Body

I want to 377 you so bad (and Other Poems)
Abstract painting of a distorted face outlined with bold lines
I want to 377 you so bad (and Other Poems)

i want to 377 you so bad till even the sheets hurt i want to ache your knees singe your…
By Akhil Katyal
June 17, 2015
I want to 377 you so bad (and Other Poems)
Interview – This is what you bring to the table!
A photograph of a number of multicoloured rainbows against the background of a blue sky.
Interview – This is what you bring to the table!

In this write up, we’d like to share a sense of what emerges from a compilation of these responses. This is based on the thoughts and feelings that come through for those of us here at In Plainspeak who have had the joy of reading the original responses as they came in to us. (Some of the quotations that follow have been slightly edited for flow and to help connect themes.) We know that most things in the realm of art, information and ideas lend themselves to a wide range of inferences and insights depending on the individuals making the inferences.
By Shikha Aleya
March 1, 2022
Interview – This is what you bring to the table!
Interview – Indu Harikumar
Interview – Indu Harikumar

I was watching something recently that said it was a bad thing to be vulnerable, but I don’t think it is a bad thing. I do see that there is a certain amount of power in vulnerability, it also needs courage, in my experience.
By Shikha Aleya
April 5, 2021
Interview – Indu Harikumar
Interview – Jyotsna Siddharth
A photo of Jyotsna Sidhharth smiling and looking directly at the camera.
Interview – Jyotsna Siddharth

Our bodies are the vessels through which we feel, emote, work or navigate our societies and the world at large. Our bodies are the real, live archive of everything we have experienced and they have borne the consequences of our social conditioning and decisions.
By Shikha Aleya
June 16, 2023
Interview – Jyotsna Siddharth
Interview: Nidhi Goyal
Photo of disability rights activist Nidhi Goyal. She is wearing golden hoop earrings and has her hair tied in a ponytail
Interview: Nidhi Goyal

Nidhi Goyal is a gender and disability rights activist from Mumbai, India.  Anisha Dutt: Your journey as a disability and gender rights activist…
By Anisha Dutt
June 1, 2015
Interview: Nidhi Goyal
Laughter is the Best Kink
An out-of-focus shot in black and white of two female- presenting kinksters engaging in whipping.
Laughter is the Best Kink

From the outside, the world of kink can look like a place where a smile would be a rare occurrence. But come closer if you dare. Let go of your inhibitions, your fears, your judgements, and biases, and take a real, long look..
By Meisha S
May 17, 2023
Laughter is the Best Kink
Lost and Found
A close-up of a person walking on a path in a park. They are on the right side of the photo and only their legs are visible.
Lost and Found

From today’s vantage point I see that I missed an opportunity to use PT and sports in school as a way to get to know and move my body. This in turn held me back from viewing myself as a sexual being.
By Kajol Hinduja
April 6, 2023
Lost and Found
Love Letter to the Body Project
A tent-like structure which says 'love letter to the body' on top
Love Letter to the Body Project

TO MY BODY: I would have addressed you as ‘Dear’ but perhaps we both know how complicated that would be.
By Yamini Deenadayalan
May 1, 2014
Love Letter to the Body Project
Loving My Dysfunctional Body: Lessons In Self Love After A Decade Of Self-Loathing
An illustration of four people on a beige background. Each person has multicoloured bouquet of flowers instead of hair, and flowers wrapped around different parts of their bodies. Each person is performing different acts of self-love - the one on the far left is applying is shaving flowers from their forearm, the one next to them is hugging themselves with their eyes closed, the next one is looking into a round hand mirror and the one on the far right has one leg on a chair and is shaving flowers from their leg. A branch of thorns and flowers threads through the background.
Loving My Dysfunctional Body: Lessons In Self Love After A Decade Of Self-Loathing

My body presented to me the first paradox in my feminism that I would encounter. How could I claim to be a feminist if I was not proud of the body I was born in? My advocacy as a sixth grader seemed to fail when it came to my own self.

By Feminism in India
March 15, 2022
Loving My Dysfunctional Body: Lessons In Self Love After A Decade Of Self-Loathing
Matryoshka
A group of three nesting dolls or matryoshka dolls sitting on top of a wooden table
Matryoshka

a god made me in spite of its own image
a crooked, vile wooden doll
By Sara Haque
October 17, 2024
Matryoshka
Mirror Mirror On The Wall: Who Is The Truest Of All?
An artistic rendering of looking in the mirror. A person with orange hair and a green sleeveless dress looks at multicolored abstract figures beyond the mirror.
Mirror Mirror On The Wall: Who Is The Truest Of All?

Theme: Relationship With Self Through this work of art, I want to depict the relationship of our self with the mirror…
By Jasmine George
December 1, 2013
Mirror Mirror On The Wall: Who Is The Truest Of All?
Multi-bodied Magical Body
A shot of rocks and pebbles of different bodies, shapes, sizes, and colours.
Multi-bodied Magical Body

Body + a million This article: written, read, edited, uploaded on to the internet, heard using assistive software, converted into…
By Shikha Aleya
June 16, 2023
Multi-bodied Magical Body
My body houses my pain
Grayscale photo of a person’s back
My body houses my pain

My body houses my pain.
It lives in the wrinkles
below my eyes.
By Mitti*
June 1, 2023
My body houses my pain
Navigating love, loneliness and singlehood
A photo of the throat, clavicles and shoulders against a black background. The body is highlighted with golden brown light and there is a mole at the base of the throat.
Navigating love, loneliness and singlehood

The desire for intimacy might rob one of the intimacy that one shares with oneself and thus, being with the beloved can leave one feeling even lonelier because of the continuing struggle for validation and comfort.
By Anonymous
January 3, 2022
Navigating love, loneliness and singlehood
Negotiating Expression
An abstract painting of teal squares with splashes of orange, white, blue and yellow.
Negotiating Expression

I am still coming to terms with my own femininity, as with new learnings I find myself regaining many facets of my personality which were lost while trying to ‘act like a man’ and ‘act tough’.
By Ambica Naithani
March 1, 2022
Negotiating Expression
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