I lost my friends on the Left when i voted for Narendra Modi in 2014. I lost my friends on the Right when i criticised Modi for demonetisation, majoritarian politics and weakened institutions.

With the election approaching, i am disillusioned. Acche din have not come but nationalism has, and the India that i love is changing. I am surrounded by Modi bhakts and Modi haters, both of whom i find mildly distasteful.

सबको समायोजित करने और सामाजिक व सांस्कृतिक विरोधाभास मिटाने वाले मध्यमार्ग का निर्माण

चुनावों की एक और शृंखला आकर चली गई, अब आम चुनाव की आहट है। किसी सर्जरी की तरह चुनाव नेताओं के दिमाग से सारे विचार निकालकर उनका फोकस आर्थिक व शासन संबंधी सुधारों के कठि न काम को भुलाकर लोकलुभावन कदमों व खैरात बांटने पर केंद्रित कर देते हैं। नतीजों ने दिखाया कि भारतीय स्वभाव से शक्की हैं और अपने नेताओं को बदलने में झिझकते नहीं। 2014 की विशाल निश्चितताओं की जगह अब 2019 के महान संदेह ने ले ली है।

Channelling kama for a higher purpose

Desire is innate to human existence, and love is its prime manifestation. From sexual to asexual and from material to abstract, desire is double-edged, something that explores human strengths while simultaneously imploring its vulnerabilities. Lethal as it may seem, desire’s origin as Kama in scriptures and philosophies swings between two extremes — Vatsyayana’s sensuous poetry and Victorian middle-class morality.

An engaging account that goes beyond sex and sexuality to explore desire in the contemporary Indian social order

Given my feminist orientation, any book on "desire" would strike alarm bells, and when it is with reference to the Kamasutra, one may worry about the exoticisation of the erotic. Gurcharan Das's book came as a pleasant antidote to the usual commodification of women in such a text. While the Kamasutra is a running thread, Das presents its critique in terms of a modern, gender-just outlook.