Men do stare...

Malipoo & Martini
Times of India 

Men do stare at women's bosom - says MSN headline! Wow! The admission of the millennium! Do you, kind Sirs? Only a few weeks back, a Tamil bi-weekly magazine called me to ask for a radical byte on women newsreaders who were told either to remove their thali or hide it, as the TRP ratings fall when the viewer knows she is a "taken" woman. 

It made me think back at the times when we would have to buy a packet of sanitary napkins at the local store. Till date, besides a bottle of liquor or fresh meat, nothing else is packed in a black plastic bag, or wrapped in a newspaper. Not TASMAC. There you buy your bag from the pottikadai next door for a rupee extra, besides the hiked price for the alcohol itself, if you don't want to admit, that you like an occasional drink. I'd rather have advertised the brand of napkins that I used, than haul this massive packet all the way home. Of course, today things have slightly changed - because of supermarkets, where I can quietly pick a packet of condoms along with my kilo of thoor dhal, and not be embarrassed. 

Not that it means that the path of my emancipation has been paved, only that I can afford a supermarket! Remember the 60s when Naidu Hall opened its first store in Pondy Bazaar with a woman's bust dressed in a tight cone-shaped brassier? 

Though women's obsession for shopping had been a long driven joke for the Tamil populace, until today we are able to buy provisions, beauty products, home decors, silk sarees, jewelry... But we are not consulted when it comes to the brand of car, or share investments. Of course, if I can't pay through my nose to buy magic bras, laced panties, lubricated, color, ribbed condoms, and sanitary napkins, in fancy sizes - it is still a pain. 

Hey, while you are busy checking out our sizes, how about peeping into this piece too? 

"A survey of more than 1,000 men in India has concluded that condoms made according to international sizes are too large for a majority of Indian men." Makes an interesting read, quite thoughtful, about why Indian men are obsessed with my size, but take trouble to hide theirs. This is something that can't be hidden for too long, you see, unless you are determined to stay celibate for the rest of your life? A slice of bacon around doesn't solved the problem. And before I forget, we discuss this amongst us too!