Sexologist Prakash Kothari has converted his private erotica collection into a book-museum of sorts. Here's a titillating trip through it, lock, c*ck and barrel

Sex museum on your bookshelf

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Sex museum on your bookshelf

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Sexologist Prakash Kothari has converted his private erotica collection into a book-museum of sorts. Here's a titillating trip through it, lock, c*ck and barrel

The title is predictable. So is some of the Kamasutra in it. But the rest of the art that fills popular sexologist Prakash Kothari's pages is a good mind-blow job.

Angels in self-fellatio (carved in wood in a sculpture that dates back to 18th century Tamil Nadu), divine desire manifesting itself in Ganesha as he penetrates with his trunk (Tamil Nadu, 16th century), unrestrained, same-sex embraces and a woman pleasuring herself as her pet tongue-strokes her vagina (Bikaner, 19th century) are only some of the inclusions that make you realise what pleasure really meant in times the ignorant thought were unadventurous and chaste.

When this writer saw it on her table a sensuous red cover with "Erotica" embossed in gold she was slightly amused by the author's handwritten note inside. It ended with "with affection" a phrase we thought was thankfully dead and gone.

Phallis Walking Sticks

Would you, for instance, have your lover stand on her head while you stand upright during intercourse (wood sculpture, Tamil Nadu, 18th century)? But again, who minds fanciful fantasies when it comes to basic instincts, so what if you can't do even half of that, lest your lover thinks you've lost it for good.

One fascinating feature is that the author has managed to lay his hands on timeless, previously unseen artefacts that not only bring out the aesthetics of coiton, but also enlighten you about quaint culture that shaped it as it evolved through the centuries. Consider, for instance, the Nigerian ivory statuette (19th century) that was used in tribal initiation ceremonies to rupture virgins' hymens in preparation for the wedding night.

Virginity and fertility: This African statuette was used in tribal initiation ceremonies

The penis, an organ often underrepresented in books of such kind, stands painted almost-perfect in its varying levels of excitement. It adorns lamps and walking stick handles, too. The idea, the author elaborates, is to celebrate sexuality instead of repressing or regretting it.

Romance-peppered romps

And if think you've already had an overdose of historical highs, there's some stimulating contemporary stuff, too. Sex on the Mind (Japan) is an interesting set of mini models that show a man's head, facing different directions, made up of men and women in the throes of passion.

The postcards that artists Sunil Das, Satish Gujral, MF Husain, Jatin Das and Manu Parekh have shared with the writer are as awe-inspiring, some intimately in-your-face, others soulfully sublime. Good sex ought to be interspersed with sentiment. Romps with romance. So no, it isn't all flesh fun in here, but ample feeling, too. Even as unabashed 18th century bestiality tries its best to push you off the edge.

Porn is Passe

Porn is for perverts, and pathetically passe. So is tantalising talk too obvious, too overdone. A Kamasutra handbook is as horrible, and just about everyone owns one.

Figures in various erotic poses define the contours of a man's head

Here's where this bedside buddy comes handy (pun unintended, but go ahead, that too) it's classy, sassy, and cool in its combination of international and Indian compilations ranging from Renaissance to the Pahari and Mughal schools and an instant turn-on if your partner happens to take one look, over your shoulder or on his/her own.

At times, of course, you wish that the pictures came with more textual trivia, but then, it's a world that swears by what-you-see-is-what-you-get, or so you'd at least wish.

In conversation with the man who won a padma shri for multi-orgasms

"When they called me for the Padmi Shri, I asked them if they were sure it was the sexologist they were looking for, and not some politician by the same name," chuckles Dr Prakash Kothari, who earned the award for his research on multi-orgasms.

How many people receive national recognition for a specialisation like that? The fun-loving doc who has presided over countless sexuality-related seminars worldwide, owes his inspiration to a dear writer friend. Mulk Raj Anand was with him during his first two global conferences. He was the one to urge Kothari to set up a museum.

Incidentally, he had handed Pablo Picasso his Nobel Prize, and Picasso had presented him some of his specially-made works (also part of the book). Mulk Raj, in turn, passed them on to me and dedicated his last book, Kamayoga, to me. We shared the same interests ghazal, poetry and erotica," he remembers.
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Since Kothari didn't have enough money to set up the museum then, Anand had even suggested Kothari sell Picasso's pieces to make that dream come true.

But of course, he didn't. Mulk Raj Anand passed away at 99. So Kothari decided to go ahead with the book himself. He parked himself at the publisher's Navi Mumbai based press for over a week to oversee production personally.
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"I couldn't take chances. The red on the cover for instance, had to be just right," he explains.
It was in 1979 that the desire-driven (no regrets) doc took up erotica as his muse. Then, it was the Penthouse interview that made him popular.
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"I started receiving collectibles from everyone who appreciated my dedication clients, colleagues, curators, fans, friends," he reminisces. "Some pieces, of course, are handpicked. Whenever I visit Bangalore on work, I stop at Natesan's Antique store.
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The shopkeeper says I'm the only erotica collector they have, and so, the best is always saved for me." And he's fond of Cuba's flea markets, where erotic art is as easy to find as toffee.

But nothing can beat Prakash's one big moment of pride. "Richard Francis Burton said the Kamasutra was written over a period of 1,200 years. I disputed that, and proved it was written in 25."

That, by the way, is also the number of book dummies that were produced over three years before the final copy was published.

Whenever I visit Bangalore on work, I stop at Natesan's Antique store. The shopkeeper says I'm the only erotica collector they have, and so, the best is always saved for me.

Top Draws

> A 1st century BC terracotta sculpture that shows one man pleasuring five women at the same time
> Comic postcards from Germany and Britain that hit below the belt
> Perhaps the first-ever paintings on gay and lesbian love, by Yashovardhan, Vrindavan Solanki and Fawad Tamkanat
> Hold-to-light playing cards with naughty illustrations
> Erotica in everyday objects like nutcrackers, butter knives, wine glasses and cork screw openers
> Highly graphic snuff bottles and sex education scrolls that date back to 19th century China
> Paintings that detail threesomes and group sex
> Passionate letters from Jaipur to France, written between the 15th and 19th century. Some are blood-streaked
> Philately erotica
> Scrap art based on sexuality

>> Apart from daily use, phallic lamps were specially used for the defloration of girls as an initiation rite
>> Comic postcards from Great Britain (1910-62)

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