Flappers are back and here!

Walk into any pub, discotheque, or a party in Bombay or Bangalore. You will not miss noticing a handful of young women, holding a cigarette, nursing a hard, strong, large glass of Whiskey, Vodka, Bacardi or even an Old Monk. Tom-boyish or very feminine. These women are the come-back story of the 1920s Flappers.

Let us call them the Neo-flappers for the time-being. Flappers were the rebel women of the 1920s in the US of A. They broke many societal rules, they cut their hair short, drank, were loud and noisy, rode bicycles, drove cars, played cards, the works. They were there to prove that their race need not be opressed and they could do what a man could.

The neo-flapper in Mumbai city is not so bothered about opression. She probably hasn't felt or experienced opression. It is more a stance of the victorious. She has conquered. Good education, a big job, lots of money, free from societal pressures, liberal in cultural moorings, western influence and probably is physically away from their own little hometown and the watchful family eyes. This has given her the freedom and space to break away.

Being a rebel or being a female chauvinist are things of the past. The Neo-flapper smoothly becomes part of the cultural weave, whilst making her personal statement. She makes her point with the same ease as she bums a cigarette or does a 'bottoms-up' with the gang.

The Neo-flapper now has more facets. She can be tomboyish, but can accesorize herself to give her the edge. Look at her. She wears her hair shorter than you would have expected. May or may not be colored. Has a nose ring, has multiple ear rings, maybe a few toe-rings, a generous dose of junk jewellery. All of the above or any of the above.

Watch and wonder, ladies and gentlemen. The Neo-flapper is the woman of the post-modern popular culture. And she is here to stay.