Travel Tales: “Our show is about two girls travelling all over India, getting to know the cities they visit through the eyes of the men who live there,” says Sugandha. The girls have travelled all the way from Mumbai to Varanasi, Kochi to New Delhi and Kolkata to Chennai in their quest to unravel the mystery of the Indian male.
Preconceived Notions: “When we were about to start off, I thought I’d meet one guy, and the rest would all be the same,” recounts Sugandha. “Surprisingly, that wasn’t the case. Every conversation we had with men from different cities was so different .”
“Being a Delhi girl myself, I knew that men from the North fancy themselves as ‘protectors’ for their mothers, sisters, wives,” says Indrani. “That was reinforced.”
“Women from the South always think the men up North are better behaved, and the same is true vice versa,” Indrani adds with a laugh.
Findings: “The Indian man sees himself as a provider (or desperately seeks to be),” says Sugandha. “He’s gentle, funny and a mamma’s boy! Of course, the man in Mumbai would be very different from the one in Kolkata. The guys in Mumbai are more cosmopolitan. But in Kolkata, the men are more laidback, they have to follow their routines — like their Sunday afternoon naps.”
It was the men in Kochi and Benares who caught Indrani’s eye. “The men we met in Kochi had been educated abroad and then returned home. They have a very pleasing mix of knowing what’s going on in the world while remaining firmly rooted. As for Benares, the men there have a very different perspective towards life.”
Sore Point: While Sugandha and Indrani are (on the whole) all praises for the Indian man, there is one thing they say he doesn’t understand about women. “Indian men don’t understand the trials and tribulations that working women have to go through,” grouses Sugandha. Indrani seconds, “Men haven’t realised yet, that a woman too can want to have it all.”