|
|
|
Girl's Night out
Pre-wedding stag
parties no longer apply to men. Indian women catch up with the guys by
holding wacky-wild parties
By Leher
Kala
A
Candle-lit room decorated with red roses. Classical music playing softly
in the background. Two dozen girls chat excitedly around a well-stocked
bar. Suddenly, the room is bathed in blue light, the music changes to a
pulsating beat and two TV screens play a pornographic movie. Three lean,
muscular men emerge in tight, black, leather pants and dance sinuously to
an all-female audience squealing in delight. Remarks like "Wow, what
a butt" and "Boy, he's cute" are flying about. Soon the
boys strip to reveal orange G-strings and the girls begin to dirty-dance
with them. Welcome to a pre-wedding, all-female bachelor party, now
beginning to be held amongst affluent, well-travelled metropolitan Indian
women. "It's all very innocent," insists Geeta Mehra, 38, who
has attended a few of these girls-only nights. "The idea is to let
your hair down without the men. Strippers just make it naughty and more
exciting."
Hen parties don't always mean hunks shedding their clothes. Just
before her wedding, Sapna Lal, 25, invited 20 girlfriends to spend the
night at her isolated farmhouse on the outskirts of Delhi. After the girls
got high on wine and vodka, Sapna whipped out a game especially designed
for the occasion -- passing the parcel -- with a difference. All the
punishments had sexual innuendos. "I had to fake an orgasm,"
laughed Shivani Chawla, 27.
"Other girls had to sing songs worshipping the male organ or confess
their wildest fantasies." Similarly, before 23-year-old student Seema
Joshi got married, her friends gave her naughty gifts like handcuffs,
whips and read out lines from the Kama Sutra. For the bachelor night they
decided to live it up at a trendy discotheque in Delhi.
Are Indian women finally shedding the Sati Savitri, Bhartiya nari image?
Female bachelor parties were unheard of a few years ago. "It's about
time women had some fun," says Madhurika Dalvi, 30, and a single mom.
"If men can have mujras why can't women hire strippers?" she
questions. Most women view a night out with the girls as an opportunity to
just be themselves and lose their inhibitions. "My husband doesn't
even know I smoke," says 35-year-old Chhaya who loves what she calls
"girlie" nights. "When you're with close girlfriends no
one's judging you." Designer Rina Dhaka recalls a cousin's wedding a
few years ago, when five close female friends got together to play
"Spin the Bottle". Also known as "Truth or Dare",
players form a circle and spin a vodka bottle placed in the centre.
Whoever the bottle points to, swigs the vodka and is asked, "Truth or
dare?" If you choose truth, you have to answer any question asked.
Dhaka reminisces, "After drinking half a bottle of vodka each, we
came out with our raunchiest secrets. We were up all night talking."
However, if you're looking to hire a lean, mean, macho stud for a rocking
party, be prepared to make a few dozen phone calls and shell out some
serious money. A shady, clandestine network
exists. It's not an easy path to these men. You've often got to go through
"so-and-so's brother's girlfriend", and clients looking for
discretion hire strictly through word-of-mouth. Also, modelling agencies
listed in newspaper classifieds are often fronts for dodgy activities.
Rates per stripper vary between Rs 5,000 and Rs 15,000. Says Vikram Kumar,
28, who organises male strippers in Delhi and Mumbai, "My boys are
expensive because I spend on their wardrobes -- net T-shirts, shiny
G-strings and leather jackets."
Ingenuous and startlingly bold themes have been finding their way into
Mumbai drawing rooms. A pre-wedding party with three strippers is almost
boring. A prominent Mumbai socialite organised an evening called
"Bananas from Brazil". Fifty, 30-something women cheered as
three strapping young men entered the room wearing pieces of cloth
precariously balanced on their hips. Colourful tattoos in banana shapes
were made all over their bodies while two cherries dangled from their
ears. A belt of bananas and strawberries adorned their waists. The boys
hurled the bananas at the ladies and suggestively ate the cherries.
Similarly, a lady designer in Delhi had a theme "Devils from
Heaven". The venue was done up in black and silver with Dracula
posters on the walls. The strippers wore masks, black T-shirts and thick,
heavy, metal jewellery.
Even so, not all parties end up roaringly successful. Neena Gill, 24,
still shudders as she recalls her bachelor party. "One stripper got
drunk, puked all over my house and took off all his clothes. My guests
were revolted and it spoilt the fun."
Women enjoy these evenings because it makes them feel good about
themselves. They're bold, beautiful and brash, but when it comes to
publicity, the courage evaporates ... no names, no faces. It's that Tu Tu
Main Main syndrome again. Ma-in-law still matters.
|
