'Consent is not a one-time act, it is ongoing'

Seema Anand, popular sexual health educator, talks about her new book and why saying 'no' is essential to healthy intimacy

- Mahalakshmi Prabhakaran

If you follow Seema Anand, a well-known sexual health educator, Kama Sutra expert, mythologist and writer, on social media, you are familiar with her unapologetic, feisty approach—both while talking about sex, pleasure, and intimacy or wielding trolls who cannot fathom a 'mature woman' talking about taboo topics.

While Instagram may be a medium that helps her connect to followers and answer a range of questions, there are some things that are best explained in the pages of a book.

Anand's newly-launched book, Speak Easy: A Field Guide to Love, Longing and Intimacy, is a compilation of letters that she's received over the years from people seeking solutions—or just a kind word - for their complicated relationships, sexual confusions, weird situationships and more. In the book, Anand along with the help of experts, including relational and psychosexual therapist and her podcast cohos Dr Anvita Madan-Bahel, tackles these questions with sensitivity and a nonjudgmental attitude.

In this telephone interview with Mint, Anand delves into the book, how shame and guilt continue to impede sexual desires and the true meaning of consent.

The book's format is a neat Q&A—each letter followed by your extended response. Did you choose this structure because it was easier to lay things out this way?