What is a book if it doesn’t make you ponder and contemplate after a read? In conversation with authors Richa Kaul Padte and Shobha Rao on their thought provoking books Cyber Sexy and Girls Burn Brighter respectively, Huzan Tata learns about unspoken-of worlds and emancipating tales
OPENING NEW DOORS
RICHA KAUL PADTE, Cyber Sexy
WHAT WAS THE IMPETUS BEHIND WRITING A BOOK ON PORN? Ever since two pornography bans were proposed in India in 2013, I wanted an Indian woman to write a book that talked about what porn and the internet meant for sexuality, and why they weren’t inherently bad for women. I spent at least a year waiting for someone to announce they were writing this book. And when no one did, I got this weird feeling that it might have to be me. What I ultimately tried to do with Cyber Sexy was write the book I wanted to read.
DID YOU HAVE ANY KIND OF APPREHENSIONS, GIVEN THAT TALKING ABOUT SEX OPENLY IS STILL RELATIVELY TABOO IN INDIA?
My thinking around sexuality comes pretty much straight from the women’s movement in India and the UK, which I’ve been a part of for nearly a decade. Talking publicly about sexuality isn’t new for me, the only difference is that now I’m doing it in a more mainstream way. And because I’ve been doing it in spaces that have been so supportive and progressive, I was able to bypass the types of apprehensions that come with being an Indian woman writing about sex.
DO YOU HOPE THE BOOK WILL OPEN UP MORE CHANNELS OF CONVERSATION?
I think that would be absolutely amazing — if it gets people talking! I think it’s really important to have open conversations around sex. Because a big problem with sexuality in India is that it’s treated as something dirty, immoral, and best avoided. Having these conversations is crucial to developing healthy, safe, and pleasurable sexual relationships. And if Cyber Sexy encourages even a handful of people to talk about things they’ve never said out loud, that would be an incredible outcome.
WHAT ARE THE ANECDOTES THAT REALLY STAYED WITH YOU?
This story is from the June 2018 edition of Verve.
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This story is from the June 2018 edition of Verve.
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