SEX dominates the mail and, judging by the letters to the agony aunts, the male is obsessed with masturbation.
Over 80 per cent of all distraught queries relate to sexual problems and an over-whelming number of these seek reassurance that masturbation does not a ffect potency.
A typical letter: "I have been masturbating for four years. It has become some sort of an addiction for me. After masturbation, I feel drowsy and very weak. I do not want to go to a sexologist due to shyness and hesitation. Please guide me to stop masturbation and prescribe any medicine."
Says The Times Of India agony aunt, Sanyukta Kumar: "I have been reiterating that masturbation is a perfectly normal practice. But each reader thinks his problem is unique and insists on individual assurance." The volumes of letters on the subject speak of the ignorance and the unspoken fears reagarding the practice, she adds.
The advent of the agony age in Indian journals has, in fact, brought to light the remarkable extent of clandestine sexuality in our society. Incest, for instance, is out of the closet and probably ranks second on the chart of queries.
A letter from a 16-year-old girl in Femina reveals how bizarre the dimensions of incest may have become in some homes. "My father has a very strong libido which my mother cannot satisfy. Also he loves oral sex and so do I, but my mother hates it. I have been having oral sex with him for the past five years. My mother does not mind, as she is grateful that he is not going to whores to satisfy himself.... My main regret is that my father refuses to penetrate me. How can I convince him? Please dont give me a lecture on morals."
A troubled teenager wrote to a newspapers agony column recently, saying that he was being regularly "seduced" by his 2 5 - year-old sister-in-law into having sex. The distraught boy sought advice on how to ward off her desire to bear his child.
While agonies relating to brothers and sisters - in - law, first cousins, maternal and paternal aunts or uncles abound in such columns, these also seem to have fired the fantasies of many. Couched as queries, some letters appear too unreal to be genuine.
"I am a 17-year- old - boy. I found my 25 - year-old teacher very sexy and convinced her to have sex with me. I started going to her house for sex and studies. Then I came in contact with her 33-year-old neighbour and her two daughters aged 15 and 14. Soon, I had sex with the eldest daughter. Next time I went to her place, her mother was alone at home and seduced me. Just as I was getting used to juggling my sex life between my teacher, her neighbour and her elder daughter, the younger daughter suggested I make love to her. None of them knows I am sleeping with the others. What should I do if the truth comes out?" Well, the truth is out. Indian sexuality is taking its first steps out of its long claustrophobic existence in the closet. And aunty is giving it a helping hand.
