Unveiling Desires
Paresh Kumar
A PLEASANT KIND OF HEAVY AND OTHER EROTIC STORIES by Aranyani Aleph Book Company, New Delhi, 2015, 216 pp., 225
January 2015, volume 39, No 1

Aranyani is a jungle goddess. Like Diana, at a remove from civilization, free to desire. And free to pursue what she desires. Aranyani is also the chosen pen name of the author of A Pleasant Kind of Heavy and Other Erotic Stories.

This inviting little red book consists of nine stories separated by mauve pages and united by female protagonists trying to disentangle themselves from India. The India of brahminical taboos where meat is forbidden and garlic too. Where sensation and sex and men are forbidden. Where the erotic act is confined to conjugal copulation in an attempt to dutifully reproduce—for god and country.
Aranyani’s creations want nothing to do with this land.

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