Book Review - The Arts of Seduction, Seema Anand

Sex!

The utterance of the very word has become a sort of taboo in our society. From being the land that gave the world the Kama Sutra and the Khajuraho, we have all become prim and perverted. So much so that even when the word ‘Sex’ is found on an official form, we prefer to term it as ‘gender’ instead of using ‘the other word’. While the reasons for such a drastic shift in sentiments deserve a book on their own, a gentle reminder of our ancient, less prudish past is something that has long been due. This book is one such a positive step in that direction.

What Ms. Seema Anand tries to do in this book is to distill the essence of Kama Sutra and present it in a more practical form. I must say that she succeeds to a large extent. This book is sort of primer to that erotique sans pareil - Kama Sutra. Cutting all those lengthy depictions and stringent syllabi, the author has succeeded to a large extent in keeping the poetic nature of the work alive. Kudos to that!

One glaring error in the whole of the book is, while depicting the weird habit of the Maharaja of Patiala, Ms. Seema mentions Mr. Natwar Singh as the author of ‘Freedom at Midnight’. To my humble knowledge, Mr. Natwar Singh hasn’t written any such book. The subject though could have been a part of his other book ‘The Magnificent Maharaja’. In a book that is written with much meticulous research on ancient manuscripts, this error stands out like a sore thumb. Otherwise a neat job though.

To summarize, Kama Sutra was the work that stripped away (pun intended) the vulgarity and obscenity from sex and presented it for what it is – an act of extreme pleasure when approached aesthetically. This book by Seema Anand is a gentle reminder to that lost treasure which is now only read in secret. A decent read!