comfort

Issue in Focus: Knowing Sex
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We might need, therefore, to uncouple sexuality from intimacy because they do not necessarily belong together. Intimacy points to the comfort of knowledge while sexuality often shatters what knowledge we think we have.

By Madhavi Menon
February 1, 2019
Issue in Focus: Knowing Sex
Editorial: Intimacy and Sexuality
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In our mid-month issue, Rahul Sen writes of the impossibility of intimacy, of the gnawing pain and underlying cruelties it may unsheathe and how it is at best an illusion while Pavel reminds us of how, in our search for intimacy, we keep bits and parts of our lost loves and they keep parts of us, and how through being loved by them we learn also to love ourselves.

By TARSHI
February 15, 2019
Editorial: Intimacy and Sexuality
Sexuality And Looking Beyond Safety
An image of BDSM handcuffs

We all talk of ‘safe’ as some place where we are not in danger. Well, the truth is there is danger everywhere. So, maybe before we even delve into the subject of safety and sexuality, it is imperative that we take a moment to pause and see what safety and sexuality could even mean.

By Asmi
April 1, 2020
Sexuality And Looking Beyond Safety
Spinning Straw into Gold: Older Womxn Celebrate Sexuality and Spirituality
A photograph of oranges on a black background. One orange is whole and the other is halved.

The most satisfying spiritual and sexual experiences I’ve had were not in my twenties, thirties or even forties. They have been in my 50’s. The most insightful spiritual insights, and the most orgasmic orgasms have both arrived in middle age.

By Nighat Gandhi
March 1, 2021
Spinning Straw into Gold: Older Womxn Celebrate Sexuality and Spirituality
Interview –  A reflective self-questioning
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It is true though that ageing has brought home realities about my body that I ignored when I was younger. It has made me mindful of what I value, and what I choose to let go of, without too much of thought or unnecessary angst.

By Shikha Aleya
March 1, 2021
Interview –  A reflective self-questioning
Interview – Manak Matiyani
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As we grow older, moral codes, conventions of appropriateness and shame, and the utilitarian and income-focused education we get make us lose that stability. The idea of play to me is about bringing back that ability and comfort into the lives of people so that they can actually play.

By Shikha Aleya
December 1, 2021
Interview – Manak Matiyani
Editorial – Play and Sexuality
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Coupled with the tendency to approach sexuality with seriousness, play often remains absent in discussions of sexuality. Sexuality shares the elements of fun, pleasure and spontaneity that are found in play.

By TARSHI
December 15, 2021
Editorial – Play and Sexuality
Interview: Shruti Arora
A photograph of a woman’s face with a mural in the background. The woman has short black hair and a nose piercing. She is smiling.

There may already be another organisation in the community to share resources with but for community-led initiatives, a shared perspective on Safe, Inclusive, Sexuality-Affirming (SISA) spaces is also important. Sometimes when the shared perspective is not there, that becomes a challenge.

By Shikha Aleya
January 3, 2022
Interview: Shruti Arora
Friendships, or, That in which we decouple coupledom from the economies of marriage
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I was not simply stuck within the binaries of “same-sex” or “opposite sex,” assuming that any reference to “same-sex” is in itself already revolutionary. But the call to recognise friendship, is a call to recognise so many forms of community that are made invisible by the emphasis within a liberal or conservative framework on “marriage” as the only path to family making.

By Shweta Krishnan
February 1, 2022
Friendships, or, That in which we decouple coupledom from the economies of marriage
Obedience, the Greater Good and Self-Exploration
On a peach background is the illustration of a girl who is reaching out backwards towards a heart-shaped mirror with one hand. The other hand rests elegantly on her shoulder. Beside her are flowers in different colors, seemingly growing from the ground.
Years of control and suppression made their presence felt emotionally, mentally, and even physically. I would walk hunched up and was extremely conscious of how I should present myself physically, so as not to displease others. Those were very stressful days.
By Taniya Mondal
September 1, 2022
Obedience, the Greater Good and Self-Exploration
One-sided Relationships in Sports
A zoomed-out shot of a football stadium. A lot of pamphlets are flying in the air and one can make out the excitement among the audience.

The fans invest emotional energy, and time, knowing very well that the players may never know of their existence or reciprocate the same emotions. That, however, does not deter them from feeling and living those emotions.

By Shriya Roy
April 21, 2023
One-sided Relationships in Sports
Keep it Light
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I tell them to laugh freely but question as much too. This gives them a sense of sheer relief to be able to ask, talk, question, because, even if it is ‘really bad’, after all, it’s being said in ‘lightness, is it not?

By Gunjan Sharma
May 17, 2023
Keep it Light