Sorry, no sex! We're Indians.

I read a disquieting news item this morning.


Seems there's this hospital at Asansol. The superintendent there, a young, presumably personable man of 35 had been successful in seducing a young staff nurse, a twenty something. These are fringe benefits of the medical profession, which we, of the non medical profession have heard rumours about from our college days.

Anyway, this super and the nurse met at the dead of night in one of the many empty rooms, in the hospital itself, where else?. And they were conducting their tryst as only two lovers can , in the still of the night and away from prying eyes. They were so absorbed in each other they were quite oblivious of the fact that the bed they were on was creaking. In the dead silence of a night in a mofussil hospital, around 2 A.M. the sound of a creak carries over long distances.

It so happened that the "creak" awoke another nurse in the hospital. She thought at first, being panick-stricken at the odd sound, that it was a burglar. She woke up the other staff nurses and soon as a group,now emboldened, marched down the corridor leading up to the tryst room and flung open the door. Our hero (the superintendent) and his girlfriend were caught in flagrante delicto


After this, dear reader, living in India, you can imagine what happened. Yes, all hell, as the saying goes, broke loose. The sky came tumbling down on the two hapless lovers, in dishabille, literally caught in the act. Recriminations, abuse hurled in shrill voices, gasps of disbelief from the assembled entourage all made a merry mess of the situation. This nightmare continued to such lengths that even relatives of patients in the hospital came from near and far and thoroughly thrashed up the poor super.

To cap it all, the hospital authorites were left with no alternatives but to immediately suspend the superintendent and the young nurse, pending further and no doubt the harshest of disciplinary action.


Now, when I look at all this that happened, my mind fills with dismay at the sheer hypocrisy and the downright intolerance in the mind of my countrymen. Just let's think for a moment the plight of the two lovers. They were enjoying a moment of quiet bliss and togetherness, harming no one and interfering with nobody's life. It's just that they were two consenting adults being intimate, away from the public gaze. What exactly was their offence in the eyes of the "shocked" people who thus mistreated them? Its these people who abused their privacy and took law into their own hands and caused a violent breach of "law and order" by turning a night of quiet romance into this nightmarish act. True the lovers were using the official premises for conducting their very own and private business. But they weren't neglecting their duties or official responsibilities. Then why all this brouhaha? Over something which was none of anybody's business but their very own.

It is this feeling of sadness that makes me realise the truth in the saying "Sorry- no sex! We're Indians!"