ad or two but the entire product line on television from 6am to 10pm. Err, why? A little communication from the ministry might have provided a hint or two.

All films, even ad films are certified by the Central Board of Film Certification. One presumes condom ads go through the same process before being deemed fit for the general audience on TV.

Did a particular ad offend someone? If so, we have the Advertising Standards Council of India to complain to. And I do have a long list of ads I find offensive, from fairness creams to washing machines. But that's another story.

Whichever way you look at it, an inexplicable ban on condom ads by the I&B ministry is an overreach. That it has not been explained and we are left to draw our own conclusions makes it worse.

Who does this ban seeks to protect? If the target is children, then surely they are in school for much of that time and safely in bed, or ought to be, after 8 pm. Anyone else should be able to view a condom ad, yes, even with dadaji and dadiji watching.

I understand there might be a curious question or two. But it is a parent's job to answer these questions. My generation grew up in the heydays of Nirodh and the ubiquitous inverted red triangle on hoardings and print ads. We had our questions and these were dealt with and everyone lived to tell the tale.

Much of the outrage over the ban on condom ads has dwelt on the fact that condoms are a health/medical product. These ads are, therefore, necessary. So, how do we deal with ads that promote condoms, and sex, as a pleasurable activity?

We've certainly come a long way since Nirodh (literal meaning: protection) to a new generation of brands with names like Manforce and Kamasutra; the product itself is now available in a variety of colours, flavors and textures. It's the pleasure principle that guides rather than the practical message of chota parivaar (small family).

Frankly, I don't get the squeamishness. In cinema, we've moved ahead of the quivering flowers in the rain to full-on kisses. Our songs are overtly sexualised.

National sex surveys published by mainstream magazines talk of an explosion in sexual activity in middle-class India. Isn't it time then to get over our prudishness in public life?

A ban on anything, leave alone condom ads, is reprehensible. We need them to teach us about responsible sex - about sex that is safe, prevents unwanted pregnancy, respects consent and choice. And, yes, is fun too.

If you have a problem with a particular ad, take it up at the right forum. You cannot have a blanket ban on the entire product line.

Meanwhile, practice safe sex, use a condom.

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