A good lover has to be sensitive to a woman s needs. Pavan K. Varma s new-age adaptation of Vatsyayana s cult classic Kama Sutra makes precisely this point. Keeping in mind the celebrated sage s instruction that men and women are equal partners in the act of consummation, Varma takes us on a witty journey through what has sometimes been seen as a heavy manual on sex, and at others as a volume of titillating visuals. This adaptation is a serious tribute to the genius and vision of Vatsyayana, highlighting the modernity of what he wrote two thousand years ago that the fulfilment of women is at the heart of the experience of sex, and that the lines between sex and sensuality, and between social mores and individual desire are indeed fine and must be understood deeply.
