Now an academy to teach how to flirt

LONDON: Flirting may be an art, but for one husky-voiced woman with thick hair it is most definitely business. And for a host of young Indian men thousands of miles away from Peta Heskell''s London-based Flirting Academy, her trade secrets spell the licence to dare.
"I got these e-mails from a lot of Indian guys basically asking how to get girls. I suspect there are a lot of sexually frustrated young men in India.But that''s not what my Academy is about," Heskell tells Times News Network.
Really? "Yes really. The stuff I teach is not for people to go and attract other people to have sex".
What then is Britain''s only Flirting Academy, with its own designated ''Flirt Coach'' (Peta) and one course book (hers) meant for? "It''s to become more attractive yourself, not to attract other people".
Amazingly, it seems, the Academy''s courses are advertised more like a fun form of finishing school. At 250 pounds a weekend, they are also a great deal shorter than the typical school term. And Heskell''s New Age philosophy sets the scene. "Believe in yourself"; "A compliment a day keeps the frowns away".
Heskell, who says that France and Italy each have a similar, eponymous School for Seduction, believes she fulfills a pressing need. But not necessarily for foreign shores. Not for India?
"I''m not sure. Cultures are being eroded, of course, with TV. I''m against all that happened, when the British went out and thought they had ''civilised'' a primitive people who had a wonderful way of living. You, the Third World really got the worst of the worst with globalisation and all that," says Heskell vaguely, dismissing the Empire and World Trade Organisation in one fell swoop.
But Heskell, whose only familiarity with India was via the bindis she wore some years ago as a "flirt prop, something that gets you noticed", is conscious too of Indian deprivation in her line of trade.
"Just look at all the e-mails I got. I suspect India is very repressed. Certainly the Asian women here who come to my courses are more reserved than the English. They don''t have a cultural background to attract men. Are there lots of arranged marriages in India?" she asks.
On being assured that there are, Heskell says it is a cultural norm she understands in her bones. "My great aunt was a marriage arranger in Teheran and there, too, it was very repressed".
The chat-up line for India''s wannabe-flirts, she says, revealed a deeply unfortunate belief in the power of status and money. "Here, most men talk about their shyness or whatever. The Indians were all about impressing girls with their good prospects, money, university degrees".
It is a mindset the Flirt Coach apparently hopes to blow away with her new book, just eight weeks away. The Little Book of Flirting, says Heskell hopefully, might sell in India as well. "It''s very gifty," she says, plying her trade for all its worth.
Peta''s top tips for all would-be flirts:
1. Get out there in the world 2. Be interesting by being interested 3. Let them know you are interested 4. Give people a reason to talk to you
For women:
1. Give clear signals 2. Great States are catching, i.e., feel good about yourself 3. Carry something to get you noticed 4. Check your voice 5. If you are not interested, be polite when rejecting a man 6. Be interesting by being interested 7. Ask him what he enjoys doing 8. If you give out your number, give the genuine one 9. Make the first move And finally, 10. Be yourself
For men
1. Know what you want and what is reasonable to expect 2. Make sure your hair is clean and your body and breath smell good 3. Great States are catching 4. When you buy a woman a drink, that is all you are buying 5. Don''t do the rounds of a group of women 6. Concentrate on the conversation, not on getting a date 7. Give genuine compliments 8. Keep your hands to yourself and respect their space 9. If you ask for a phone number, be sure you want to use it And finally, 10. Be yourself