NEW DELHI: It's the worst kept secret in town. If you want to buy a porn CD, all you need to do is stroll into Palika Bazaar — the unofficial porn C
D haven of the Capital — and pick up whatever you like. And now, the market has another claim to fame: it's fast emerging as a centre for smuggled adult toys too.

The moment you enter the underground market and walk close to any of the shops stocking electronic goods & CDs, you are greeted with hushed whispers of "Kya chahiye? Kya chalega? ‘' For the uninitiated, this is the clarion call of porn peddlers who have now added to their repertoire, besides CDs, an assortment of sex toys, most of them smuggled in from China.

Says a regular at the market, "The demand for these toys is quite high and even shops selling clothes and electronic goods have begun to stock them." The range of toys include vibrators and strap-on dildos, which come in different variations, including one with a remote. The hottest selling items, according to a peddler, are inflatable dolls. These dolls, made of latex, can be blown up to the height of an adult female — some even come with removable body parts.

Prices for the toys vary, depending on the customer. For example, the dolls, smuggled in from the US, are priced at Rs 9,000 initially but bargaining can bring the cost down to at least a third of that. And, reportedly, there's no dearth of takers according to a shopkeeper, he sells at least 10-15 of these every month.

The brisk sale of these toys clearly indicates that a huge market exists for them. In India, however, these toys are banned, which begs the question whether such a ban is justified.

Globally, the market for adult toys is massive, valued at approximately $15 billion annually, and growing at the rate of 30%. Sexologists say that the ban in India on these toys is ridiculous, since they are the safest, best and cheapest form of sexual entertainment.

Says Dr Prakash Kothari, professor of sexual medicine at Mumbai's KEM Hospital, "Adult toys are an innocent form of satisfying sexual desires. They also help in facilitating safe sex thus preventing unwanted pregnancies, controlling population growth and spread of HIV." It's an irony, he says, that while the government is ready to distribute free condoms, it is banning sex toys, which help in sex education and promote safe sex. China, incidentally, is the world's largest exporter of sex toys, accounting for 70% of global production. The country's sex toy industry provides employment to millions and is also a major forex earner.

In fact, the use of sex toys in India is nothing new. These toys, according to Kothari, find a mention in Vatsyanana's Kamasutra , where there are references to apadravyas (dildos) and life-size pratimas (wooden figures) being used in the sexual act.

"It's time we shed our pseudo-moralistic attitude," says Kothari. "In our country, the biggest challenge is controlling population and propagating safe sex. If the sex toy industry is helping in doing so and also creates a profitable sector in the economy, why shouldn't it be encouraged and legalised?" he questions.

Till this question is answered, sex toys will probably continue to sell surreptitiously in markets like Palika Bazaar.