The I Column
The Story of an Odd Couple
A very hot July afternoon had forcibly pushed both of us inside a fancy Delhi mall. The air-conditioner was bringing…
By Shivani Gupta
May 15, 2015
The Space to Be
Every year since I was 20, I’ve been visiting an entirely new place on my birthday as a way of…
By Apphia
September 15, 2021
The Sisterhood of Sexuality
“Order me one too,” a friend said as I secretly purchased a vibrator online during a class so boring, I…
By Aakriti
February 1, 2018
The Paradox of Social Media
I have been working in the field of sexuality for some years but it was an Instagram post that got me to take the HPV vaccine seriously.
By Nidhi Chaudhary
February 15, 2024
The Paradox of Principles
I do not feel the need to fight the feminist war within these spaces all the time, now that it has become my home. I have come to terms with the idea that certain contradictions can co-exist peacefully like the yin and yang. But still, sometimes, my mind is roiled in conflict, with me cautiously trying to balance my two identities – the feminist and the army officer’s wife. Nevertheless, I am unwilling to give up one for the other (even if I might be perceived as being less of one of them). So I continue to be an individual with two seeming contradictions: a feminist army-officer’s-wife!
By Ramya Anand
July 1, 2017
The Ocean in My Veins
The circulation of our bodily energies potentially ushers queer futurities. A future that is yet to come, a future in which our bodies will not be imprinted with fear. A future in which newer creative economies of desire, love, and pleasure surround us like the blue waters of the Indian Ocean. I write this brief reflection in hopes of such futures.
By Debanuj DasGupta
July 2, 2018
The Long Route to Being Comfortable With My Sexuality
I have been out of school for close to five years. I recently met up with a friend from school…
By Guest Writer
February 1, 2016
The Learning Curve on Desire, Desirability, and Financial Access
From my experience of being at the receiving end of this snap judgment of desirability, and seeing what a loss it is of getting to know people as persons instead of cardboard images, I realise how unjust this approach is towards seeking companions (which doesn’t necessarily mean romantic partners). This is not how I would want to be seen. I have been missing out on a lot of sexual, emotional and intellectual stimulation by reducing a person’s attractiveness to these notions.
By Bhanu Priya
The Last Local To Vashi
I gave myself the freedom to choose. And I chose to re-examine my assumptions. Maybe it was possible to ask strange men for directions without being afraid of seeming vulnerable. Maybe I could plan my outfit without bothering about the fact that I would be travelling on public transport.
By Tanvi Khemani
October 5, 2020
The Last Local To Vashi
I gave myself the freedom to choose. And I chose to re-examine my assumptions. Maybe it was possible to ask strange men for directions without being afraid of seeming vulnerable. Maybe I could plan my outfit without bothering about the fact that I would be travelling on public transport.
By Tanvi Khemani
January 11, 2024
The Girl Who Dreamt an Impossible Dream
The dream soon turned into an obsession, fuelled by my kind and supportive father who would’ve done the same for me no matter what I had decided to obsess over. Before I knew it, my whole life revolved around cricket. I had a room full of posters of men who played cricket, and a brain full of cricket facts and trivia. The posters covered every inch of my room. I remember picking up new ones every other week from the street-side sellers of Connaught Place in Delhi, and found one with every new issue of The Hindu’s sports magazine called Sports Star.
By Surbhi Dewan
November 3, 2016
The Gifts of Time
Even negotiations related to the use of contraception or types of sexual acts in consensual relationships become difficult for a young girl because of her fear of displeasing her partner. But if one is fortunate, time helps us acquire some sets of skills and the language to speak up against violence and enforce decisions surrounding one’s sexual and social life.
By Ramya Anand
November 1, 2017
The Confidence of a Married Woman
I envy confident women. It could be the way a woman speaks her mind, the way she dresses, or just…
By Surbhi Dewan
February 1, 2016
The Absence of a Queer ‘Mother Tongue’
Many queer Indians who converse largely in their respective regional languages find it difficult to put a name to their queer identity in their ‘mother tongue’.
By Anonymous
May 1, 2018
TALKING ABOUT GENDER AND SEXUALITY AS A FEMINIST MOTHER: IT ONLY GETS MORE COMPLICATED
“Mamma, look, that’s a boy giraffe, I can see his penis,” exclaims my four-year-old daughter in delight at her discovery…
By Shilpa Phadke