Mastram, Savita Bhabhi and Saras Salil — These names used to lead the world of erotica content decades ago. That was then. Today, more and more women are writing Hindi erotica. And many of them are not even hiding behind a pseudonym.
Manisha Jha quit her job as a sales executive for a career in acting and dancing seven years ago. But the lockdown gave her a new career twist. She began dabbling in some steamy writing for Storytel, Amazon and Antarvasna.
She gave birth to Subodh Bhaiya, the object of women’s erotic fantasies.
Railway stations, bus depots and street book stalls are no longer the preferred hunting grounds for stealthily buying erotic literature. Delhi’s Daryaganj book street barely has a couple of books and magazines with sexually suggestive women’s images on the covers. Today, most stories are being consumed online. Even the insanely popular and banned Savita Bhabhi is now available in PDF formats. Private, invitation-only Telegram groups cater to interested readers.
“I remember when I promoted my story on my Facebook wall I got so many disturbing massages from men — ‘How many positions have you tried?’; ‘You are a Prostitute’; ‘have sex with me’ etc. Although I have no problem with this. Prostitutes sell their body, I sell the body by writing such stories. But that’s how our society is. I can’t even write about it,” says 39-year-old Manisha Jha, who lives in Mumbai.
“Earlier, it used to be available but now no one comes to buy, so they have stopped coming to us,” says 40-year-old Brajesh Singh, who works at a book stall in Delhi’s ISBT.
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Savita Bhabi to Garam Choori
In a different era, readers would hide these books and magazines under their beds and leaf through the pages in utter secrecy. And the writers kept their identities private too. Many of the popular erotic novelists came from Meerut city, some say. But this can’t be verified.
But India has changed now.
Many who wrote the Savita Bhabhi series remained nameless. But Sumit Kumar was different, he wrote three stories and boldly asked for a name under them.
“I wrote three stories 15 years ago for Savita Bhabhi. People used to like Savita Bhabhi very much, they also liked my stories. Back then, people didn’t take credit for writing such stories, maybe because of shyness but I found this work cool enough, so I asked them to give credit and I am proud of it. No one in my family can match such work,” says Sumit Kumar who works in comics and animation industry.
Of the old lot, Saras Salil magazine is still seen on railway station carts but it is now drained of much of its erotica. The magazine website still runs stories titled: Adulterous Naina; How did she realise her mistake?; Tum Meri Ho: Kya Sheetal Ke Zakhmon Par Marham Laga Paya Saransh?
Just like writers, platforms and distribution channels, new writers can imagine various ways of making money from their work. They are not just relying on a book now, but audio stories and OTT web series as well.
On Spotify, erotic stories often reach the top trends. Publishers say that readers are hungrily searching for this content online. The self-publishing portal Pratilipi is pushing boundaries too. Its ‘hot romance’ vertical – they don’t call it erotica – is soaring in popularity.
“Of course, the sale of paperbacks has reduced, but now with the advent of the internet, many mediums have become available. More than 37 lakh people have read my novel Garam Chhoori on Pratilipi. More than 18 lakh people have read Night Club. Now money is also good. There is Kindle, audio books etc. We can say that now there is a large market for erotic content,” says Amit Khan, a thriller writer who has written many erotica novels. Pratilipi is planning to launch his book Garm Churi’s pre-version soon — Physical version of the digital book.
Garm Churi is about a call girl who is seeking revenge for her parent’s death. Her character seduces men people before murdering them. The novel Night club tells the story of a bar dancer who wants to marry a rich man. She entraps men with her beauty.
“Garm Churi did so well for us. We are planning to launch his book’s pre-version,” says Meenakshi, Editor at Westland Books.
The story of the changes in creating and consuming erotica is also a story of India as it moved from an era of conservative shame and stigma to an age of private downloads and public conversations.
“Earlier, erotica was seen as a taboo, writers used to keep their identity hidden. But now, many are coming forward to write and the readership is also here. I remember we used to keep such content at the bottom of the app, but people used to search and read it. If there is demand, there is also supply,” says Priyamwada Rastogi who was editor-in-chief at Storytel for over five years.
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What’s new
With time, a lot has changed in Hindi erotica writing — character, storyline and the setting in which characters meet.
In one of the stories Manisha Jha wrote, Chameli ki Saheli, the protagonist’s job is to test sex toys. The central character is a woman married to an older man and lands in a city where she takes up this job—all for the sake of money. She finds pleasure in these sex toys as her husband isn’t able to satisfy her. “I enjoy these sex toys, my husband never satisfies me like they do” says Chameli to her friend.
Another story is Charamsukh. In this, the husband named Ravi and her wife don’t have a good sex life. One day Ravi’s office friends visit his home and ask to have sex with his wife. Ravi’s wife ends up having sex with everyone.
“Stories are being written keeping women characters at the center,” says Khan, whose two books are about to be made into web series. Endemol Shine India, the producers of Bigg Boss, have bought the rights.
But Manisha does not agree the landscape has changed much as far as women characters that are being written today are concerned.
“I am also a big consumer of porn. I haven’t read anything about women-centric erotica content,” says Manisha. She wanted to write for women because producers demand content predominantly for men. There’s a glut of erotica for men, but women readers’ peaking desires are an unexplored market.
Apart from this, the language of pleasure has also changed. Mastram offered pure porn content and didn’t focus much on romance and chemistry. Homosexuality, romance, BDSM are part of new Hindi erotica content now. You can easily find erotica tales on Spotify.
Under the title Hindi Gay Stories, Spotify hosts numerous audio tales that focus on gay relationships and sexual encounters. One such story on the page captures the encounter between two men — Jai and Sahil — on the train. “He was heading back to his berth but he hit the seat and fell on top of me, I felt this after a long time. I couldn’t sleep after this,” says the character Jai in this story.
“Sex is not frustration, it is joy. If we do not serve in good language, then the reader will be forced to go toward bad content. In today’s stories, the pleasure of women is also being taken care of. Sex only means that both get pleasure,” says Jayanti Ranganathan, who has edited a collection of erotic stories Kamukta ka Utsav by Vani Prakashan.
Some writers believe that there is also an influence of western erotica on the desi content. “In Fifty Shades of Grey, we see how the male character is very passionate about his fantasies. But we also see love and romance. We are also seeing this is Hindi erotica. We call it erotica romance,” says Sandeep Nayyar, author of erotic romance Dark Night, a Hindi fiction published by Redgra Books. The book revolves around Kabir’s adolescent mind that is flooded with fantasies of love, romance, and sex.
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Male gaze
“Men are also writing for men and we, being women, are writing for men only. Penetration is not required for women’s orgasm. But we have to write this for the male reader,” says Jha.
She countered Savita Bhabhi with her own character Subodh Bhaiya. But readers didn’t like it. Because they have trained their eyes on women.
“I wrote on woman’s fantasy but people don’t want to talk about women’s sex. Most of the readership is of men, money is paid by men, so the characters are also made to please them,” Manisha says angrily.
Storytel’s Sexy Jogan depicts the life of a strong woman. It presents a new kind of erotica. The protagonist Neelofer, a famous personality, meets a boy named Nakush at a yogi ashram. “Beautiful Neelofar comes to Yogi Anand’s ashram with an unquenchable thirst for love, where she meets young handsome Nakush. Will Nakush be able to satisfy Neelofer?,” reads the teaser of this erotica. The audio version of this story on Storytel is rated 3.5 stars.
There was a brief moment in the Indian journey when Lust Stories and Veere Di Wedding were released and women were at the frontlines of a new sexual revolution.
In a story from Lust Stories on Netflix, Kiara Anwani’s character uses a dildo in front of her family members. But Manisha says it was no revolution.
“These are not women fantasies, these are Karan Johar’s Fantasies,” says Manisha.
A story on Saras Salil website is titled Maryada: Swati ko Flirt Karna Kyon Pasand Tha (Why did Swati Like to Flirt?). As the title suggests, the character is flirtatious. She flirts with a shopkeeper and he gives her a discount. She touches the shopkeeper and tries her way out.
(Edited by Anurag Chaubey)