Just
days before the nine-day festival was to begin on Thursday, huge
billboards went up in several cities in the state in which the Canadian
actress of Indian origin Sunny Leone is seen advising people to "Play
this Navratri, but with love [Aa Navratriye ramo, paraantu prem thi]".
A
former porn star who has made a successful transition to the role of
leading lady in hit Bollywood movies, Ms Leone has a massive fan
following in India and is the brand ambassador for Manforce, the
country's biggest condom company.
The advert outraged some conservative Indians who accused the contraceptive firm of "taking marketing to an all-time low".
Many
took to social media sites to criticise the "offending advert" and the
Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) even lodged a complaint with
the government, calling for an immediate ban on it.
"This
is an irresponsible and immature attempt to boost sales by putting all
our cultural values at stake," the organisation said in a petition to
Consumer Affairs Minister Ram Vilas Paswan.
Speaking
to the BBC on Wednesday, CAIT general secretary Praveen Khandelwal
said: "Navratri is a pious festival which symbolises the strength of
women and linking condoms with the festival is highly objectionable."
Mr Khandelwal, who's based in Delhi, spotted the billboards during his visit to the city of Surat earlier this week.
"The
advert doesn't mention the word condom, but it uses double entendre to
encourage youths to use Manforce condoms in the name of Navratri
festival. It's unethical," he said.
Following
complaints, police in Surat and Vadodara city (formerly Baroda) have
taken down dozens of billboards, but Mr Khandelwal is demanding action
against the condom manufacturer and the actress "to set an example for
future offenders".
Neither
the condom company nor the actress has commented on the controversy,
but some say a condom advert during the Navratri festival is perhaps not
such a bad idea.
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Many
years ago, a young woman who had just moved from the Gujarati city of
Ahmedabad to Delhi, told me about the "fun" they had during Navratri -
the festival of nine nights.
It's
a time when even the most conservative parents adopt a somewhat relaxed
attitude and teenagers and young unmarried men and women are allowed to
stay out until late in the night, participating in the traditional
garba dances held at hotels, banquet halls, parks and private
farmhouses.
Since
the late 1990s, there have been reports that during the festival,
youngsters often throw caution to the wind, indulge in unprotected sex,
and two months later, there's a spike in the rate of pregnancy and many
land up at clinics seeking abortions.
Although
many long-time residents of Gujarat insist that these reports are
hugely exaggerated and maybe even a figment of overactive imaginations,
the fact remains that over the years, doctors and health workers have
flagged up the issue and state authorities have expressed their
concerns.
There
have been attempts to encourage young people to practice safe sex and
reports say that revellers, in many cases girls or young women, are
shedding their inhibitions to buy condoms.
Jaswant
Patel, chairman of the Federation of Gujarat State Chemists and
Druggists Associations, says over the past 10 years, he's seen the sale
of condoms go up by at least 30% during the festival period.
"Condoms
are sold not just at chemists and general stores, they are stocked at
even corner shops that sell paan (betel leaf) and most of the buyers
there are teenagers and college students," Mr Patel told the BBC.
But
despite the increase in condom sales, Dr Ruby Mehta, a gynaecologist
who's run a clinic in Ahmedabad for the past 20 years, says a spike in
teenage pregnancies after the festival has continued.
"Condoms
are extensively available, and couples in their 20s are more
responsible, but there's not much awareness among teenagers and they get
carried away. So every year, the number of people who come to our
clinic seeking terminations after Navratri is double compared to other
times of the year," she adds.
Dr
Mehta laughs when I ask her if the Manforce advert is a good idea and
if Ms Leone can encourage youngsters in Gujarat to practice safe sex?
"Sex
education is one thing, an advert is another. What we need is better
sex education in schools. Teenage girls need to be made more aware and
that alone will help this issue," she says.
[BBC SOURCES]
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