The Bikini Virgins

Why Indian girls talk so much about bikinis but don’t wear them

Jyoti Neggi is in her twenties. She loves seafood and beaches, and has the perfect retro sunglasses to complement the coastal sun. But she doesn’t have the perfect swimwear. Jyoti doesn’t have body issues, just the universal preoccupation with a tummy and stretch marks. She’s never been fat. Which is why she doesn’t know how she managed to remain a bikini virgin for so long. It isn’t in keeping with her free-spiritedness.

Sometime in the 21st century, subtle, disconnected cultural shifts occurred and caught girls like Jyoti offguard. They finally won the battle against frizzy hair with conditioner. Sunscreen and multivitamins were declared lifesavers. A bronze, suntanned complexion was picking appreciation in a fairness-obsessed society. And for the first time in Indian history, women had the money and technology to fulfil their dreams of permanent hair removal. Deluded by gym instructors and diet fads, some even thought they could hack down their classic Indian hip bones and abdomens in the pursuit of a flawless figure. Skin polishing and hair relaxation made the lie more believable. They were almost there. The pin-up girls of their dreams. Just one thing remained. The bikini moment. When a girl finally decides to emerge in a bikini for the very first time in her adult life and walk towards the sea, beneath the open skies.

They came close but let it pass. Jyoti, for one, has hung on to her black tankini, a safe option. Although a two-piece, the tankini was invented for the conservative Indian—the tank top and broad bottom concealing most problem areas. But one afternoon, Jyoti decided to go for it. But, it’s not easy to find a decent bikini in India.

There are very few places in India where one can wear it, and so very few places where one can buy it. Most bikini wearers keep conservative options for the local public pool and wear clothes over the swimwear on popular, public beaches. They are not misfits. Just opportunists.

In the minds of men, a bikini is not a garment but a body, a bikini is what it doesn’t conceal. (That’s fine, actually. Cleavage does distract from the cellulite.) Women would like to believe they see the bikini differently. They would like to say every woman has the right to wear it because it is a form of freedom. Truth is, women perceive the bikini just like men: the body has to deserve it. Many girls, in fact all, think they are a) overweight or underweight, b) too tall or short, depending on the company they keep, c) have a lot of hair on their bodies. Most are clinically delusional about their bodies in many other ways too.

Nupur Shah, 29, would rather bungee jump than wear a bikini. She is a size 10 but thinks she’s fat. Indians are generally not comfortable with their bodies. Ask an Indian guy to switch to Speedo chaddis from boxers on the beach and chances are he will get flustered. Multiply fluster many times and you arrive at bikini fluster.

When Jyoti tried her first bikini in an obscure boutique’s changing room, the first detail to catch her eye was the stretch-mark on her tummy. That vanished soon enough though, and Jyoti couldn’t help admiring herself, even in the wrong bikini. For reasons unresearched, bikinis have a magical effect on the wearer. Within seconds, they go from feeling like a block of wood to I’m-so-sexy. Many girls like Hemal Patel remember feeling incredibly hot the first time they wore one. And once you walk out the door wearing nothing but a bikini, there’s no looking back. It’s not for the weak spirited. Either you do it or you don’t. But once you do, you will again and again.

Despite the self-admiration, Jyoti couldn’t buy her bikini. The boutique, like most other places, imported its stock from Thailand and other South Asian countries, where adult sizes match the Indian pre-pubescent. Bikinis in Indian stores are either ill-fitting and cheap, or trendy and overpriced. Which is why when 22-year-old Devina Nisal walked the ramp in her black-beaded bikini for the Femina Miss India swimsuit round, she was more relieved at strutting in the right garment than jittery about being in it.

Devina had arrived in Mumbai from Pune a few days before the event to buy her bikini, confident that a cosmopolitan city would have more options. Devina had kept aside Rs 4,000. How much could it possibly cost? “I spent double,” says Devina. “The shops stocked weird floral prints. I didn’t want to buy a black bikini as I thought that would be too conventional, I wanted something classy with little embellishment.” Devina finally found her bikini at 9:30 pm, the night before her swimsuit round.

While she entered the swimsuit round feeling victorious, the battle had only just begun for other contestants. Most girls clambering backstage weren’t prepared to walk in a bikini, despite rules specifying so. Some girls had a one-piece, others thought they could get away with a sarong over the bikini. Some hadn’t even done the bikini wax.

As for Devina, she was confident though it was her first time. “It was my moment. When I walked on to stage, all the physical torture I put myself through paid off.” Also, when you have 60 other girls to give you company, it feels normal. In the spirit of sisterhood, contestants shared cosmetic concealers, body oils and body make-up to hide ugly marks, that scar on our knees, calves and butts. Devina had a blast when she wore a bikini, and recommends it to others. “You could accessorise it with a sarong or tank top to suit your figure. If you have blemishes you can use liquid-based concealers that won’t come off in water.”

Meanwhile, Jyoti is still searching for her dream bikini. It must be the rightest size possible to withstand violent splashing, the sexiest cut to accentuate her figure, and the funkiest print to suit her style. And when the moment comes, she won’t use concealers. To do that would be missing the whole point.

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