Author Seema Anand Speaks Easy on owning the body and narrative

Mythologist, author and accredited sex educator Seema Anand on Saturday delivered a candid and thought-provoking talk in New Delhi where she urged audiences to confront long-standing taboos surrounding women's bodies, pleasure and shame. The discussion, which was centred on her latest book Speak Easy, explored how storytelling shapes social expectations, moral codes and gender hierarchies, often at the cost of women's autonomy.

Seema Anand is a London-based mythologist and narrative practitioner known for her scholarship on classical Indian texts and traditions. Widely regarded as an authority on the Kama Sutra, she lectures on Eastern erotology, Tantric philosophy, the Mahavidyas, as well as epics such as the Mahabharata and the Bhagavad Gita.

Anand was speaking on Saturday at the Delhi Literature Festival, taking place at the IGNCA Amphitheatre in Janpath, New Delhi.

HOW IS PLEASURE FOUNDATIONAL IN INDIAN INTELLECTUAL HISTORY?

Opening her talk with a direct challenge to prevailing cultural norms, Anand argued that society frequently equates a "good woman" as one who is silent and compliant. She said stories play a powerful role in constructing these ideas through their role in defining women's responsibilities, while rarely acknowledging their right to bodily ownership or personal desire. Her remarks quickly shifted the tone of the session from polite curiosity to uncomfortable reflection among attendees.

Anand traced the roots of her work to a deeply personal realisation she had during early motherhood, when she began questioning why narratives celebrating women's pleasure and self-determination were largely absent from mainstream discourse. "This is not the world I want for my children," she recalled thinking. That search for answers led her to revisit classical Indian texts, in particular the Kama Sutra, which she approached from a philosophical and literary perspective rather than as a manual of techniques.

But while her initial reading left her rather underwhelmed, Anand said that deeper study revealed a rich system of metaphor embedded within traditional shastras. Like many classical shastras, the Kama Sutra encoded philosophy through layered symbolism. She described how Sanskrit literature over two millennia, from Kalidasa to Bhanudatta, drew upon these metaphors. The epic romances of the 6th to 8th centuries, she argued, were saturated with this sensual grammar, demonstrating that pleasure was once seen as foundational to intellectual and cultural life in the subcontinent.

"And that," she said with a half-smile, "is why I call myself the patron saint of pleasure."

THE CHALLENGES OF DISCUSSING PLEASURE AND SEXUALITY IN DIGITAL SPACES

Going beyond historical analysis, Anand also addressed the harsh realities of engaging with the topic within contemporary digital spaces. She spoke openly about her experiences with online trolling, harassment and threats that intensified as her online presence grew, eventually forcing her to step back from social media. "The stage of sexual abuse is so bad that I have to talk about that more," she admitted. "I want to talk about beautiful things. But right now, survival takes precedence."

Furthermore, according to Anand, the limitations of short-form online content make it difficult to address complex issues such as consent, desire and power dynamics with the depth they require. Sixty-second reels can spark curiosity, she acknowledged, but they cannot hold nuance. This is a gap that she hopes her book, Speak Easy helps fill, by allowing complex discussions about consent, desire, shame and power that demand both intellectual and emotional space.

She further noted that open conversations about sexuality often create unexpected safe spaces, as audiences seek honest, judgement-free discussions that are rarely available elsewhere. "People don't know where else to ask these questions," she said. "The moment you start talking, they think — achha, idhar pooch lete hain." Let's ask here. Anand's session ultimately underscored the power of reclaiming language, narratives and bodily agency through frank dialogue, leaving festival-goers grappling with both discomfort and renewed reflection on cultural norms.

At a festival centred on literature, Anand's session emphasised that the most transformative storytelling lies not in creating something new, but in reclaiming those that were forgotten, metaphors, restoring language, and reasserting ownership over the body itself.