Sakhiyani: Lesbian Desire in Ancient and Modern India

by Giti Thadani

The product of many years of research, this unique book presents fascinating perspectives on contemporary lesbian life in India and unravels some of the history of lesbian desire from centuries past.

Through a detailed examination of mythology, cosmology, ancient art and artifacts and her exegesis of ancient Sanskrit texts, Thadani constructs a tapestry of feminine kinship, genealogy and sexual or erotic bonding between women (sakhiyani) in ancient India. The author offers a historical perspective on the effect of colonization upon lesbian identities in India, showing how women were viewed by Western imperialists either as soft victims or as sexually dangerous, possessing an overgrown clitoris and in need of heterosexual domestication.

The second half of the book focuses on contemporary lesbian realities and issues, including lesbian marriages, suicide pacts, forging lesbian space, lesbian human rights, lesbophobia, sexual exile and the different construction of gender, family and possible kinship alliances.

Genres: LGBT, History, Lesbian, Nonfiction, Queer

129 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1996

Reviews

[The Conch · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is for establishment of right of lesbians in Indian context. The author tries her best to prove that lesbianism has been part of India since prevedic culture, however, heterosexualism is being forced. However, as author follows Max Muller's translation of Rig Veda, so entire historical perspective needs to be taken cautiously, as it is not free from Freudian psycho-analysis of Gods and Goddesses of India.

However, the book tells about immense pain and torture what LGBT communities are still facing. The author does a great justice to this community.

[Pramod Vemuri · Rating 4 out of 5]

[Disclaimer: I encountered Giti's views on Carvaka Podcast which struck me as deeply fascinating.
She also elaborated on how half the original manuscript was discarded which highlighted the inclusive aspects of Hinduism, and the author has also disavowed the book.]

The core argument of the book is that Hinduism was originally gynefocal and then its sacred spaces were appropriated by patriarchal forces. And this argument is important especially in modern times where female and queer sexuality is seen as something western and other in India, where the original inclusivity of hinduism is being threatened by a misguided conservative attitude.

I have previously wondered if the patriarchal expansionist trait of proto-Indo-Europeans maybe rooted in the Indra cult, something that the author somewhat points to. Her breakdown of dyava-prithvi as triple goddess than father-mother combination was quite fascinating, as it's worth mentioning that dyava/dyaus is barely mentioned at all in our texts, but dyaus (zeus) is a major deity in other Indo-European religions. Her gender analysis of Urvashi is also the first I've heard of, and rather interesting, which talks about the mortal male yearns for the immortal feminine.

Her analysis of modern Hinduism is where she starts to sound a bit like a typical radical feminist, but with necessary nuance. She faults Vivekananda for desexualizing women as being fit only for motherhood and that education was a western influence that sexualises her, however that ignores that Vivekananda wasn't a fixed ideologue and his views always kept changing over time; plus his emphasis on desexualization applied both to men and women. I raised an eyebrow when she quotes Subhash Kak - perhaps he was in vogue in the mid 90s - and borrows his mythological analysis of Ganesha. Where she lost me is when she says that Shiva must've been on his philanderous ventures (!). Having said that, the author does not compromise on criticising wherever she feels is justified - after quoting Kak, she faults him for being too Freudian in that they were too androcentric, where Kak goes so far as to accuse girls of seducing their fathers in such incestuous relationships. In a later section of book, she discusses how women beat up a lesbian who entered lady's quarters but allowed a fifteen-year old boy, a man (Is it fair to call a teenager, a man, though?)

The last section of the book focuses on the lived experiences of lesbians in India, and it's what is to be expected from a rennascient India (of the 90s). What's amusing is where she points out the CPI vehemently opposed lesbianism for it'll stunt the population growth of proletariat (!) and that Hindutva parties were tolerant of queer communities in India (!).

[Jagruti · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this for a work project, and was fascinated by the description of lesbian desire in ancient Indian texts leading up to the late 1980s. This academic text is mandatory reading in the context of the history of lesbian literature in India.

[Jajwalya Karajgikar · Rating 5 out of 5]

I understand the lens of the novel; the current looking back at the currents of the past. I understand the thrill of knowing the mere existence of the stories in some shape or form, and the possibilities of expanding the oft-repeated narratives, and yet, and yet, each new discovery is encased in impenetrable shells of loss and sadness of the known becoming unknown over all these eons. That is to say, that which is lost will never be grasped in the future tangibly. I wished to be a historian of such a subject for a long long time, of these lesser known stories if only for my own curiosity and wish fulfillment, but I hardly think of myself to be resilient enough to face that anger and sadness without drowning in it. Of course, it could be declaimed completely, and the norms, the acceptances struck anew regardless of what the ancient texts are purported to say from the revisions of multiple n-ary sources.

Now the conundrum lies in the translations, meanings siphoned out, contextual references, patterns eked out just because of the dearth of the material in the first place.

But hey, at least I know now to flirt in Sanskrit too, so yay?

[naviya · Rating 4 out of 5]

- this was amazing!!!
- pretty dense so it took me a while to read it but i loved how the essays were structured/organized
- they were kind of "emotionally reasoned" at times but i agree so
- it was incredibly validating to read about south asian lesbians in religion, in politics.
- it helped me understand and articulate my own discomfort with the religions i grew up with and also the kind of patriarchal brainwashing that i just,,,lived with
- i learned so much; truly my brain is SO FULL

[pls pls if u have south/southeast asian lesbian/trans history/non-fic recs,,,,,,lmk]

[Akhil · Rating 3 out of 5]

Must read to understand and be aware of about a foundation block to civilization, explained well

[HopeF · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author set out her thesis in the first chapter and explored it reasonably for the length of the volume.

[d · Rating 5 out of 5]

BANGERRRR