Oyo's New Customer Policy Smacks Of Prudery And Puritanism

By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam 8 January 2025 Oyo said on Sunday (December 5) that it would require proof of marriage for couples checking into hotels in the city of Meerut, located almost 80km away from the national capital Delhi. “Under the revised policy, unmarried couples will no longer be welcome to check in,” Oyo said in a statement. “All couples will be asked to present valid proof of relationship at the time of check-in, including for bookings made online. Oyo has empowered its partner hotel’s discretion to decline couple bookings based on their judgment, aligning with local social sensibilities.” The policy change was driven by requests from local hotel owners who wanted the discretion to deny access to unmarried couples – something Oyo did not previously allow them to do. Super Hotel O Raj Palace ----- Oyo said that the policy’s rollout in Meerut could expand to other cities. Ridiculous! Isn't it? Relationship 'status' of the couples for a valid stay at an Oyo hotel! First of all, why should married couples go to an Oyo hotel for a few hours of 'intimate' togetherness? They'll do that in the privacy of four walls as they're 'legally' married. Does the State or society issue some kind of 'relationship status' to the lovers? Who issues it? I'm in urgent need of it! Joking aside, the law of the land allows consensual couples to make love without the fear of society and silly legalities. It's not illegal or criminal. Mind you, it's not promiscuous behaviour if two adults decide to be 'intimate' (using a euphemism). Nor am I promoting promiscuity on this site. My point is: Now where'll these ill-fated people go and why's sex eternally condemnable in this country? Prudery is in the DNA of Indians. An Urdu poet aptly said, "Jo Jismfaroshi Ko Gunaah Kahte Hain/Raat Andhi Galiyon Mein Panaah Lete Hain " (those who condemn flesh-trade/Surreptitiously visit those ' disreputable' alleys at the dark of night). Today, the country of Kamasutra, Koka Shastra and Anangshastra is sexually the most repressed country. ' Modern' Indian society's attitude towards sex and carnality is exceedingly dubious. Moral prudes like M K Gandhi, Rajshri Purushottam Das Tandon and now this government have demonised human sexuality in such a powerfully perverted manner that we've begun to believe that sex is the cardinal sin. The sanctity of sex was sullied by the prudes, puritans and sanctimonious characters. What an irony, when the Muslims were peeling off the skin of the Persian mystic Mansoor al Hallaj in 922 for proclaiming An-al-Haq (Upanishadic Aham Brahmasmi), almost simultaneously, the kings of Chandel dynasty in Central India were building the famed temples of Khajuraho and revelling in sensual pleasure by sculpting the effing images on the walls and interiors of those temples. Sex in ancient India was a sacred thing. Kama was the lifeline of Indian consciousness. Such a sexually advanced Indian society developed a muddled attitude and approach towards sex only after the foreign invasions of Muslim invaders and Christian missionaries. An enslaved country and its people lose all their perceptional moorings and liberal values by assimilating the ethos of the rulers. Exactly the same happened to us. Islam's conservative scriptural understanding of sex, Biblical orthodoxy and Victorian morality turned sex into a taboo. That taboo still persists. Can you imagine that an erudite scholar and philosopher like Dr Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan wondered why sex was a social stigma in ' modern' India, whereas the ancient India before Islamic and Christian invasions, allowed women to practise Niyog (picking up men of their choice, equivalent to today's gigolo phenomenon). A marvelous magazine like Playboy is still not available in India though it's not just famous for its tastefully erotic centrespreads but also for its perceptive articles, book and film reviews and the most perspicuous interviews. Yours truly used to write about food and wine ( the most powerful aphrodisiacs!) for the English and French editions of Playboy and never felt embarrassed as a gourmet and oenologist writing for a world famous girlie magazine. Rather, he felt proud and happy as Playboy would unfailingly send the contributor's copy to him along with his handsome remuneration! His medico father was also its health advisor for many years. Now-defunct Debonair (existed from 1972 to 2015) was never accepted by prudes. Its readers were branded as lecherous priapics by the ' morally upright ' and hypocrite Indians. In such sexually repressive and oppressive times and climes, how can we all have a balanced attitude towards sex? Agreed, no sane person will ever approve of sexual bohemianism of Osho, Marquis de Sade, Grigori Rasputin and Giacomo Casanova, but at the same time, healthy sex as an integral part of human existence cannot either be branded as unrestrained libertinism. There's a need to evolve sexually in thoughts and patterns. Having a healthy attitude towards sex will make the whole thing (grudgingly) acceptable by people and useless policy makers. Is Oyo listening? ---- A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed articles to the world's premier publications in several languages including Persian. 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