Art & Culture
While Mumbai Police Cracks Down on Porn, India’s First Sex Toy Store Opens At Calangute in Goa
Goa: While sex and sexuality is still a taboo subject in Indian society, the country’s first sex toy shop opened at Calangute in Goa, reports India.com. And yes, their contact number too has sex on it – 9769 496969.
This comes as a surprise, given the massive crackdown by the Mumbai police on content creators like Gehana Vasisth who were allegedly making and selling porn videos – according to the cops, who arrested nearly 9 people from different parts of Mumbai and one from Surat.
Digital stats show that visits to porn websites witnessed a 95% rise in India during the first phase of the lock down. Not only that, the sale of sex toys in India saw a 65% rise post lock down phase, most of it from the black market.
There are shops in South Mumbai that sell sex toys but most of this is shrouded in a cloak of secrecy. Besides, there is no MRP on the products. The seller gauges the buyer and quotes a price for the products.
Despite the rising demand, only a handful of digital or online stores sell such products openly and shady shops that sell sex toys and wellness products are all part of the black market.
Now all that is set to change now because one shop in Goa has smashed the taboo to become India’s first legal sex toy shop cum wellness products store and dared to do what no one else has done before!
Launched last month, Kama Gizmos has become India’s first official brick-and-mortar sex shop, Vice.com reported.
The store which is located along the Calangute stretch, sells a wide variety of sex toys, unique condoms, sprays, gels, vibrators and pumps to harnesses, packers and more.
Thankfully, keeping in mind prudish Goan sentiments, the shop isn’t designed like some dimly-lit, kinky Bangkok or Thailand dungeon but is well-lit and looks more like a medical store. There is absolutely no nudity and no obscenity of any kind around it or the images and products on display.
Some of the store’s bestsellers include BDSM sets, marshmallow-flavoured, glow-in-the-dark and vegan condoms, cock rings, vibrators and role play costumes, according to Vice Media representatives who visited the store.
Talking about the design, Nirav Mehta, the co-founder of the shop said, ”We have purposely not made it flashy or like a dark underground dungeon, which is how most shops like this abroad are. We have modeled it like a medical store, while all our certificates are on the wall. We do this to avoid any political backlash.”
Notably, it’s because of India’s strict obscenity laws in India that have made it nearly impossible for legit sex shops to operate. “This law is in the grey space, but essentially, you can sell any [sex] product as long as it is not obscene. We purposely chose toys and products with packaging that did not have nudity or show women in a demeaning manner, so it does not violate any obscenity laws,” said Mehta.