A casual statement by South Indian actress Khushboo created such a furore, that Indians were left scurrying for cover.

Talking to a TV channel in September Khushboo said there was nothing wrong in women having sex before marriage, they should just be careful and have safe sex. She also added that Tamil men should not expect their women to be virgins!

The comment created such a storm Khushboo was left weeping and asking for forgiveness. Two Tamil parties, DMK and Dalit Panthers (components of the current coalition at the centre) and critical of the present Jayalalithaa-led Tamil Nadu Government were angry that the actress chose to cast aspersions on the character of Tamil women. She was publicly harassed, with eggs being pelted at her and a defamation case against her.

Strange, talk of safe sex in a country with second highest AIDS victims number should have been misconstrued to such an extent.

It later turned out that the entire drama was orchestrated to score few brownie points against the Tamil Nadu chief minister. But the method resorted were so skewed that they left a conscientious Manmohan Singh highly embarrassed.

The world watched as India, instead of talking frankly on safe sex chose to create an issue of a non-issue.

Well-meaning Indians wondered when India would emerge out of the Victorian mindset.