PDA PUBLIC DISPLAY OF AFFECTION

 

PDA  PUBLIC DISPLAY OF AFFECTION

Mohua Das  writes in Sunday Times of India of 15th March 2026

Excerpts 

New love produces a sort of giddiness that convinces its participants, the world has briefly vanished.

How much PDA is too much PDA is the question.

Too much intimacy in public is frowned upon by the hierarchy of outrage in india.
Indians do not mind westerners hugging their partners publicly, but moral thunder strikes at its loudest when Indians indulge in it.

It is said India is a country where public urination causes less alarm than kissing in public.

The digital juries in this country have codified PDA as,
"Anything beyond a hug, peck on the cheek or holding hands." 

Another adopts the grandmother's rule of thumb,

"If you wouldn't want your grandmother to see it, keep it to yourself."

The measuring rod is surprisingly technical.

Handholding is widely acceptable.

Arms around the waist, borderline.

A quick hello - goodbye kiss passes muster

Smooch is red alert

If one is still intent on rules, we can rely on the grandmother's test,

"If she doesn't faint, it's probably fine."

Then there is the four second rule,

"A kiss longer than four seconds begins to make the observers self conscious."

There is a security advice too,

"If the kiss lasts long enough for someone to steal your wallet, it is probably too long."

In India, make believe is fine. Anything more tends to cause palpitations.

Here the rule of romance in public are elastic.

Here, the couples in parks and beaches are asked to keep two feet distance.

All the same, there has been no slow down in the explosion of population, 

even if Indians are barred from PDA or even kissing in public.

Many Indians had grown up in homes never seeing their parents holding hands or 

displaying affection in public.

This is the country where "westernised boldness" triggers a frenzy.

Moreover a kiss on the cheek is considered obscene here.

If a couple lounges somewhere in the open, it is the breach of morality.

The arch conservatives among Indians that comprise the majority, fret about the example PDA might set for their school going children. It is the natural parental concern.

But through PDA, if people behave less like the upright and more like the young who are deliriously happy, there is absolutely nothing wrong with PDA.