Male for Sale

The double murder of Akhtar Afindi and Jamshed Alam at their Shaheen Park residence recently, has thrown up interesting facts like, it had a gay angle. According to cops, Akhtar was a bisexual and in relationship with Jamshed. It reminds one of the sensational Pushkin Chandra double murder case.
Pushkin Chandra, a USAID employee, and his friend Kuldeep were murdered in former’s posh Anand Lok residence in August 2004 by gay prostitutes. These murders are just the tip of the iceberg. The business of gay prostitutes and gigolos is thriving in Delhi’s underbelly. Unable to make it big in the glam world, some struggling models and college hunks are lured by sex with different women and earning quick money to make their lives easy. Some unemployed youth, generally having weak economical background, become gay prostitutes.
A gigolo’s tale
It was in 1991 that a young 18-year-old Suresh came from Dehradun, nurturing his dreams of becoming a footballer and donning Indian colours. However, his tale wasn’t of success and glory, it had other ingredients to it, full with spice and sexual flavours.
Struggling to make a career in football, Suresh was introduced to male prostitution by a colony aunt. She was fascinated by the sporty physique of Suresh and for sexual favours she started giving her money. Soon he was introduced to few more ladies who were ready to pay for sexual favours. He left football and became a professional prostitute or a gigolo often meandering around Ring Road at South Extension or Andrewsganj. Three years of joyride, Suresh was finally diagnosed of veneral disease. All that boasting about sleeping with different women and money splashing at home in Dehradun became his nemesis.
Gigolo factoid
Gigolos then remained inside the closet. However, as Delhi entered a new millennium, things changed. Gigolos became widespread here; perhaps the booming Indian economy has also a share in their growth. They come in all forms – masseurs, escorts, male strippers and male prostitutes. Few who don’t fit in that bracket have managed to become gay prostitutes earning just Rs 200-300 per hour. A search in google for ‘gigolos in Delhi’ returns 644 web pages mostly having phone numbers and contact details of them. And never do they land up in the hands of the law. It’s a business where these male and gay prostitutes roam around doing their business scot-free.
“It’s a profession where one enters by choice and has the elements of everything that today’s youth dreams of. Unlimited sex with different partners in cooler climes of five top hotels, dining and partying in top nightclubs and meeting the likes of rich and famous of the city, not to mention about maintaining hefty bank balances and driving flashy cars,” says a Delhi-based gigolo.
Hardships too lead to it
Bollywood hero Vikram Kumar who played a character in the movie Sauten where he has an affair with both, daughter and stepmother simultaneously says, “Becoming a gigolo is quick money for aspiring actors and models with smart looks and nice body, only thing is they have to sleep with ugly looking aunty.” Vikram, who spent quite a time in Delhi before shifting his base to Mumbai, says, “It mostly happens in Mehrauli and chattarpur areas in farm houses. These good-looking guys go to parties organised by rich ladies and do a strip show and so on.”
In Mumbai too Vikram says, “Most of the budding models in search for a career in Bollywood hang out in innumerous coffee joints so that someone from the industry might notice them and give a break. Since Mumbai is an expensive city, they need money to survive. Till the time they get support from parents it is ok. But then they start indulging into such activities to sustain a living. In Mumbai there are some coordinators who facilitate them in getting business. So daytime, it’s coffee joints for them and night they do business sleeping around with aunties.”
Male prostitution in Delhi, Vikram says, is not that organised. “Lot of such things happen at the ramp shows. Sadly, male models get ruined by designers, as some have to sleep with them too, not to talk about women,” he adds.
As of now, business for gigolos, gay prostitutes and male escorts is rocking. With the gleaning eye of cops closed, welcome to Delhi - the world full of sex, sleaze and disease.