Certain parts of Kamasutra go against women's security: author

"Women need to become equal to men. We have to work for that because men are not going to make us their equal. We must stop sacrificing our jobs for family or kids or housekeeping," she said.

Fellow panelist Varma widened the discussion to examine how the onset of Victorian morality in India led to suppression of the concept of desire that had been discussed freely till then.

"We need to understand that the temples of Khajuraho and Konark could not have been built without social acceptance," he said.

However with the establishment of the British Raj, Varma said the concept of desire in India was derailed.

"There was a level of incomprehension among them about the fact that a civilisation could celebrate both Dharma and desire so extensively," he said.

"The elite of the society internalised this critique and hence Victorian morality derailed the Indian concept of desire," Varma explained.

Bringing the discussion back to the present, the author-diplomat added, "We are in a peculiar situation today where some lumpen elements attack youngsters in consensual relations and say it is against our culture, while our history on the subject of desire tells otherwise."

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