Why They Didn’t Kiss and Make Up

A critique on the failure of the thwarted Kiss of Love agitation

Since it is perilous to critique a movement launched by earnest yuppies with angry fingertips glued to Facebook and Twitter, let’s start with lauding the intent of Kiss of Love, that thwarted agitation in Kerala. When a bunch of Yuva Morcha thugs go about vandalising a restaurant just because young couples cosy-up there, who can argue against the unleashed anger?

But do take a look at the photographs of those arrested after they tried to make their way to the protest in Kochi. Clearly, it was doomed to fail—they mostly show one or two brave girls with a large retinue of boys. A protest that by its very definition needs a 1:1 ratio between males and females was never going to be very effective when the ratio was 100:1. And it becomes 200:1 when you count those who would have come solely to see the kissing.

On the eve of the protest, a couple, who reportedly organised the protest with a call on Facebook, set off something of a storm when they kissed on a television talk show. That was about all that the voyeurs were going to get: photographs connected to the protest show the rest of them merely pecking at cheeks in ‘cousin brotherly’ fashion. It is of course symbolic, but if the agitation is for a sort of quasi-sexual freedom then kissing on the cheeks has to be cheating.

Then there were the protestors against the protestors, men from right- wing organisations like Shiv Sena, Bajrang Dal, Sunni Yuvajana Sangatana and Social Democratic Party of India. Their ostensible reason to be there was a mortal threat to culture, but more probably it was envy because in Kerala it is hard to get a girl and easier to join a political outfit.

The Kiss of Love has moved from Kochi to Kolkata, where even if kisses are not exchanged there will be a couple of PhD theses written about it and definitely one novel. And then, it will spread like wildfire until, in that utopian future, everyone will be kissing in the streets and no one remembers why.

About The Author

Madhavankutty Pillai

Madhavankutty Pillai has no specialisations whatsoever. He is among the last of the generalists. And also Open chief of bureau, Mumbai  

•