Pleasure is the tapas of the without

• Vashishta (quoted by Roberto Calasso in Ka)

Ka is a treatise on the Indian Mythology without the cloak of the recent Indian “Morality”. Ka sheds all those we have strived hard to supress - the sexual liberation of ancient Indians.

In Ka, Roberto Calasso, writes how Indian mythology states Rishis were the first beings Brahma entrusted the task of procreating, causing the birth of several Gods and Demons in the process.

Roberto also writes how Parvati was sexually attracted by Shiva even when she was just a chip of a girl which is why she did a tapas to get him.

In this light, I also discovered, how Pandu was cursed with death when he penetrated any women - which makes sense. When I watched mahabharata on TV, I didnt understand why Pandu had to die when he hugged Madri =D

So, now when Manu (interestingly, the mythological Manu was supposed to be conceived when Brahma had sex with his daughter Satarupa) sent me an email with links to blog entries on Chennai’s morality police, I pondered at what lengths we have gone to hide the sexual freedom of the old.

I know, a lot of you, might just be a little uncomfortable reading this entry. But that is precisely the point. To raise the shroud of hundreds of years on sexuality.

Now what has this got to do with the Anna University fiasco or the recent incidents of Chennai’s Moral Police rearing its ugly head? Exactly this: the basic premise of the Indian culture that expressing sexuality is wrong and reprehensible - Dina Malar embarassed women who were kissing men in a party, Anna University screams at men who wear ‘red and black’, Panimalar college (one of the JPR ones) uprooted trees to stop couples from sitting together under the trees, punished a male student for being friendly (in conservative standards) with a female teacher.

What Anna University did was not any more hypocritical than what we are used to - only it was more explicit. It is consistent with our hypocritical assumptions about women who drink, who smooch, wear or not wear clothes, Anna University imposes these rules albeit more conservative.

So guys, the revolution doesnt start from Anna University, but from our own perceptions. Start using the banned four letter words (fuck for one), use the biological names for penis and vagina, dont call sex as “that thing”. Stop thinking of women as creatures from Mordor and treat them as equal partners - in smoking, drinking and sexual intercourse.

I know many of you are already there, but there are thousands of us (including women) who arent. And with them lies the future of Indian youth.