The dry world of economics has its own take on the phenomenon called “rent-seeking”. Burly tomes on the subject will tell us that individuals indulge in rent-seeking “to increase their own wealth without creating any wealth or benefits for society as a whole”.
With Christmas and New Year’s Eve approaching, a tweet from @Subhash_ati9 featured a rather singular advertisement on “renting” that cannot be found in orthodox economics textbooks. The ad urged ladies to “rent a decent Goan Catholic Boyfriend” for “family gatherings”. And if it is to be believed, the “package” — presumably the Boyfriend on Rent (BoR) — comes with several skill sets. The BoR can, among other tasks, join in prayers and sing hymns, kiss everyone “cheek to cheek”, drink “only beer” and speak “only in English”. For the sake of politically-inclined partners, the BoR is capable of holding forth on such topics as Portuguese citizenship, Brexit, as well as the prickly issue of migrants in Goa.
Challenging economics’ condescension for rent-seeking, @Subhash_ati9 has provided, perhaps in jest, the rationale of the benefits of the BoR enterprise. Ladies, he has argued, should not be going to those parties alone.
Of course, Goa is not the only place eager to rent out boyfriends. This year, a start-up in Bengaluru called — ahem — ToYboY solemnly declared that it was the city’s most trustworthy portal for lonely women who need someone to talk to — but nothing more than that.
Mumbai, the OG of radical entrepreneurial ideas, must be chuckling at Goa and Bengaluru though. This is because four years ago, Kaushal Prakash, a Mumbaikar, had already started an app called Rent a Boy Friend. Its aims were rather platonic. For an hourly fee, RABF pledged to provide boyfriends for those struggling with mental health conditions such as depression. Prakash, possibly aware of Mumbai’s class consciousness even among the depressed, divided his army of boyfriends into three categories: Celebrity, Model, Aam Aadmi.
The stature of Calcutta, never quite successful in business ventures, on the rent-a-boyfriend market is not clear. But Calcuttans seem to have strong opinions about this rising trend.
Sanchari Patra, 19 years old and a student at the University of Technology and Management, finds the concept of renting boyfriends “funny”. She then adds, “Not funny — weird.” None of Sanchari’s friends — young women who would like to mingle — has heard of such apps. “Besides, why would one need to rent someone when you can go out with a person in real life?”
In Sanchari, ToYboY would have a difficult consumer.
And she isn’t alone in her reservations.
Srijani Chakraborty, 24, works at EY, her first job, and has an unconventional take on the matter. “Why should women take the trouble to look for a man on an app? It is far easier to grab male attention without having to shell out money for it,” says Srijani. Her friends or colleagues, she admits, have not discussed the BoR phenomenon but she is quite certain that neither they nor she would have an ethical problem with these apps.
A young psychiatrist — she did not want to be named — however, does have a few problems. “The market, capitalism in essence, is extremely conscious of social changes such as the phenomenal rise in loneliness. Monetising misery, the result of such loneliness, may not be ideal.
Alas, John Donne’s No Man is an Island wisdom no longer works because loneliness is, indeed, a global phenomenon. A BBC report quoted a study that said one in 10 Britons is lonely. This was echoed across the pond, as it were, with a report from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education suggesting that the Covid-19 pandemic deepened the sense of loneliness among young Americans. Going by the popularity of apps and start-ups that are tapping into the market of the lonely, Indians, despite India’s populousness, are finding it increasingly difficult to find company. The insularity of social media — a nationwide survey has found that over a quarter of adolescents in the age group of 13 to 17 years spend six or more hours on their smartphones or digital devices — the lack of companions as a result of demographic and structural changes, an unhealthy work-life balance as well as rising disenchantment seem to be some of the leading causes for the spike in lonely hearts.
So temporary boyfriends are now here to fill the heart’s vacuum. But the BoR, cynics say, wears his heart on his wallet.
Consider the case of Shoji Mormoto. This resident of Tokyo charges an estimated 10,000 yen (about Rs 5,600) to rent himself out as a companion. Licentious engagements are not Shoji’s forte. He, as he stated in an interview, does nothing apart from seeing a client off to a railway station or spending a day at the park with another. The business of companionship was Shoji’s only source of income.
Has the monetary angle got entrepreneurs scouting for lonely hearts? But then, what could be objectionable about keeping the lonely company, admittedly in exchange for a fee? And why just boyfriends? Why cannot the market have space for friendship irrespective of gender? Is it then possible that at some point in the future faux blood — ma-baba, dadu-dida, bhaibon — could be on hire for clients with deep pockets but with none to spend the money with?
There should be lots to talk about between the lady and her rented boyfriend this Christmas or New Year’s Eve.
