Pleasure-seeking during Covid times

The Corona virus has touched almost everything and changed and changed utterly. It has transcended all geographical, political, and racial boundaries and limitations and has caused enormous loss of human life,money and time.

The deadly pandemic has not spared both the developed and the developing countries, the rich and the poor, the young and the aged, man, woman, and child. Show me one person one sphere of our activity, one city and one country which are not untouched and unaffected by the pandemic.

People have lost their businesses, jobs and wherewithal. According to one report in India Today, around 12.2 crores of people have been rendered jobless. Beggars,orphans, and street urchins are being hit hard, forsaken and ignored by most governments! And "women of the street" are the worst victims of these Covid times. But, alas who cares for them?

It is true that our Sonagachi is the largest red-light area in the Asia and prostitution is famously called the world's oldest job! Yet, the 'women of the street' are looked down, humiliated, exploited and their profession is not officially recognized as a profession here. Interestingly, when the virus has hit their 'market', when help is not forthcoming from anywhere, these women have helped themselves by starting to "sell themselves" online.

You may call it 'Virtual Prostitution' or 'Virtual Pleasure, or have guts to coin a new term like "Virtutituion", but it is a reality. Most dating apps have "virtually" opened a worldwide market for these "working girls" online. But there also these women have encountered stiff competition from a different kind of players.

To glean facts for this write-up I willingly and unwillingly took a membership in a couple of dating apps,using my real name, facts and 'figures'.At one dating app,to my surprise,I was flooded from day one with juicy messages and pings from young,attractive girls, women, and sirens.Initially all this gave me some euphoria and filled me with narcissism! Soon truth dawned. While chatting, many girls used choicest terms to lure me into their 'lap of trap' to extract money from me.

I found out that most of the 'invitations' that flattered and fattened this 65 plus man were from boys and men who make lots of money daily on these dating apps, using fake profiles and playing out porn videos to gullible people.Of course,a couple of girls switched off their phones after taking 'small gifts' from me! One thing is clear that in these Covid times, many young educated boys and girls have taken to these dating apps to make easy and quick money. Young housewives were also found there 'helping themselves' to make a fast buck using social media platforms.

Again I noticed many Indian young girls and women 'helping themselves' at websites like Superchat and Stripchat. At the very out set I must say that these websites are porn websites where one can watch with voyeuristic pleasure some live strip shows.

The fact is that many Indian women strippers are in great demand on these sites.I don't know whether I should say this with pride or pain. At any given time one can see hundreds of watchers in the rooms where our girls and women behave like sporting ladies and make thousands of rupees in the form of "tokens" from the watchers!

It is a known fact that during these Covid times, most Indians have started watching porn. For many it has become a great source of income too. Don't think about the evil effects of these apps and sites on individuals, families, and on our society as long as our governments look the other way. But what our girls and boys must know is that whatever they show and share as their "private" pictures and videos to their partners and lovers at social media platforms is in fact out in market for sale.

The bottom line here is that when nobody helps you, help yourselves. Don't choose bad means and ways to help yourselves. And it is time our governments helped these hapless people and took action against such apps and sites which turn our youngsters into voyeurs and philanderers.