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03503aam a2200433 i 4500 001 F5344C6456B111EEB3013A8641ECA4DB 003 SILO 005 20230919010045 008 181001t20182018ii a b 001 0 eng c 010 $a 2018325125 020 $a 9387693236 020 $a 9789387693234 020 $a 9387693287 020 $a 9789387693289 035 $a (OCoLC)1055143886 040 $a SINUS $b eng $e rda $c SINUS $d YDX $d DKAGE $d OCLCF $d OCLCO $d STF $d DLC $d WAU $d OCL $d NZAUC $d OCLCO $d CLU $d NUI $d SILO 042 $a pcc 043 $a a-ii--- 050 4 $a HQ18.I4 $b M36 2018 100 1 $a Menon, Madhavi, $e author. 245 10 $a Infinite variety : $b a history of desire in India / $c Madhavi Menon. 264 1 $a New Delhi : $b Speaking Tiger, $c 2018. 300 $a 358 pages : $b illustrations (some color) ; $c 23 cm 520 $a 'The history of desire in India,' writes Madhavi Menon in this splendid book, 'reveals not purity but impurity as a way of life. Not one answer, but many. Not a single history, but multiple tales cutting across laws and boundaries.' In Bhakti poetry, Radha and Krishna disregard marital fidelity, age, time and gender for erotic love. In Sufi dargahs, pirs (spiritual guides) who were married to women are buried alongside their male disciples, as lovers are. Vatsyayana, author of the world's most famous manual of sex, insists that he did not compose it 'for the sake of passion', and remained celibate through the writing of it. Long hair is widely seen as a symbol of sexuality; and yet, shaved off in a temple, it is a sacred offering. Even as the country has a draconian law to punish homosexuality, heterosexual men share the same bed without comment. Hijras are increasingly marginalized; yet gender has historically been understood as fluid rather than fixed. Menon navigates centuries, geographies, personal and public histories, schools of philosophy, literary and cinematic works, as she examines the many - and often surprising - faces of desire in the Indian subcontinent. Her study ranges from the erotic sculptures of Khajuraho to the shrine of the celibate god Ayyappan; from army barracks to public parks; from Empress Nur Jahan's paan to home-made kohl; from cross-dressing mystics to androgynous gods. It shows us the connections between grammar and sex, between hair and war, between abstinence and pleasure, between love and death. Gloriously subversive, full of extraordinary analyses and insights, this is a book you will read to be enlightened and entertained for years. 504 $a Includes bibliographical references (pages [325]-345) and index. 505 0 $a Introduction: A history of impurity -- Dargahs -- Fractions -- The zero -- Ayyappan -- Education -- Grammar -- Celibacy -- Yoga -- Suicides -- Law -- Parks -- Army -- Hair -- Make-up -- Psychoanalysis -- Bhabhis -- Grandparents -- Sambandham -- Paan -- Dating -- Sexology. 650 0 $a Sex customs $z India. 650 0 $a Sex (Psychology) $z India. 650 0 $a Desire. 650 7 $a Sex (Psychology) $2 fast $0 (OCoLC)fst01114228 650 7 $a Sex customs. $2 fast $0 (OCoLC)fst01114306 650 7 $a Manners and customs. $2 fast $0 (OCoLC)fst01007815 650 7 $a Desire. $2 fast $0 (OCoLC)fst00891351 651 0 $a India $x Social life and customs. 651 7 $a India. $2 fast $0 (OCoLC)fst01210276 655 7 $a History. $2 fast $0 (OCoLC)fst01411628 941 $a 1 952 $l OVUX522 $d 20231117021114.0 956 $a http://locator.silo.lib.ia.us/search.cgi?index_0=id&term_0=F5344C6456B111EEB3013A8641ECA4DBInitiate Another SILO Locator Search