Since Ranveer Singh’s nude photoshoot for Paper Magazine broke the Internet, the actor’s bum has become quite a sensation with people doing bizarre things because they’re offended for no apparent reason. 

But nudity is not as big of a deal. Do you know there are nudist communities in India and around the world? 

But what exactly is a nudist community and what happens in it?

Vice recently did an article titled Inside India’s Nudist Communities. For nudists, nudity is a lifestyle choice. Apparently, it’s the same as you chilling with your buddies. The only difference is that people are nude. And here, nudity is not overloaded with sexual innuendoes, rather it’s about embracing one’s own body while carrying out daily chores without clothes. 

The Sun

There’s another term called naturist. People often use the two interchangeably since both involve people being naked. However, nudists seek to be liberated from the obligation of clothing while naturists seek to attain harmony with nature. The two ideologies are somewhat similar in terms of seeking peace with authenticity, rawness, and a natural state of being with self and the world.

Navbharat Times

In India, people are not as comfortable with the idea of nudity which is often perceived as morally baleful even though some of our religions accept religious nudism as a pathway towards enlightenment. With stringent laws against nudity and obscenity, it becomes all the more challenging for nudist communities to operate in our country.

While speaking to Homegrown on nudism, a 27-year-old woman shared her apprehension about nudist women in India.

I do not want to walk naked in the roads, but I want my country to accept nudism and approve some nudist associations. Women are more apprehensive because they will be shamed in the society if anyone discloses that she is a nudist.

An FIR is registered just for a nude photoshoot. It’s correct to think that people are not yet ready and tolerant enough to accept the association with nudism.

Here’s how some Twitteratis reacted to this.

With lines of what’s lewd and obscene being blurry and subjective for most people, it’s safe to say that while nudism may be practiced in secret, we are still a long way from getting nationwide acceptance for the same.