The Kama Sutra Diaries

by Sally Howard

  paneer an acid-set (without rennet, therefore fully lacto vegetarian) fresh cheese common in south Asian cuisine.

  Purity Movement, Social Purity Movement a late nineteenth-century social movement that sought to abolish prostitution and other sexual activities that were considered immoral according to the interpretation of Christian doctrine. Composed primarily of women, the movement was active in English-speaking nations from the late 1860s to about 1910, exerting an influence on the feminist, eugenics and birth control movements.

  Qutbh Shah Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah (1580–1612 ce), the fifth sultan of the Turkic Qutb Shahi dynasty of Golkonda and founder of the city of Hyderabad, an able administrator whose reign is considered one of the high points of the Qutb Shahi dynasty. A scholar of Arabic and Persian, he wrote celebrated poetry in Urdu.

  Rama the seventh avatar of the god Vishnu and a popular figure and deity in Hinduism, Rama is the central figure of Hindu epic the Ramayana (one of the two great epics of India, along with the Mahabharata). In the Ramayana, in which Rama fights a terrible war in exile from his wife Sita in order to rescue his wife and their honour, he is depicted as a perfect adherent to dharma (q.v.) despite the harsh tests of life and time.

  sadhu a wandering Hindu ascetic, or monk, whose life is dedicated to pursuing moksha (q.v.).

  Saraswati the Hindu goddess of knowledge, music, arts and science and companion to Brahma. Revered by believers in Jainism (q.v.).

  Sati Hindu goddess of marital fidelity and first consort to Shiva.

  Otherwise known as Dakshayani. The illegal act of sati, in which a Hindu widow immolates herself on her husband’s funeral pyre as a final and consummate act of loyalty and devotion, is patterned after the deed committed by this goddess to uphold the honour of her husband.

  Sepoy Mutiny British Raj name for what is now called the Indian Rebellion of 1857 (or India’s First War of Independence), which began as a mutiny of sepoys (Indian soldiers in the pay of a European power) in the East India Company’s army and escalated to hostilities in present-day Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, northern Madhya Pradesh and the Delhi region. The mutiny was the result of various grievances, including the sepoys being asked to bite off the paper cartridges for their rifles, which they believed were greased with animal fat. The rebellion was contained with the fall of Gwalior on 20 June 1858 and led to the dissolution of the East India Company (q.v.) in 1858. It also led the direct governance of India by the British Crown as the new British Raj.

  Shakti the primordial cosmic energy, or divine feminine creative force, that is believed in Hinduism to move through the entire universe and be responsible for creation and change.

  shalwar kameez a modest and traditional dress worn by both women and men in South Asia and parts of Central Asia, featuring loose pyjama-like trousers (shalwar), which narrow at the ankle, and a long skirt or tunic, often with side seams (kameez).

  Shankar, Ravi an Indian musician and composer (1920–2012) who played the sitar and achieved global fame in the 1960s. The Beatles’ George Harrison studied sitar under Shankar for six weeks in June 1966.

  Shiva a Hindu deity considered the supreme god in Shaivism, one of the three most influential denominations of Hinduism. Often represented by the form of the lingam (q.v.).

  Sita in Hinduism an avatar of Lakshmi and the embodiment of perfect womanhood. Consort to Rama and central to the Indian epic Ramayana. sutra in Sanskrit literally a thread or line; in its literary usage an aphorism or collection of such aphorisms in a Hindu or Buddhist text.

  Tantra a style of meditation and ritual practice that arose in

  India around the fifth century ce. Its rituals and philosophy influenced, and were absorbed by, Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist and Jain traditions and spread from South to Southeast Asia. Tantra was at its zenith during the Gupta Empire (q.v.).

  tilak in Hinduism a mark worn on the forehead and other parts of the body on a daily basis or for special religious occasions only, depending on discrete custom.

  twank an over-the-hill twink (q.v.).

  twink Western urban gay slang for an attractive boyish-looking, spritish young man, usually of slender build.

  Veda a large body of texts originating in ancient India (1500– 500 bce) and constituting the oldest layer of Sanskrit literature and the oldest scriptures of Hinduism; also refers to the Vedic period, which roughly spans from the Late Bronze Age to the Iron Age.

  viceroy a regal official who runs a country, colony or city province in the name of and as representative of the ruling overseas monarch.

  Vishnu the Vedic supreme god in Hinduism and the supreme being in Vaishnavism. His ten avatars include Varaha, the boar, and Matsya, the fish.

  wallah derived from Hindustani, a suffix indicating a person involved in some type of service or activity, such as dabbawallah (lunchbox deliverer) or chaiwallah (tea seller).

  wheatish having a light brown or creamy light brown complexion.

  yoni Sanskrit word for the vagina, also a symbol of Shakti, or the divine feminine creative force. The counterpart to the lingam (q.v.) and often combined with the lingam in artistic and sculptural representations.

  Anon. (2009) The Mahabharata, trans. John D. Smith, Penguin Classics.

  Bhasin, Raaja (1994) Shimla: The Summer Capital of British India, Penguin.

  Boo, Katherine (2012) Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death and Hope in a Mumbai Slum, Random House.

  Chakravarthy, Pritham K. & Khanna, Rakesh (2011) The Blaft Anthology of Tamil Pulp Fiction, Blaft Publications.

  Chaudhry, Minakshi (2010) Love Stories of Shimla Hills, Rupa.

  Chaudhuri, Amit (2011) An Infatuation, London Review of Books.

  Chopra, Ashok (ed.) (2011) Khushwant Singh on Women Sex, Love and Lust, Hay House.

  Dallapiccola, A.L. (2013) Indian Love Poetry, British Museum Press.

  de Courcy, Anne (2012) The Fishing Fleet: Husband-Hunting in the Raj, Weidenfeld & Nicolson.

  Doyle, Laura (2001) The Surrendered Wife: A Step by Step Guide to Finding Intimacy, Passion and Peace with Your Man, Simon & Schuster.

  Halve, Anand and Sarkar, Anita (2012) Adkatha: The Story of Indian Advertising, New Delhi Sage Response.

  Harford, Tim (2008) The Logic of Life: Uncovering the New Economics of Everything, Little, Brown.

  Hyam, Ronald (1991) Empire and Sexuality, St Martin’s Press.

  Hyam, Ronald (2010) Understanding the British Empire, Cambridge University Press.

  Jha, Anjani Kumar (2011) Aghoreshwar, Rema Ram Temple Publishing.

  Kakar, Sudhir (1990) Intimate Relations: Exploring Indian Sexuality, University of Chicago Press.

  Kesavan, Mukul (2008) The Ugliness of the Indian Male and Other Propositions, Black Kite.

  Kipling, Rudyard (1999) The Collected Poems of Rudyard Kipling, Wordsworth Editions.

  Lewis, C.S. (1936) The Allegory of Love: A Study in Medieval Tradition, Oxford University Press.

  Menen, Rajendar (2012) Karma Sutra: Adventures of a Street Bum, HarperCollins India.

  Mishra, Pankah (2006) Butter Chicken in Ludhiana: Travels in Small Town India, Picador.

  Odzer, Cleo (1995) Goa Freaks: My Hippie Years in India, Foxrock.

  Picard, Liza (2005) Victorian London, The Life of a City 1840–1870,Orion.

  Porter, Roy & Teich, Mikulas (1994) Sexual Knowledge, Sexual Science: The History of Attitudes to Sexuality, Cambridge University Press.

  Radhakrishna, Geeta & Menon, R.K. (1997) Mohiniyattam: TheDance of the Enchantress, Mohiniatta Nritya Kalakshetra.

  Robb, Peter (ed.) (2011) Sex and Sensibility: Richard Blechynden’s Calcutta Diaries 1791–1822, OUP India.

  Rose, Phyllis (1984) Parallel Lives: Five Victorian Marriages, Vintage.

  Rosin, Hanna (2012) The End of Men: And the Rise of Women, Riverhead Books.

  Roy, Rahul (2007) A Little Book on Men, Yoda Press.

  Russell, Bertrand (1929) Marriage and Morals, George Allen and Unwin.

  Vatsyayana, Mallanaga (199
5) The Kama Sutra, trans. Sir Richard Burton, Wordsworth Classics.

  Vatsyayana, Mallanaga (2002) Kamasutra, trans. Wendy Doniger & Sudhir Kakar, Oxford World’s Classics.

  Vatsyayana, Mallanaga (2011) The Kama Sutra: A Guide to the Art of Pleasure, trans. A.N.D. Haksar, Penguin.

  Von Tunzelmann, Alex (2007) Indian Summer: The Secret History of the End of an Empire, Picador.

  Zaidi, Annie & Revindra, Smriti (2011) The Bad Boy’s Guide to the Good Indian Girl, Zubaan.

  Thanks to Nicholas Brealey for taking a risk on a project whose topicality – while now self-evident – was less so when the idea for The Kama Sutra Diaries first took shape.

  Thanks, in India, to Geetanjali Krishna for her generosity with story leads, to Raaja Bhasin for his depth of knowledge on the Indian Raj, to Rosalyn d’Mello for the heads-up on Indian feminism, to Meenakshi Puri, Kapil Gaba, Pragya Taneja and Mala Sachdeva for the insight into the intersection between modern Indian spirituality and sexuality. To Kirat Sodhi for the impromptu photography services at Khajuraho. To Rajendar Menen for being so generous with his opinions and research on Mumbai’s red-light district. To Lisa Marbaniang and Mary for their welcome at Shillong. And to Priya Paul for background knowledge on the Indian marriage market.

  Thanks, in the UK, to Anne and John for the supper-making services and giving me the space to write. Thanks to Tim Davies, Stacey Teale, Tanya Love, Gemma Elwin-Harris, Prudence Korda, Anna Watson, Adam Howard, Kate Mansfield, Sophy Grimshaw, Sarah Costley and all at Studio 20 for their support, proofing, read-throughs and feedback through the endless drafting stages. To Susannah Lear, Sally Lansdell and all at Nicholas Brealey for their hard work with the drafts and design. To Nick Black for his insights into the 1960s sexual revolution. Thanks to Nomi Kakoty at Dalton Kakoty and all at Greaves Travel, Cox and Kings, Abercrombie & Kent and Taj and Oberoi Hotels for allowing me to cannibalise my travel journalism contacts in pursuit of this project.

  Every effort has been made to assure the accuracy of all facts in these pages, but mistakes have doubtless crept in (for which I accept full responsibility). Some of the names and key details about the subjects and interviewees featured in The Kama Sutra Diaries have been changed in an effort to protect privacy or at the subject’s request.