KAMA SUTRA FOR WOMEN By Sandhya Mulchandani Roli Price: Rs 395 Pages: 144

It is that time of the year again when the mating call of koels and parakeets resound. It is obviously the season when Indian publishers wake up in late afternoons humming like Nat King Cole, "Vee is very, very, extraordinary, he's survived intact from the fourth century, let's do him for you and me!" In short, monsoons are a time for quiet contemplation in the seclusion of one's marble pavilion, with hookah, tambula, a flask of ambrosial liquor and the companion of one's choice to undertake a serious exploration of India's own maestro of erotic pleasures-Vatsayana.

MATING RITUAL: Sex through her eyes

If you are feeling severely deprived, the new volume on the wisdom of Vatsayana retold for women, a type of feminist manifesto of the Kama Sutra, has just hit the decks- or perfumed bedsheets. Written as a do-it-for-the-man-in-your-life manual by Sandhya Mulchandani, the volume lays out Vatsayana's recommendations in a candid-not coy or libertine-manner. You don't have to hire a pavilion for love. You don't even have to think about, banish the very idea, safe sex. This volume rises above such mundane considerations and, like another text from that era, floats on a cloud that peeps into the bed-chambers of love-struck couples, tracking them through many a forested land where birds, beasts and the leaves of various trees are busily entwined, and eavesdrops on their moments of passion in a manner that even reality television would hesitate to do.

The text emphasises tenderness since that is the nature of a woman in love. This delicacy extends to the way the images have been purveyed through the text. The pages are meant to enhance the sensation of beauty and there is an excellent chapter devoted to shringar. It almost reads like the advertising section of a modern woman's magazine.

For the followers of Darwin, the need for beauty is just another evolutionary trick played by the "selfish gene". For Vatsayana, as Mulchandani explains, it is the spiritual yearning to experience an altered state that makes sex worthwhile. For those who can't be bothered with the theory, there is plenty of practical advice. For instance, even if you don't attempt all the 64 positions, it helps to keep your toes clean and sweet smelling. It is like Miss Manners meeting Vatsayana for an update on what's hot and what's not for those who need a guide in bed.