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Editorial– Friendship and Sexuality

Interview – Unmana

Friends of Paper, Friends of Flesh

I am in love. I always have been.

In Between Deadlines and Debriefs: On Friendships at Work

Three Poems

An illustration that plays on the word solidarity with different cups holding hands

Friendship – a place where we can be ourselves as we truly are, with no artifice. A place of peace,…

By TARSHI

Editorial– Friendship and Sexuality

Unmana signing a copy Chikkamma Tours (Pvt.) Ltd in a bookshop

Friendship for me is the ultimate form of relationship…

By Shikha Aleya

Interview – Unmana

Friendship and Sexuality 2 Interview

That’s what books do, they open up the world to new possibilities, let you live a life bigger than your own.

By Ambica Naithani

Friends of Paper, Friends of Flesh

Friendship and Sexuality 2 Voices

Into my friendships, I poured every bit of romance that my passionate heart possessed; even today, I can’t say I’ve ever quite gotten out of the habit.

By Malavika Krishna Kumar

I am in love. I always have been.

Friendship and Sexuality 2 Voices

In Between Deadlines and Debriefs: On Friendships at Work

In those moments of doubt, when we wonder whether we can really make a difference in the world, it is often our work friends who remind us why we began.

By Nandhini Jaishankar

In Between Deadlines and Debriefs: On Friendships at Work

Friendship and Sexuality 2 The I Column

Women Sitting on Sofa While Holding Cups

The Debrief is a girlhood ritual as old as dating itself.

By Tanvi Khemani

The Heart of Dating: The Debrief

Friendship and Sexuality 2 Voices

A lime green fabric with a black background

… that feels so personal to me as a teenage girl, because it is indeed, “so confusing sometimes to be a girl.”

By Aradhana Phadke Sardesai

A Four Letter Word Called BRAT

Friendship and Sexuality 2 Voices

A group of middle aged women from Kerala embracing each other and laughing joyously

“दोस्त” का इकलौता विकल्प ख़ुद “दोस्त” है। स्थिर और एकमात्र।

By Greeshma

एक दुनिया के अंदर भी एक दुनिया

Friendship and Sexuality 2 Voices

a plant with green leaves on a black background

You made me breathe
The fresh air of freedom

By Swetha U.

Three Poems

Fiction & Poetry Friendship and Sexuality 2

If my sexuality is an integral part of who I am, then friendship is where I hope I can be who I am.

By Shikha Aleya

We’re Friends

Friendship and Sexuality 2 Issue In Focus

The only substitute for “friend” is “friend” itself. Irreplaceable, singular.

By Greeshma

A World Within A World

Friendship and Sexuality 2 Voices

Sensuality and Friendship, and the Power of a Loving Gaze

a boudoir photo of a person lying on bed, covered in shadow

But we always, always know that when it’s the two of us, a label or a word isn’t needed or necessary. We both get each other.

By passionfruitdrizzle and edamame

Sensuality and Friendship, and the Power of a Loving Gaze

Friendship and Sexuality 2 Voices

On Loverships, F**kships and Friendships

How am I bringing myself into the erotic moment I am sharing with a lover?

By Andy Stephen Silveira

On Loverships, F**kships and Friendships

Friendship and Sexuality 2 The I Column

We all are members of ‘The Side People’. No, we don’t sit around a table every Saturday to cry.

By Sonakhya Samaddar

The Side People

Friendship and Sexuality 2 Voices

Vignettes of an Intimate Friendship in Simone de Beauvoir’s “The Inseparables”

Cover of the book The Inseparables by Simon de Beauvoir

Must intimacy be tied to the sexual or is it allowed a course of its own?

By Pronita Tripathi

Vignettes of an Intimate Friendship in Simone de Beauvoir’s “The Inseparables”

Friendship and Sexuality 2 Review

Two glasses of chai with rusk/dry biscuits to share

On calls your voice greets me, balm to the parched everything.

By Carol D'Souza

Having a Tea with You

Fiction & Poetry Friendship and Sexuality 2

A black & white photo of a neatly made bed along with sheer curtains drawn over the window in the room depicts a quiet personal space

We are trained to see friendship as secondary love, but what if it is the first?

By Sanandita Chakraborty

All the Quiet Between Us

Friendship and Sexuality 2 Visual Corner

समावेशी मित्रता और स्वीकृति – हमारी यौनिक पहचान का सहारा

सबसे ख़ूबसूरत बात यह है कि समावेशी दोस्ती समाज में भी बदलाव लाती है। जब दोस्त एक-दूसरे को बिना भेदभाव अपनाते हैं, तो यह उदाहरण बनता है और धीरे-धीरे एक ऐसी संस्कृति का निर्माण होता है जहाँ विविधता को सम्मान और स्वीकार्यता मिलती है।

By Imran Khan

समावेशी मित्रता और स्वीकृति – हमारी यौनिक पहचान का सहारा

Friendship and Sexuality 2 हिन्दी

grey concrete surface with patterns of swirls

कुछ साल पहले ही मुझे एहसास हुआ कि जब भी मैं भविष्य के बारे में सोचती हूँ, तो मेरे मन में हमेशा अपनी सबसे करीबी महिला मित्रों की तस्वीर उभरती है। मेरे हर फ़ैसले पर सबसे ज़्यादा असर उन्हीं का पड़ता है…

By Ambica Naithani

दोस्ती, मस्ती, यादें और मिरांडा

Friendship and Sexuality 2 हिन्दी

Eight people out of the frame with their hands outstretched in a circle holding phones showing a single jigsaw puzzle piece in different colours on each phone. This is against a vibrant coloured backgroud with a wave-like diffused rainbow going from one side to the other.

जबकि सोशल मीडिया और ऑनलाइन प्लेटफॉर्म भारत में क्वीयर लोगों को जुड़ने, ख़ुद को अभिव्यक्त करने और गैर-अपराधीकरण के बाद समुदाय ख़ोजने के लिए एक मंच प्रदान करते हैं, संबद्धता के विचार अभी भी जाति, वर्ग, सौंदर्यशास्त्र आदि में उलझे हुए हैं जो बहिष्कार को कायम रखते हैं।

By Vanshika Gupta and Niv

डिजिटल भारत में क्वीयर संबद्धता की तलाश

Friendship and Sexuality 2 हिन्दी

In Plainspeak publishes one issue every month, with a single theme running across two months. Our aim is to expand safe, inclusive self-affirming spaces.

CURRENT ISSUE:

October-November 2025: Friendship and Sexuality

Friends influence, and even shape, the ways we think about and enact sexuality. Childhood giggles, adolescent questions and the search for identity, early adulthood heartbreaks and sexual explorations, mid-life relationship navigations, later-life guffaws while recollecting earlier sexual experiences and trying out new ones … where would we be without our friends? Regardless of
whether we meet in person or online, what do inclusive friendships look like and how do they affirm our sexuality? On the other hand, can friendships cause damage and hurt in the context of sexuality? This issue of In Plainspeak will tease out the intimacies, eroticisms, boundaries, romance, and space for free expression and self-affirmation that friendships of different kinds may or may not afford.

अक्टूबर-नवम्बर 2025: दोस्ती और यौनिकता

दोस्त प्रभाव तो डालते ही हैं, पर कहीं न कहीं यौनिकता को ले कर हमारी सोच और अभिनय को भी एक आकार देते हैं। बचपन की खिलखिलाहट, किशोरावस्था के सवाल, पहचान की खोज, शुरुआती वयस्कता में टूटे दिल, यौन जिज्ञासा को तलाशना, मध्‍य-आयु में रिश्तों की राह ढूँढना, और ढलती उम्र में पुराने यौन अनुभवों को याद करते हुए और नए अनुभवों को आज़माते हुए हंसी-ठिठोली… सोचो, अगर हमारे दोस्त न होते तो हम कहाँ होते? चाहे मुलाक़ात आमने-सामने हो या ऑनलाइन, असली समावेशी दोस्ती कैसी होती है? और यह हमारी यौनिकता को अपनाने का हौसला कैसे देती है? दूसरी ओर, क्या यौनिकता के संदर्भ में दोस्ती नुकसान और चोट भी पहुँचा सकती है? इन प्लेनस्पीक का यह अंक दोस्ती के अलग-अलग रूपों में मौजूद अंतरंगता, यौनिकता, सीमाएँ, रोमांस और वह जगह तलाशेगा जहाँ खुलकर मुक्त अभिव्यक्ति और आत्म-स्वीकृति संभव होती है – और कभी-कभी नहीं भी।

UPCOMING ISSUE:

CSE and Affirming Ecosystems

Peers, parents, teachers, creators, social influencers, and many others, have been delivering information and modeling assertiveness and relationship skills around sexuality, to young (and not so young) people. Many are using creative and innovative ideas and methods to convey accurate and relevant messages to engage with diverse audiences. We have often overlooked these resourceful and ingenious ways in which Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) is communicated. Be they ideas shared within a family, workshops held in a school, an awareness campaign in a community, a policy at a town, state or country level, a TV series aired nationally, these are what go on to create micro and macro CSE ecosystems that are affirming and inclusive. For learning to last and be converted into practice, a one-off exposure to a lecture, book, or Instagram post is not enough. It is an affirming ecosystem that sustains learning and living. This issue of In Plainspeak focuses on what people are doing and how, to create and sustain affirming CSE ecosystems.

व्यापक यौनिकता की शिक्षा और सकारात्मक पारिस्थितिकी तंत्र (इकोसिस्टम)

समकक्ष लोग, अभिभावकों, शिक्षक, रचनाकार, सामाजिक प्रभावक (इन्फ्लुएंज़ेर) और कई अन्य लोग, युवा (और कम युवा) लोगों को यौनिकता के बारे में जानकारी प्रदान कर रहे हैं तथा दृढ़ता और संबंध कौशल को समझने व अपनाने में मदद कर रहे हैं। कई लोग विविध दर्शकों तक सटीक और प्रासंगिक संदेश पहुंचाने के लिए रचनात्मक और नए विचारों और तरीकों का इस्तेमाल कर रहे हैं। हम अक्सर उन संसाधनपूर्ण और सरल तरीकों को नज़रअंदाज़ कर देते हैं जिनके ज़रिये व्यापक यौनिकता की शिक्षा (CSE) का संचार किया जाता है। चाहे वे परिवार में साझा किए गए विचार हों, स्कूल में आयोजित कार्यशालाएं हों, समुदाय में जागरूकता अभियान हो, शहर, राज्य या देशीय स्तर पर कोई नीति हो, राष्ट्रीय स्तर पर प्रसारित कोई टीवी श्रृंखला हो। यह वे चीजें हैं जो सूक्ष्म और वृहद CSE इकोसिस्टम का निर्माण करती हैं जो सकारात्मक और समावेशी हैं। किसी चीज़ को सीखने में और सीख कर उस पर अभ्यास करने के लिए , किसी व्याख्यान, किताब या इंस्टाग्राम पोस्ट का एक बार पढ़ना काफ़ी नहीं है।यह एक सकारात्मक पारिस्थितिकी तंत्र है जो सीखने और ज़िंदगी जीने को क़ायम रखता है। इन प्लेनस्पीक का यह अंक इस बात पर केंद्रित है कि लोग क्या और कैसे सकारात्मक CSE पारिस्थितिकी तंत्रों का निर्माण कर रहे हैं। साथ-ही-साथ, कैसे इस पारिस्थितिकी तंत्र को निरंतर जीवित रख सकते हैं, यह अंक इस पर भी केंद्रित है।

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Older Issues

2025

An editorial illustration of two open hands joined to form one person with several natural elements on it like flowers, and animals.

Editorial– Climate Change and Sexuality

Climate change is not only about the climate; it is about our lives, joys, connections, intimacies, pleasures, freedoms, and rights.

September 18, 2025

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Editorial – Language and Sexuality

The glorious heights of self-actualisation to which some words beckon us, the promises lying within others, it’s all language.

July 16, 2025

An illustration of a rubik's cube with various portrayal of beauty and intimacy

Editorial – Masculinities and Sexuality

It’s time to scrape off the thick dark crusts of carelessly slapped-on murky hues of toxic masculinities and to bring out the brushes and the paints to paint masculinities in their true and glorious colours of life, freedom and love.

May 19, 2025

2024

A remote landscape with mountain peaks and a few trees. There is a yellow windmill and a small path leading up to it. The sky is a shade of green-blue and the landscape is largely shades of green apart from the windmill.

Editorial: 2025 Anthology Issue

It is time perhaps to go off the beaten path!

January 13, 2025

A lighthouse in the middle of a sea with light coming out of it on the left and right in the form of outstretched hands. It is an illustrated photo with most of it in dark shades to simulate night time.

Editorial – Parents, Teachers, and CSE

Each time a child or adolescent asks a question that may be (even indirectly) related to sexuality, many parents and teachers get squirmy and nervous. This may be because they themselves do not have the information required, but in most cases, it has more to do with the ‘hush-hush’ that surrounds sexuality.

December 18, 2024

Four hands coming together from the four corners of the image to solve a multi-coloured jigsaw puzzle.

Editorial – Gender and Sexuality

Gender and sexuality are like constituent parts of a jigsaw puzzle that keeps morphing in such a way that nothing ever ‘fits’ for long, and the game begins anew each time.

November 19, 2024

2023

Editorial: 2024 Anthology Issue

January 11, 2024

red and purple light digital pixelated wallpaper.

Editorial – Digital Spaces and Sexuality

Digital entanglements transcend bodies, time, geographical borders and boundaries, influencing – and perhaps fundamentally changing – the ways in which we understand, explore and express our sexuality.

December 18, 2023

an abstract photograph of water droplets on a glass window. The photo has a burnt sienna and orange overlay with some scratches in white, orange and black on the window.

Editorial – Fashion and Sexuality

In tailoring the way we present ourselves to the world – be it as fashionista, frump or an artful fusion of the two – we think we are the ones making a choice about how we express our gender and sexuality along with other markers of our identity.

October 19, 2023

In Plainspeak

FRIENDSHIP AND SEXUALITY

Older Issues

2025

2024

2023

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