Culture and moral policing Media Watch BY V GANGADHAR GOSH, FINALLY I feel liberated. I will never be the one to scamper out of rat holes, object to any kind of art and seek newspaper headlines. My salvation came the moment I was aware of the great­est cultural ~how In a 'nanny state' that of Sanjeev Khadekar and Vaishali Narkar so imaginatively named Tits cuts & Elephant Dick'. My cup of liberation ran over after reading a famous 'culture columnist's warm defence of the artist's freedom to display male mannequins with erect phalluses and female figures with big breasts. Another imaginative touch was the distribution of brochures of poems with unforgettable lines like 'In search of the best f--of his life.' I read with Increasing pleasure the columnist's revelation about men, women and children thronging the 'Tits' show and emerging enlightened. What better educa­tion can the kid have than parents describ­ing to the children what was meant by 'clit', 'elephant dick'? With this kind of knowl­edge, they would never be the same again. Art can also be a showcase of kinky fan­tasies and we have every right to view them and revel in them. And how dare the police listen yet again to the moral police and close down the show. In this era when stupid people make such stupid decisions only non-stupid columnists can save our art and culture. Didn't we witness great art appreciation at the show when people paid Rs 1.20 lakh to buy blowup dolls in all sorts of sensual pos­tures. When people pay that much it meant, despite all the moral policing, ART had ar­rived in Mumbai and one has to thank our culture-saving columnists for this. On the other hand why should people be denied the pleasure of watching with their children 'significant' films like 'Omkara' of which even good ole' William (Shakespeare) would have been proud for its string of in­vectives used by all characters. How right was the culture-conscious columnist when he said that kids heard such talk all the time on streets. Yes, our true sense of liberation will dawn when our children use such words freely at home. On that auspicious day, we can greet the culture-conscious columnist with 'Eurkea, we are a liberated society!' Some of the installations in the show re­sembled toilets once again stressing their universality. This was art at its best and can we fondly hope that Khandekar and Narkar will devote their next show to the ancient art of defecation? If the moral police interferes, culture con­scious columnists can snarl, 'if you have to go, you have to go, It is the most natural thing in the word. In an editorial, the culture-conscious columnist's paper rebuked the moral police for its action against nude male and female mannequins. Tactfully, it did not give details of What the mannequins depicted. Was it the action of the edit page police? Anyway, who reads editorials, thank god our art is safe so long we have such culture-conscious columnists who fight to keep the moral police away. Art can also be a showcase of kinky fantasies and we have every right to view them