When the film FIRE was released in India, many raised their eyebrows with suspicion and disbelief !
Lesbianism
in Indian society was not at all acceptable to the male dominated social structure in India . Since it was a matter of taboo, there was not much discussion about
lesbianism in India whereas discussions freely took place in respect of
homosexuality among men. This happened in view of the domination of the male in the social hierarchy. Literature on lesbianism was scarce in India for the same reason. It was significant that at such a time Ms. Giti Thadani's well researched book on Lesbianism in Ancient and Modern India was published followed by an antholgy of lesbian literature published by Penguin India Ltd.
It is a brilliant exposition of lesbian desire prevalent in India since ancient times to modern times through a detailed examination of the ancient literature, art, sulpture mythology, social and cultural mileus and cosmology. We find sculptures of lesbian couples and lesbian sex in many temples and ancient paintings depicting lesbian sex. Reference to female homoeroticism can also be found in many anient texts. Although such materials gave an idea about the prevalence female homoerotic desire in the past and present, like the depiction of lesbian couples in there was no concrete work highlighting on the subject for the reasons stated above. In the words of Thadani- "The origins of Indology as a discipline were based on Orientalist presumptions,its practitioners excusively European and Male." In order to substantiate this, she describes with details how the twin lesbian couples in some temples were mutilated to give an impression as if the images were male only. In ancient times female homoeroticism was as common as male homosexuality. The glaring example is Sappho, the 7th century BC Greek Lyric Poet who has not only composed a large number of poems on female homo-eroticism, but also is believed by many to be a Lesbian. In fact the terms Lesbianism & Sapphism which connotes female homosexuality, relates to Sappho only !
"Sakhiyani" means erotic bonding among women. Describing the peculiar notion of the Eoropeans on Indian women, she focusses on the effect of colonization upon lesbian identities and how the westerners viewed Indian Women as submissive victims or sexually damaging. According to their imagination they possesed oversized clitorides and were in need of heterosexual acclamatisation.
The book also deals with the contempoarary trends and issues centring around lesbian realities which includes lesbian bonding through marriage, recognition and support to various lesbian groups etc. It is a milestone in feminism and gender studies in India.