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How Far Do We Extend The Realms Of Virtuality?

In India, sex is a taboo topic and the net has become a refuge for youngsters who want titillation or 'excitement'. Since net cafes have halved their rates, cyber sex has become more accessible to most people. Although there are signs saying "Viewing and downloading porn sites is prohibited", none of them really restrict or prevent users from logging on. The majority of people who take advantage of this freedom are college and school going children. We spoke to a few to find out their views on "CYBER SEX".

Manish, a junior college student waiting for his competitive exam results, has plenty of time on his hands. He spends about five hours chatting or surfing the net. He frequently visits pornography sites. In most cases the initial trial is more because of the novelty factor. As Manish says," I surfed pornography sites just for the heck of it, but I became a regular once I visited the sites." Neither ready net access nor the price factor bother him," I don't mind spending on magazines but one has to keep the magazine somewhere and if one receives it by post, an address has to be given. The net provides the privacy that I want. Nobody finds out".

Manish opines that magazines are passé. When he was first introduced to pornographic magazines by his brother, he found them 'interesting'. But the disadvantage of a magazine, he says, is once you have read it you get bored of reading the same thing again and again. Over a period of time he found that the content in most magazines was very repetitive. The net, on the other hand, provides content which is updated regularly and is not stereotyped. It is more graphic and there are many options available to the surfer. Some sites have the added option of live video clips." I can visualize what I have seen on the site and masturbate when I am at home."

Though age restrictions have been placed by sites, the follow up to that rule is very lax. Most surfers are able to hack the sites and gain access to them. Aziz works in a cyber cafe and therefore has both the time and the inclination to search for such sites. He doesn't even have to pay for viewing them, however he says" When I first discovered cyber sex I regularly spent a lot of time on it but subsequently got bored and only logged on when I had nothing to do".

One of the most popular log ons are 'chat rooms'. This is frequently accessed by people who want to indulge in sex-talk. The internet slang for this is "cyber". If someone on another terminal complies -well you're in for fantasies, experiences, relationships and porn talk. A rough survey shows that almost 80 per cent of those sitting on the terminal are chatting. It has been stated to be addictive, however it is an assumption to say that they all talk 'dirty". The anonymity of the person on the other end helps people come open on topics which they otherwise would have felt uncomfortable doing. Manish says that in some portals he enters the chat room regardless of the topic being discussed and asks whether anybody is interested in cyber sex. He says that people politely ask you to leave the chat room if they do not want to engage in cyber sex, thus things never get out of hand or unpleasant either.

"I have a lot of girlfriends from America" says Manish," The net can do that, you can pick and choose. He is 18 years old, thus his preference being girls this age. Manish says that he prefers net friends because he can talk to them frankly and sometimes even act his fantasies out. Something which he would not be able to do in actual life.

Infact some of the cafes tell their customers that they can view porn sites late at night. Women somehow make the men conscious of themselves. Keeping the cafe open till late hours would mean smaller ratio of women to men. Some cafe managers said that even women come and view such sites, but very few. This therefore is a male dominated viewer ship!

Perhaps the silver lining is that viewing of porn and adult related material is usually a curiosity driven act. It is mostly a phase which people go through and eventually reach their saturation point. Yes! The saturation points vary amongst people just as personalities do, however most come around and realize " How much porn can one watch after all" says Raj. A net savvy computer operator. 

There is no solution to this issue. It is just an added feature to the vastness of adult material that existed prior to computers. One cannot harness or restrict human curiosity. The more people demand the more it will be supplied. Infact porn is a revenue generator for it's suppliers and a quencher for it's viewers. So every one is happy- The viewers, cafe managers, porn models and the even legitimate search engines that list such sites on their lists. It is neither an illegal act or business and be sure that it is here to stay. Some even agree that it is a healthy way of releasing stress and frustration. It doesn't physically harm anyone. There are many views and opinions on this topic, the option eventually is YOURS. 

(All names have been changed to protect identities)