The Kama Sutra Diaries

by Sally Howard

  Here, for example, in Keshava Dasa’s Kaviprita, a poem inspired by the months of the year, we hear the voice of a woman in love viewing the changing seasons through the rose-tinted lens of her passions and pleading with her lover not to take his leave:

  The streams filled by the monsoon rains look lovely while rushing along to unite with the sea. The creepers cling lovingly to the trees. The restless lightning flashes all around while flirting with the clouds. The peacocks, with their shrill cries, announce the union of earth and sky. All lovers meet in this month of Shravana. Why then, my love, even think of going out?

  I hope that the new sexual story the land of the Kama Sutra tells itself will feature some of the depths of romantic feeling of the old courtly poets – that it might rediscover the deep sentiments that gave the world its finest physical embodiment of romantic love: the Taj Mahal. This luminous marble mausoleum, built in the seventeenth century on the emerald grasslands of Uttar Pradesh by mourning Mughal widower Emperor Shah Jahan, offers a reminder to all of us – East and West – of something transcendent in the love unions of mortals, something bigger than all of the petty squabbles and painful repressions that characterise today’s gender relations.

  Will India find enlightenment, for its brave new age, in the pages of the Kama Sutra? Somehow, I doubt it. For all the candid eye the Kama Sutra casts on the pleasures of coition; for all its insistence, still controversial on the subcontinent, that women might enjoy sex; and for all its chaotic, enlivening and perverse portfolio of sexual moves, there’s something very important that’s absent in its pages. Its sex is one-faceted: it’s about an act rather than an interaction. In writing for the omnipotent ‘man about town’, it doesn’t occur to Vatsyayana that in sexual union there might be something more profound to be enjoyed than the expert performance of sexual positions – that there might be real contact.

  In Delhi, there are signs that something of Shah Jahan’s romantic tenderness lives on. In the past couple of years, lovers in the Indian capital have taken to flying kites to exchange love dispatches. As dusk falls on clear summer nights, the messages flutter into the air: messages to girlfriends kept in by their fathers; secret love codes only to be deciphered by the intended eyes. It’s a nod to another ancient Indian love story, that of the nineteenth-century Urdu love poet Mirza Ghalib who, according to legend, wrote his fine romantic couplets on kites and flew them to his lover, the dancer Chunna Jan.

  Two hours later, and our young newlyweds have seven times encircled the Vedic yajna, the ceremonial fire thought to invoke the Aryan deities and cement human alliances. They’ve chanted, in the south Indian tradition, the mantra:

  Now let us make a vow together. We shall share love, share the same food, share our strengths, share the same tastes. We shall be of one mind.

  My mouth filled with pani-puri canapés and my heart, suddenly, expanding with hope, I glance over at Dimple. She’s standing across the room, looking beautiful in her silks, chatting animatedly to a handsome young man from Rajastan.

  I catch her eye. And we smile.

  When the wheel of sexual ecstasy is in full motion, there is no textbook at all, and no order.

  —Kama Sutra

  Amba one of the forms of the goddess Durga the invincible, the fiercest of the Hindu goddesses. Traditionally associated with the hijra (q.v.) community.

  ammi mother, mum (Urdu).

  apsara a heavenly nymph, or Hindu spirit of the clouds or waters, common to Hindu and Buddhist mythology.

  artha pursuit of material and/or financial prosperity and one of the four aims in Hindu life, or purusarthas, with kama, dharma and moksha (q.v.).

  Aryan derived from the Sanskrit for ‘noble’, a racial grouping commonly used in the nineteenth century to describe peoples of Indo-European Eurasian heritage. It derives from the idea that the original speakers of the Indo-European languages and their descendants up to the present day constitute a distinctive race or subrace of the larger Caucasian race. Aryanism developed as a racial ideology that claimed that the Aryans were a master race, as seen in 1930s and 1940s Nazi ideology. In the Indian take on this, the Aryan race was cited as superior to the darker ‘Dravidian’ race.

  Ayurveda a system of traditional medicine native to the Indian subcontinent with roots dating back 2000 years. Today a broad-brush term for complementary or alternative medicine. Two-thirds of Indians use Ayurveda for their primary health-care needs, although safety concerns have been raised after studies in the US found toxic levels of heavy metals such as lead, mercury and arsenic in 20 per cent of Indian-manufactured patent Ayurvedic medicines.

  bachao help, or save me.

  badmash rogue or ruffian.

  bharat Indian marriage procession, usually cacophonous.

  bhartiya nari the concept of an ‘ideal Indian woman’ with attributes that often include homeliness and white or wheatish (q.v.) skin.

  bhel puri a savoury Indian snack made of puffed rice, vegetables and a tangy tamarind sauce.

  bibi an Indian mistress, common-law wife or long-term consort to an Englishman in India, a tradition popularised in late nineteenth-century Calcutta.

  BIG acronym for Bad Indian Girl, antonymous to GIG (q.v.). One who doesn’t adhere to the behaviours expected of demure, homely Indian womanhood.

  BJP Bharatiya Janata Party, or Indian People’s Party, one of two major parties in the Indian political system, operating on a right-wing socio-religious platform. Established in 1980, it is India’s second largest political party in terms of representation in the parliament and in the various state assemblies.

  brahmacharya a stage of Hindu life between the ages of 14 and 20 years, during which time the Vedic sciences are studied and strict celibacy is practised.

  brahmin the priest and scholar caste in traditional Hindu societies of India and Nepal. Brahmins are the highest of the four varnas, or castes, which rank humanity by their innate spiritual purity.

  chadoor an outer garment or cloak with roots in sixth-century Persia. Today wearing this garment is one of the ways in which a Muslim woman can follow the Islamic dress code, or hijab.

  chai Hindi-Urdu, Arabic and Persian term for the beverage brewed from the cured leaves of the tea plant (Camellia sinensis) and derived from Mandarin ‘chá’. In India commonly served as a blend of black tea and Indian herbs and spices: masala chai.

  chandelas an Indian clan found in central India who ruled much of that area for long periods between the tenth and thirteenth centuries.

  channa, chana chickpea, a legume high in protein and used in many south Asian cuisines. Chana or gram flour is used to make pappadoms, bhajis and as a constituent of homemade beauty products.

  chillum a straight conical pipe, traditionally made of clay, associated with wandering Hindu monks, or sadhus (q.v.).

  Crowley, Aleister a late nineteenth-century English occultist, mystic and ceremonial magician whose teachings were later rediscovered by the 1960s and 1970s avant-garde. Espousing a form of libertarianism based on his rule of ‘Do What Thou Wilt’, Crowley (1875–1947) was a pansexual and recreational drug experimenter who in 1889 published the controversial White Stains, a series of poems on gay and straight sex and sadomasochism. Later, as a key member of Ordo Templi Orientis, a renegade order based on freemasonry, Crowley became an advocate for the practice of ritualistic homosexual ‘sex magick’.

  Delhi Sultanates five Indo-Islamic kingdoms that ruled from

  Delhi from 1206–1526 ce.

  devadasi a girl ‘married’ to a Hindu deity and dedicated to worship and service of the deity or a temple for the rest of her life. Originally, in addition to taking care of the temple and performing rituals, these women learned and practised classical Indian artistic traditions, enjoyed a high social status and would marry rich temple patrons and bear their children. The pinnacle of the devadasi tradition, and its status, was the tenth to eleventh centuries ce. During the British Raj, reformists worked towards outlawing the devadasi tradition on
grounds that it supported prostitution. If this charge was not true of all nineteenth-century devadasis, it is true today. Despite the fact that the tradition was outlawed in 1988, a 2004 report by the Human Rights Commission found the practice to be still prevalent in Karnataka and Andra Pradesh and that around 46 per cent of devadasis relied on prostitution as their chief source of income.

  devi a mother goddess with various manifestations and roles, especially that of consort to Shiva.

  dharma duty, moral righteousness or ethics, and one of the four aims in Hindu life, or purusarthas, along with kama, artha and moksha (q.v.).

  dhoti a traditional man’s garment worn in India, Bangladesh and Nepal, formed from a rectangular piece of unstitched cloth knotted at the waist and resembling a long skirt.

  Diwali a five-day Hindu festival, popularly known as the ‘festival of lights’, which falls between mid-October and mid-November in the Gregorian calendar.

  Dravidian a term used to refer to diverse groups of people who natively speak languages belonging to the Dravidian family, mostly found in south India. Although modern genetic studies have proved that the concept of a Dravidian ‘race’ is erroneous (see David Reich, Reconstructing Indian Population History), the idea retains cultural currency, and is often conflated with supposed physical characteristics of the ‘Dravidian race’, including darker skin and a shorter, stockier frame. See also Aryan.

  East India Company an English and (from 1707) British joint-stock company formed in 1600 for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but which ended up trading mainly with the Indian sub-continent, North-west frontier province and Balochistan. By the 1870s its functions had been fully absorbed into the official government machinery of the British Raj and its private armies had been nationalised by the British Crown.

  ESP extrasensory perception, or sixth sense, involves reception of information not gained through the recognised physical senses, but sensed with the mind. The term was adopted by American psychologist Joseph Banks Rhin (1895–1980) to denote psychic abilities such as telepathy and clairvoyance.

  eve-teasing a euphemism used in India, Bangladesh and Nepal for the public sexual harassment of women by men, with ‘eve’ a biblical reference to Eve, the first woman.

  firangi, farangi thought to be derived from Franks, the term for the Germanic tribes who once occupied land in the Lower and Middle Rhine, now a prevalent term in south and southeast Asia for a (usually Caucasian) foreigner.

  Ganesh, Ganesha, Ganesa one of the best-known and most worshipped gods in the Hindu pantheon. Readily distinguished by his elephant head, Ganesh is revered as the remover of obstacles and lord of beginnings.

  ghat a term used in the north of India to refer to a series of steps leading down to a body of water, chiefly a holy river.

  ghoonghat a veil or headscarf used to cover the head. An ornate red ghoonghat is often central to an Indian bride’s wedding attire.

  GIG acronym for Good Indian Girl, popularly (and sometimes derisively) used to refer to a girl who exhibits features prized by Indian society, such as modesty and homeliness. See also BIG.

  Gupta Empire an ancient Indian empire that existed from approximately 350 to 550 ce and covered much of the Indian subcontinent. Peaceful and prosperous, the Gupta Empire is often held up as the Golden Age of India, when science and art flourished.

  gurana a historical community of hijras (q.v.), often but not necessarily contained in one extended property.

  Gurkha an indigenous people mainly from mid-western and eastern Nepal. Gurkhas fought against the East India Company (q.v.) in the 1814–16 Gurkha War. While the British-run East India Company won the war (with Nepal ceding two-thirds of its land), the Gurkhas were praised for their martial qualities and tenacity. Later they were commissioned as troops under contract to the East India Company and became part of the British Indian Army on its formation in 1895. During the Second World War 10 Gurkha regiments fought for the Allies. halal foods that Muslims are allowed to eat under Islamic

  Shari ʻah law. The criteria specify both what foods are allowed and how the food must be prepared.

  haram both the opposite of halal (q.v.) and a broader Arabic term meaning ‘sinful’, used to refer to any act that is forbidden by god.

  hijra third sex or third gender, physiological males who have feminine gender identity, adopt feminine gender roles and wear women’s clothing. They may or may not be castrated and may or may not take gender-altering female hormones. In ancient Indian society as represented in the Kama Sutra, fellatio is traditionally performed by people of the third sex. Today many hijras live in organised, all-hijra communities under a teacher or guru. The communities sustain themselves by adopting young boys who are rejected by their families. Many hijras are sex workers.

  Holi the Hindu spring festival or ‘festival of colours’, with rituals including the drenching of celebrants in coloured water.

  Indian National Congress one of two major political parties in India, operating on a modern liberal platform. It is the largest and one of the oldest democratically operating political parties in the world, having been established by Indian and British members of the Theosophical Society in Madras in 1884.

  item number in Indian cinema, a performance that has little to do with the film in which it appears but is presented to showcase a beautiful dancing girl, and increase the marketability of the film.

  Jainism an Indian religion that prescribes a path of non-violence towards all living beings.

  jarikar a form of textile work that includes a silk overlaid, pleated hem.

  jat a community of traditionally non-elite herders and tillers from northern India and Pakistan. Today many jats work as long-distance truck drivers. Popularly depicted as macho.

  Kali the Hindu goddess of time or change, often associated with blackness, death and regeneration. Also associated with Shakti (q.v.). Consort of Shiva.

  kama a Sanskrit term that is often translated as sexual or sensual desire or eros, but can broadly mean desire, wish, passion or aesthetic enjoyment of life. One of the four goals of a Hindu life. Not to be confused with karma, the ancient Indian concept of cause and effect.

  Kama Sutra the most notable of a group of texts generically known as Kama Shastra, or ‘discipline of Kama’. Believed to be written by an ascetic called Vatsyayana. Contrary to popular opinion in the West, not merely a sex manual, but a guide to virtuous and gracious living that discusses the nature of love, family life and other aspects pertaining to the pleasure-oriented faculties of human life. The intended audience of the text is the moneyed man about town of the Gupta Empire. Believed to be written at some point between 400 bce and 200 ce.

  khap panchayat a body of local governance, a council of five, which typically governs a village unit.

  Kundalini the concept, in Tantra and yoga, of a dormant corporeal energy or ‘coiled beast’. Described in some modern commentaries as an unconscious, instinctive or libidinal force. Certain hatha yoga practices aim to awaken the Kundalini force.

  lakh unit in the south Asian numbering system equal to one hundred thousand.

  Lakshmi the Hindu goddess of wealth, prosperity (both material and spiritual), fortune and the embodiment of beauty. She is the consort of the god Vishnu. A popular name for Hindu temples and children.

  Lath Mar Holi a local celebration of the Hindu festival of Holi (q.v.) that takes place in advance of Holi in the town of Barsana in the state of Uttar Pradesh. Translating as ‘Holi in which people hit with sticks’, the tradition is based on the legend that Lord Krishna visited his beloved Radha’s village (according to legend at Barsana) and playfully teased her and her friends. Taking offence at this, the women of Barsana chased him away. Since then, men from Krishna’s village, Nandgaon, visit Barsana to play Holi (re-enacting the incident with laths, or wooden truncheons) in the town that has the distinction of having the only temple dedicated to Radha in India.

  lingam a cosmic pillar of fire, a representation of the god Shiva, often
worshipped in temples and family homes, which scholars interpret as symbolic of the male sexual organs (see also yoni).

  Maharaja a Sanskrit title for ‘great king’ or ‘high king’, in prevalent use from the medieval era onwards to refer to the rulers of India’s princely states. On the eve of Indian independence in 1927, India (including modern-day Pakistan and Bangladesh) contained 600 princely states.

  maithuna a Sanskrit term often translated as sexual union in a ritual context. Also used in reference to the amorously entwined couples in sculptural friezes in Hindu temples such as those at Khajuraho.

  moksha, mukti the liberation from samsara, the cycle of death or rebirth.

  Mughal India a Persianate empire that ruled large parts of the

  Indian subcontinent from 1526 to 1737 and was at its peak under the 49-year reign of the expansionist (and pious Muslim) Aurangzeb (1618–1707).

  neem Indian lilac, a tree in the mahogany family, native to the Indian subcontinent. For two millennia, the products of the ‘Sacred Tree’ have been used for medicinal and cosmetic purposes, including as a sedative, contraceptive and for topical skin treatment. A common ingredient in modern mass- produced cosmetics.

  NRI non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who holds an Indian passport and has temporarily emigrated to another country for six months or longer. A status used legally for the purpose of income tax gathering. Distinct from a person of Indian origin (PIO), whose ancestors were born in India but who is a citizen of another country.

  paan from the Sanskrit parna, meaning feather or leaf, a stimulating, psychoactive preparation of betel leaf combined with areca nut and/or tobacco and various additions, including fennel seed to freshen the breath. Paan is chewed and finally spat out or swallowed.