Joy Through Nudity

Will model Poonam Pandey lose her clothes if India wins the World Cup? Moral brigade livid

The big question after the one on who will win the World Cup at Mumbai on Super Saturday is a surprise. Will model Poonam Pandey `lose' her clothes in India wins? No toss, no third umpire, no technology for an answer.

Poonam Pandey, the 20-year-old model, has promised to run twice in her birthday suite if India wins -- first in the spruced up Wankhede Stadium and then in the dressing room for the men in blue.

Poonam is unfazed by the fact that nudity is an offence in India. She has said that she will seek the permission of the BCCI to do the victory lap and the undressing act in the dressing room.

But you can bet your last skirt or shirt that Poonam will neither get a nod from the BCCI or permission from the police. But she has hundreds of fans on social media networks nudging her nudity act and egging her to go on despite obstacles.

But one should admit that Poonam has had the guts to announce her `naked plan' in a place that the moral brigade claims is their `pitch' -- Bal Thackerey's Shiv Sena and his nephew Raj Thackeray's Maharashtra Navnirman Sena.

The moral brigade is of course neither blushing or amused at Poonam's bravado; it is red with rage over her celebration plan. "Showing happiness through nudity is against Indian values. I must congratulate her that she feels happy enough to do so, but there are other ways to show happiness," said Vinod Bansal of Vishwa Hindu Parishad.

"We are totally against such vulgarity and obscenity," said a red-faced Shalini Thackeray of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena. Shiv Sena too has stepped into Poonam's turf saying it will deal the situation 'our way' if the government doesn't step in to stop such gimmicks.

Said Rahul Navrekar of the Sena: "This is against public morality. It is an offence. The government should make sure such acts should stop. If they do not handle it, we will."

Pooman's response: "I don't care if people have a problem. I am one of the most downloaded models online. I don't need to do this for publicity. I am doing what I want to do."

Here is Poonam Pandey for you:

Paraguayan model Larissa Riquelme gained worldwide fame during the FIFA World Cup in South Africa in 2010 when she announced that she would strip if Paraguay made it to the semi-final. Though Paraguay did not make it to the last four, Larissa did strip for her fans and called her gesture a "gift to the players and all of Paraguay".

Larissa at a an advertising photo session, in Sao Paulo, Brazil.