The Third Eye presents Harishankar Parsai’s Ek Ladki Paanch Deewane (one girl, five lovers) as part of our feminist fiction anthology — because we don’t need women to call themselves feminists in order to be interested in their lives.
This is Part V in a series on the psyche and sexuality, based on the author’s research, reflections and analysis, and looks at the sexual fantasies that seemingly pose a threat to our feminist politics. The essays in this series explain key psychoanalytic concepts and offer pedagogical possibilities while working on sexuality.
Legal sanctions permit little, if any, breathing room for queer intimacies. And yet, such experiences of desire survive in silos, real-world or digital. Cybercafes, anonymous chat rooms, and dimly-lit apartments are all witness to the loneliness epidemic — exacerbated all the more for queer folks despite recent protections.
As a group of girls and a young activist refuse to bow down to upper-caste bullies, the entire village stands witness to a confrontation between play and patriarchy. In this essay, Tanmay paints the picture of rural Bihar and narrates the consequences of joy (and a frisbee) finding itself in the wrong hands.
Darkness has been the grist to many poets’ mills, the emptiness that allows stars to shine and often the site of cinematic horror films. But what does the dark reveal about how we live?
Maxi has recently purchased a vibrator and she cannot wait to put it to use. As the series finale, we present to you a classic girl-meets-machine romantic comedy featuring Yours Truly Tom.
Everyone knows that the woods in the night are dangerous, but does it also hold a promise of privacy? After all, what is said (or screamed) in the jungle stays in the jungle.
Thundering rain. Steep hills. A haunting melody. A Guru Dutt poster brings back a vivid memory and two stubborn questions: What was? What could have been?
99% of the time, life is mundane and predictable. This story is the telling of that 1% when truth becomes stranger than fiction and reality out-thrills drama. Hear that? The incoming footsteps of a brand-new chapter?
An accidental touch turns desire and shame topsy-turvy. What follows is a shiver, a silence, and a weakness in the knees.
