TALE OF FOUR CITIES

BETWEEN THE SHEETS, BHARAT SEEMS TO HAVE TRUMPED INDIA. BUT WHAT MAKES PUNE, GUWAHATI, CHANDIGARH AND INDORE THE HOTTEST CITIES?

Movies are now set in non-metros, sports such as cricket and shooting—once described as elitist because of their public school roots—are now dominated by small-town boys and girls. The hinterland has emerged as the engine of economic growth for the country, with its residents providing the bulk of the workforce for the service industry. No wonder all the ‘action’ in the sex survey is found in places that till recently were small towns and are now at the cusp of the city and metropolis.

So what is giving these men and women in cities such as Chandigarh, Pune, Guwahati and Indore such licentious libidos? Anonymity, it seems, is the single biggest factor in ushering in a revolution of sorts.

The traditional restraint that characterises a Pune or an Indore was mainly born out of the fact that everybody knew everyone else. In the past decade, the establishment of new-age businesses, banks, call centres, hotels and malls in smaller cities has led to a massive influx of population from feeder towns. For instance, a large part of the workforce at Indore’s Crystal IT park comes from Ratlam, Khandwa, Khargone, Dewas and Dhar, towns which only quiz club types remember as innocuous railway stations on important routes. Once in Indore, these boys and girls are just faces, unknown to pesky neighbours, and with little or no family around them. One of the consequences appears to be sexual liberation, with conservative mores shed in the process. Two decades ago, a woman riding pillion on a bike would have been a no-no in Indore. Today, in the residential areas that have sprouted on the town’s outskirts, live-in relationships are not unusual.

Alongside the growth of new-age businesses has been the proliferation of private institutes of higher education in such cities. In Indore, for example, there are almost 100 engineering colleges, a sprinkling of medical colleges, nursing colleges and others offering non-professional courses. The students who enrol in these are mostly outsiders too. The anonymity allows them to cultivate a no-questions-asked lifestyle. This continues when they take up jobs in the city too.

Many of those who come to the city, especially girls, are also from conservative families. The city they shift to, first to study and then to work, allows them the space to flourish sexually too.

Jobs in sectors such as banking and insurance have been witnessing high attrition of late. This insecurity at the workplace also pushes many to consider sexual liaisons with bosses or even colleagues who are on a surer wicket. “The younger generation wants to live fast and isn’t scared of dying young. Collecting experiences in life is essential, and sexual