Teenage Sex Tape Exposes Deep Divisions in Indian Culture

[Placebo]

It was a private act of two hormone-charged teenagers that lasted 2 minutes and 37 seconds on digital video.

But offered for sale on the Internet, the fuzzy images of the 17-year-old girl having oral sex with her high school sweetheart has sent shock waves through urban India, exposing the growing friction between the conservative middle class, its increasingly Westernized progeny and modern technology.

"It came to me as a surprise that kids are having sex so soon," Barkha Dutt, who hosts the country's most popular television talk show on social issues, said in an interview. "Even we are not aware of how much things have changed."

India may be the birthplace of Kama Sutra, the 6th century sex manual, but sex today is a generally taboo subject. Premarital sex is not widely condoned, and public displays of affection draw frowns.

Caught in the scandal's stinging sweep is Avnish Bajaj, the Indian-born American who heads eBay's Indian subsidiary Baazee.com, where the video clip shot by the schoolboy himself using his cell phone camera was put up for sale.

Arrested last week under an ambiguous Indian law on cyber porn, Bajaj was freed after posting bail Tuesday, but his U.S. passport remained confiscated.

Bajaj's arrest triggered a diplomatic spat between the United States and India and a threat by eBay executives to reconsider doing business in a country that would toss one of their top managers in jail as a scapegoat.

"This incident has certainly given us pause and raises concerns about the safeguards that are in place for businesses operating in India," said Henry Gomez, an eBay vice president in the United States.

"This situation is one of concern at highest levels of the U.S. government," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said in Washington.

full article may be found here: http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=349747&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312

[bobthedrummer]

1. The Kama Sutra talks about how to have heavenly oral sex and that was

ancient India, right? Hey, this is :silly: really.
But it is of the highest concern to the War President's administration-currently under construction.

[Chicago Democrat]

2. India is home to alot of crazy ideas.. Like Hindu Nationalism

India is becoming Westernized. I think this is a sign of it, and to quote Martha, 'its a good thing'.

[Placebo]

3. GAH! I forgot the bloody 4 paragraph limit again, sorry Mods!

:(

I get confused with these super-short paragraphs that only last a sentence or two. Does that even make them official paragraphs? I dunno!

Sorry.

[Chicago Democrat]

4. I think that single sentence

quotes shouldn't count. Nor should one sentance paragraphs (2 of them making one)

[Moderator]

5. Interesting Article, however...

This post violates DU copyright rules:

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COPYRIGHT ISSUES AND BANDWIDTH THEFT

Don't post entire copyrighted articles. If you wish to reference an article, provide a brief excerpt and include a link to the original source. Generally, excerpts should not exceed three or four paragraphs.

Do not plagiarize.

Do not steal someone else's bandwidth by posting images that are hosted on another website. Democratic Underground is a high-traffic website, so posting images from other sites will cause their server load to increase dramatically, and might even cost the website owner money. If you wish to post an image from another website, you must contact the owner of the other website to get their consent.

If you post copyrighted images, always post the source of the image.

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[Placebo]

6. Check Post #3...

Sorry. :(