Home » Forums » Sex Life Accessories

Condom Bar Opens in India

Tue, 06/12/2007 - 14:20
Submitted by Carlin Ross

Talk about progress. This is just wonderful. We should have condom bars in nyc:

Sagjit Singh and Ravnish Bhola are finding it difficult not to think about sex.

Safe sex, that is.

Singh, 23, and Bhola, 22, are customers at India's first "Condom Bar" in Chandigarh where tablemats have messages such as: "Get It On!", next to a condom design.

Behind the granite bar, hundreds of condom packets are on display.

"This place is great," says Singh, a desktop engineer with a mobile phone service provider, drinking beer and eating chicken tikka in the noisy and subtly lit bar.

"We Indians are shy about sex. But here, you start talking about safe sex because of all these condoms," says Singh, dressed in a white kurta and pants.

Bhola, dressed in blue jeans and a white shirt, agrees. "It's cool."

Nearby, free condom packets fill a crystal bowl.

The "Condom Bar" is run by the Chandigarh Industrial and Tourism Development Corporation Limited, a semi-independent state agency in Chandigarh, capital of the prosperous northern foodbowl states of Punjab and Haryana.

The Corporation, known as CITCO, says it wants to do its bit to raise awareness about safe sex in a country where millions of people are HIV-positive but attitude towards sex is conservative.

"We want people to have a good time but be safe," Jasbir Singh Bir, Managing Director of CITCO, says.

BOLD STEP

Illuminated signs depicting a red ribbon and condom greet patrons as they enter the "Condom Bar".

Dozens of young and middle-aged Indians let their hair down at the bar late one Friday night. One of them is a doctor.

"Let's not be hypocrites. In these days of AIDS, we cannot afford to be closed minded about sex," says Betty, who gives just one name, as a waiter serves a beer glass carrying a condom motif.

"This is a bold step."

CITCO says Chandigarh, an emerging information technology hub with one of highest literacy rates among nearly all Indian cities at over 81 percent, is a good place to try out its concept.

But the bar has been criticised by some who say it promotes promiscuity.

Singh disagrees. "Actually after visiting the bar, you will think many times before indulging in casual sex, and if you do, you will make sure you do it safely," Singh says.

Nursing their drinks, Jagjit Singh and Bhola say they will definitely visit again.

"Right now, my girlfriend is out of town so I don't need a condom," Singh says with a grin. "But I will be back."

‹ Strange Distiurbing Sex Toys My favourite lesbian porn ›

Tue, 06/12/2007 - 16:35
dayzeed

Well, let's hope the condoms on offer at these bars are the right size:
[URL="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6161691.stm"]Condoms 'too big' for Indian Men[/URL].

Interesting, considering that men in [URL="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4155390.stm"]South Africa[/URL] seem to have the opposite problem.

Betterthenyouknew's picture
Tue, 06/12/2007 - 17:33
Betterthenyouknew

I think this is a fabulous idea.

Now they just have to find ways of introducing condoms in Africa, where litteracy rates are somewhat lower.

I remember reading an article once about women in Egypt regecting "the pill" because it seemed unnatural to them or some such nonsense.
Well, yes, it is unnatural... but the idea is safe, and the chinese had "the pill" about 3000 years ago according to historians. So why not condoms, and why not the Pill.

I say, Right on...
and on the point of too big or too small, make sure it's on right... Nobody likes a tight squeeze.:eek:

A.:cool:

Wed, 06/13/2007 - 02:24
cuntlicker

Yeah, a girl I was with a while back had some condoms stashed away, and they were so tight that it was uncomfortable at first, and then painful after a minute or two.