“I was stopped by a policeman the other day for wearing an earring and a hair band,” a young man told a group of people in Mumbai last weekend. He, like many members of the audience participating in a discussion about women’s rights and whether one universal law applied, wanted to know why and how their individual rights were trampled on by the might of the collective so easily in India.

In Kerala, a news channel ran a “sting operation” about a cafe where young people drank coffee and there possibly was some kissing. This led to a political party vandalising the cafe and other parties applauding. The news channel and the politicians were both trying to “save” Indian culture from such Western abominations as kissing and perhaps even drinking coffee in a cafe.