Growth of the Porn Industry in India

It is depravity vs. morality, pretense vs. desirousness, and hyperbole reality vs. subtle truth. A truth that has been prominent in Indian society but shrouded by the denial and pseudo-ethos of people living in India is now finally making its presence felt in a big way. A truth known as the porn industry!

With the impregnation of mass media in our daily life, primarily the internet, the truth of porn and the porn industry in India cannot be overlooked. People readily have access to a virtual string that has unified the world, commonly known as the internet.

The internet is no longer a luxury and it has played a major role in introducing a parallel virtual world to people living in India. One of the effects of this technological metamorphosis is the easy access to adult content.

Porn, which is now readily available on the internet as well as in takeaway DVD’s with a pretty price tag, has resulted in a highly profitable adult industry in India.

According to a 2011 IMRB Survey, 1 out of 5 mobile users in India wants adult content on his/her 3G enabled phone.

Over 47 per cent of students discuss porn every day, says a public school survey by Max Hospital in Delhi. All these statistics speak volumes about the change that Indian polity has undergone.

Porn is taking many forms in India. One medium is that of comics where characters like Savita Bhabi are depicted as the promiscuous Indian woman getting involved in explicit sexual capers with different men in different episodes. Whilst other online sites dedicate themselves to individual adult stars such as Asha Kumara, Leah Jaye, Jazmin Choudhry, Madhuri Patel and Jayde Jewel.

Explicit scenes in movies are still a social dogma that is best left unvoiced. But that does not stop people watching adult content. Websites like Debonair and Indian XTube offer free access to adult content to Indian users.

These are just few of the popular indigenous porn websites. With access to any website hosted anywhere in the world, watching porn over the internet is easier than a walk in the park.

But in most of the cases, a clear distinction can be seen between the people who are and who are not comfortable with access to porn content and explicit material, prominently vis-à-vis Indian society.

Miss Mehta, a college student, says: “I have watched porn couple of times and I don’t think, in any way, it has offended my morality or my personal barometer of right and wrong. I am not addicted and that was the only thing about which I was apprehensive about before watching an adult movie.”

Mr Aggarwal clarifies:

“We have readily accepted Sunny Leone as a Bollywood movie star, so why to opt for this hypocritical behaviour when it comes to watching something that is legal according to the law.”

Then there are people who belong to a different school of thought and loathe the idea of watching porn. People who link crime against women such as rape and molestation with the way porn projects female models.

Mr Kapoor states: “Watching porn is a despicable act. It is matter of time before we scrummed into irreparable chaos thanks to the blatant display of immoral behaviour.”

“Porn belittles women more than anything in the world. Treating females purely as an object for personal sexual satisfaction is all porn ever evinces. I hope it is declared illicit at least in Indian society,” quotes Miss Rawat, a professional based in Delhi.

But the vexed questions that come to mind is why is it hard for people to masticate the fact that porn industry is nothing but the extension of one’s desires? Can porn really instigate rapes and sexual harassment across the country?

Is burgeon of the adult industry not an indicator that our needs transcend beyond the so-called social convention and are clearly reflected in the form of an unparalleled growth of the porn industry?

Between the efforts of government trying to impose a ban on porn websites in India and an unprecedented growth in the adult industry, the answers to these questions might lie within us.

Over the last decade, we have encouraged the process of educating children and adults alike when it comes to sex education but we disdain the topic of explicit content.

We have chided the person who discusses it, detested the person who has watched it, and basked in the solace of denial to keep up with our temperamental sanity.

We blame porn for rapes but never thought that the genesis of such heinous crimes is nothing but the deviant minds that have lost their conscience for good.

Maybe it is time to get closure. Maybe it is time to come face to face with the truth.

The truth categorically states that people have and will continue to break the conventional norms, not to induce tyranny within society, but for their own visceral desires that drive human begins ahead.

Maybe the day when we accept this fact, porn content and the adult industry will drop down to last place on our list of pressing concerns.