The I Column
Following Aladdin’s Genie
It is this camaraderie with sexualness that made my mother uncomfortable about my comfort with lipsticks. Stains become metonyms for the woman herself, and her sexuality. It is possible that this stain might stay on someone’s mind as they encounter a stained cup. It is possible that even if they never have seen the person, they would now be compelled to imagine them.
By Muskan Nagpal
August 1, 2019
Following Aladdin’s Genie
The lip colour then enters into a rather queer state of existence as it refuses to stand by the label it is expected to conform to. It moves and escapes categorisation. In its queerness, it renders itself as a paradox. At the heart of paradoxes is the understanding that something is what it is also not. Similarly, the colour of this lipstick is nude, but it is also not. It is possible that it is because of this slippery nature of the paradox that my sexuality as my identity too remains slippery, in motion and fluid.
By Muskan Nagpal
June 15, 2021
For the Joy of It
Of course, I knew I wasn’t the only person in the world writing about Sherlock Holmes. I, however, thought I was the only one in the world writing about them like that. You know.
Romantically.
By Saswati
January 11, 2024
For the Joy of it
Of course, I knew I wasn’t the only person in the world writing about Sherlock Holmes. I, however, thought I was the only one in the world writing about them like that. You know.
Romantically.
By Saswati
November 1, 2021
From Knowing To Doing
At 13, I could (correctly!) explain the reproductive system of a plant. I’d been rather intimate with the anatomy of…
By Rishita Nandagiri
February 15, 2015
From Reshma Valliappan to Deepika Padukone
We don’t have an original I-Column this month. Instead we feature the voices of two women, Deepika Padukone and Reshma…
By Curated Content
April 15, 2015
From ‘I wish I knew!’ to ‘Is it right to tell them this?’
I wish my elders had told me about more than just bleeding when they talked about menstruation. I wish they…
By Asmi
Glass Onion
It was not uncommon for me to feel like an imposter, helping others connect with themselves while struggling to do the same myself.
By Janice G.
September 18, 2024
Haunted by Shame: The Struggle of Being Rendered Invisible
Where did my body go? This is a question I have asked myself repeatedly over the last two years. My…
By Reva Puri
September 1, 2021
How Do We Deal With All the Mixed Messages Kids are Getting?
Youngsters are bombarded every day with messages related to sexuality, sex and relationships from various sources. And we also know that not all the information they encounter prepares them well to make choices.
By Ramya Anand
October 17, 2016
How I Became a Feminist, and Other Mundane Things
I did not know what feminism meant, but I remember being told I’m too rough for a girl. Or, was…
November 15, 2015
How I Dress Has to Do with My Relationship with Myself
I did my schooling and higher studies in Delhi. Thanks to a compulsorily uniform attire at school, the differences in socio-economic backgrounds of students were successfully erased. But as one enters college, one’s attire gets significant attention, especially for a person from a weak socio-economic background. This transition period from school to college is also the age of sexual anxieties, experiments and experiences.
By Rashmi Gopi
August 16, 2016
HOW I LEARNED THAT I DESERVE TO LOVE MYSELF
“I feel comfortable with who I am,” he responded. “I’m at ease with myself. I don’t wake up and hate myself. I can’t tell you how amazing that feels.”
“I know how that feels,” I told him.
By Guest Writer
January 4, 2021
How I Learned That I Deserve to Love Myself
Have you ever heard the old adage, “You have to love yourself before anybody else can love you”? Well, I grew up interpreting this in the absolutely most terrible way possible.
By Guest Writer
February 18, 2017
How much support is enough?
In the middle of this pandemic, can one seek sexual support in the form of a hook up with one’s best friend, ‘just because’? Is it redefining boundaries, is it sympathy sex, is it simple indulgence, or is it something that one or both might later resent?
By Asmi
November 2, 2020