A video of a young couple being shouted at by residents in Manipal for publicly displaying affection went viral. The couple was spotted kissing on the street, according to news reports, in Manipal, a prominent education and cultural centre in the Udupi district.
This was not acceptable behaviour in a public place, they said. The couple had tumultuous arguments with locals. According to witnesses, some locals spoke Kannada and verbally called the couple out, emphasising the need for social decorum in public. The man was urging the locals to talk, then, when he called for Kannada, he repeated "Hindi."
The Kannada-speaking people who spoke the local language resisted this challenge. The situation became a flashpoint for public behaviour and illuminated wider issues of language and regional identity. Despite such a brief conversation, the couple left without a scratch, and neither the locals nor the couple were hurt afterwards, which was a good thing. The entire video went viral, sparking an online conversation.
Although it may not have been local, it was filmed soon afterwards, but spread quickly through social media and became very famous with a mixed reaction. Netizens are deeply divided: Some side with the locals, others contend that India’s public places should conform to cultural traditions.
Public displays of affection are unsettling, even uncomfortable for others, they say and should not cross the boundary of expectations for people in nature. Plenty endorse the couple, arguing that consenting adults should be able to express their love without moral policing.
A third group is concerned about the language challenge, particularly with regard to the drive for Hindi as its language of choice, and that Kannada is not recognised across regions, many questioning the meaning of respect for language.
The larger question now at stake: Decency versus personal freedom
Cases like this one are nothing new, but they also trigger an old, continuous discussion at large today about the gap between public good manners and personal freedom, and that same debate is the one that India faces today. While no law outlaws mild displays of affection in public, like kissing, some conduct can still be considered (as in 'obscene' or 'public nuisance') and therefore immoral despite being considered wrong.
Though such expressions are increasingly common today in urban India, smaller towns and much more culturally sensitive regions might consider them inappropriate.
Cultural and social interests
Like other college campuses, Manipal is a hotbed of culture and culture-related sentiments. But the video also makes clear that cultural misunderstanding also breeds friction, especially when there aren’t hallways to enter. Language preferences also muddied the waters, drawing on a broader national debate over the right to speak one’s mother tongue in light of demands that speakers speak popular ones such as Hindi.
Manipal is more than just a cyber phenomenon: Manipal is political about citizens exercising their freedoms, respecting fellow human beings, and the ability to live across the public sphere in the moments when social and public health issues are all the rage. India has always tried to juggle modernisation with its traditional traditions, but such moments only raise the notion that balancing them is a long way off.
