Defamation, the shorts & long of it

Have you noticed how in India, whenever many men mean 'naked', in most cases they actually mean 'only kachha-banian'? It's this same cultural conflation of what constitutes au naturel, more-revealing-than-covering underwear, and perfectly ho-hum homewear that seems to have got BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia's knickers in a twist. Well, shorts, actually, as he explained after filing a defamation suit (funny that) against multiple persons sharing a video online showcasing the otherwise kurta-clad Bhatia caught 'off-guard' during a national TV debate. The Delhi High Court, too, even while advising politicians to develop 'thick skin', ordered the supposedly scandalous clip be taken off the ether. Is nothing 'casual' any more?

How wearing shorts in one's own home is both a privacy issue and public humiliation is a bit confusing. Unless Bhatia broke into metaphorical tears by the barrage of rude, anatomical taunts from trolls who found shorts to be a short-cut for being risque. Post-Covid, video calls/recordings have established the 'Narasimha avatar' practice of wearing 'proper' clothes above the waist and 'casual' clothes below the equator to be SOP. This incident may now strike terror in the seat of countless pants. Even as the court order, not the revelatory video, will now not let us 'unsee' a comfy Bhatia for a very long time.