Social Issues

Famous Indian sexologist Mahinder Watsa dies at 96

New Delhi, Dec 28 (efe-epa).- Renowned Indian sexologist Mahinder Watsa died on Monday at the age of 96 after dedicating his life to dismantling taboos over sex and relationships in the conservative Indian society through his popular newspaper column.

“Dad was a man of many dimensions. He lived a glorious life and on his terms. Today, we would like to celebrate his life as he has passed on to join his beloved (wife) Promila,” the children of the country’s leading “sexpert” said in a statement.

“He won innumerable accolades in his life and played several roles as a counsellor, guide, mentor and many more,” they added.

The expert gained fame during the past decade for his column “Ask the Sexpert” in the daily Mumbai Mirror, answering thousands of queries about sexuality with practical, direct and often funny advise.

A Netflix documentary released in 2017, also titled Ask the Sexpert, shows how readers of the Mumbai-based newspaper are quick to remember the page number where Watsa’s daily advise column is published, while many also recount some of his hilarious suggestions that made the section a favorite read in the city.

“After having sex four times a day, I feel weak the next day. For about five minutes, my vision goes blank and I can’t see properly. Please help,” one of the readers wrote to the sexologist.

“What do you expect? Shouts of hurray,” Watsa said in one of his epic replies, published in a tribute in Monday’s Mumbai Mirror.

After the death of his wife, Watsa dedicated the rest of his life to his readers, living alone at his house facing the sea, hunched over his computer reading the queries and dictating answers to an assistant.

Many of the questions and replies of the daily column were included in the sexologist’s first book – titled “It’s Normal!” – published in 2015.

“In 2005 when I invited Dr Watsa to do the Ask the Sexpert column for the newly-launched Mumbai Mirror, we had the briefest of discussions on the telephone: We agreed to keep readers’ identity anonymous, to not asterisk words like vagina and penis, instead refer to them as any other body part,” Mumbai Mirror’s editor Meenal Baghel said in an obituary.

The doctor responded to around 20,000 reader queries just for this newspaper.

In his last column, published on Monday, Watsa answered the doubts of a boy over whether a feminine voice was a sign of “poor sexual prowess,” while another asked whether he was homosexual as he spent and enjoyed most of his time with a male friend and felt no attraction towards women. The doctor also clarified that it was not safer to use two condoms.

“Two condoms is definitely not a good idea. There are more chances of the condoms tearing due to friction. Just one, when worn properly, is fine,” Watsa said. EFE-EPA

igr/mt/ia

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