Fifty Shades of Grey pulled off something from Kama Sutra and it’s not what you think
Fifty Shades of Grey and Kama Sutra in same sentence itself sound intriguing, doesn’t it? Well, it surely does and we are here to reveal something enthralling about the both. Kama Sutra is a Hindu text that was written by Vatsyayana, often mistaken as a guide to sex positions but it has everything that you need to know about human sexual behaviour and art of living.
Kama means desire and Sutra means thread, it actually has a thread of knowledge you could gain from the book about the obscure act we call ‘love making’. Talking about the Kama Sutra, it is yet not fully explored by Indians but apparently the Hollywood film makers have made some amusing use of it.
If you have watched the Fifty Shades Darker based on E.L.James erotic novel you must have tried to find out about the silver balls that Christian Grey gives to Anastasia Steele to wear to her mother’s masquerade party. And let me tell you, you are not the only one to be inquisitive about it. Let’s be honest ladies, what an amazing invention it is, isn’t it? All of us want to experience what ‘lucky’ Anastasia did. So, these balls are called Ben Wa balls in this era.
Let me break the news to you, the magic silver balls that you saw in the movie go way back to 2nd century and those balls originated in India. According to Seema Anand, a mythologist and storyteller, who has a vast knowledge of Kama Sutra mentioned the silver balls as ‘exertion balls’ as explained in Kama Sutra. According to the ancient book, these balls were carried by women as pleasure toy.
So, what these balls really are? Exertion balls were made of silver, two balls out of which, one had mercury in it and the other had a small piece of silver in it. Did you ask how it was used? Turns out our ancestors were more aware of the women pleasure than in this era where it is labeled as a taboo.
The exertion balls were attached to each other with a silver string. One of the balls was inserted into the private parts of a woman and as the bearer moved around, friction that was created made the ball vibrate. The other ball made a tinkling sound which was pleasant to the ears. These balls were so popular at that time; they used to have black markets to sell the fake ones. There was actually a trick to differentiate the real from the fake ones. When you hold the exertion balls in your hands it gets heated up because of the mercury inside it.
However, now people have not explored the amazing side of the Kama Sutra. A place where sex toys are considered as taboo was the land where Kama Sutra originated, sounds very unbelievable. Kama Sutra does not only teach us about sexual pleasure but also ‘Art of living.’
We need to talk more about the women’s pleasure now, rather than whispering around when we hear anything related to it. Explore, learn and enjoy. So after this, is Kama Sutra going to be your next read?
Also read: Listen up singles! Here are the 7 dating apps that can help you mingle
First published: 1 December 2017, 23:09 IST