The Taslima's way

For a change, it's good to know that a woman has laid some men. Womanizing has always been a side of some men. Why cannot manizing be a side of some women? Roman empress Mesalina was endowed with so much ravenous a sexual appetite that she was capable of welcoming in a single night every member of the Praetorian Guard. There are lecherous women as there are lecherous men. It has a lot to do with genes and hormones, which package the animal.

So, it must not come as surprise that Taslima sowed her wild oats with so many lovers. No big deal, if you ask me. Libido is like the dog in your house. Once in a while you must run it in the woods to keep it healthy. Now whose pleasure it was and who laid whom is a matter of debate. Let the men who slept with Taslima sort it out with their wives. One of them, a writer, is facing fire already, I am told. He couldn't stand up before his wife to explain how he got laid by another woman.

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Many years ago when US Presidential candidate Gary Hart was linked to Donna Rice, a Time article opened with the following sentence, "The destruction of a public man holds a terrible fascination." We don't know if that is the reason why Taslima has written her book. Whether she wanted to destroy the men she shared beds with in some Freudian slip of mind. We don't know if she recounted the memories of men who joined her in raunchy romps for the same reason some people rape their victims and tape it to watch for return delight.

If we take Taslima's words by the face value, then she did it to prove a point. If man could use woman as an object of pleasure, then she could do the same with man. But didn't we already know that? There are prostitutes for men as there are gigolos for women. In between there are many forms of consenting and unconsenting sex, which navigate between lust and love. If Taslima claims to have enjoyed her men, it's good news indeed. After all, ideal sex is meant to be a twosome game, when both parties could claim to have taken away some pleasure.

Scandal is when a respectable man, leading a dubious life, runs out of luck. Taslima's men are respectable in their own right- writers, editors, politicians and businessmen, the caste of the most star-studded scandal this country has ever known. Of course, there is always a possibility that none of this is true, that these men are paying the price for a misguided old flame. But then none of the men has said anything otherwise. So far not one of them has uttered a word of protest.

However, Taslima could have made her point without compromising the names of these men. But there is no reason to think that she has done it as her typical moon-baying at the male archetype. She has also written about the youthful indiscretions of her female friends, again giving some names, which could wreck some homes. She could have made her point without compromising those names as well.

It's strange indeed that she has rolled explosives into the tents on both sides of the gender divide, although the male side has been devastated most. Nobody thought that any of these men who kept Taslima's bed warm was a saint. But there is always the first shock of unearthing a scandal, because it has the excitement of a lucky draw. It's like searching for your friend in a hide and seek game and discovering him clumsily stashed in the closet.

Every scandal is when grownups are caught in the closet. And when gifted minds are found there, it gives way to ribald laughter. The famous names in Taslima's honor roll will hear that laughter every time her book changes hand. It's a pity for them to have consorted with a woman who turned into a loudmouth. It's also too late.

But what is in it for Taslima other than that she has laid some respectable men? If you read the book, it not only reeks the smell of a sordid life, but also of a life that needs a direction. And worst of all, this is a life that is predacious on the past. It's destroying the trust and confidence of people she knew, including her near and dear ones. Taslima's life is high on sex, but it looks deplorably low on love.

Perhaps the lasting legacy of her book, other than some broken marriages, will be the new trend of bare-all literature. Perhaps she will be remembered as the terminator of taboos, one who cracked a window in the suffocating house where the foul air of hypocrisy lingered too long. May be more and more people will come forward with their stories, making it difficult for grotty minds to hide their misdeeds.

Thus profanity can be the material for profound literature provided there is an overriding philosophy. That philosophy either isn't present in Taslima's book or it has been overshadowed by the banality of stories she has told. It doesn't take a great literary mind to tell us that there are horny men with corny minds. Any neighborhood tramp should be able to do it.

Taslima's book is now talk of the town not because it's a great piece of work, but because it has got some known men caught with their pants down. Perhaps the embarrassment of these men, if not their destruction, holds a terrible fascination. Perhaps the author believes she has performed the great ritual of a whistleblower by dragging these men in the muck of their moral turpitude.

Look at the sunny side, if you will. You can be successful and vulgar, or you can be vulgar and successful. It's the age-old story with a familiar twist. There is always a woman behind a successful man. Here, we have many men behind a successful woman. That's the Taslima's way. And it works. Take the highway, if you don't like it.

Mohammad Badrul Ahsan is a banker.