Genitals do not exist in India

It is quite ironical that the organs responsible for the perpetuation of human life, and a source of great pleasure to us all are treated as non-existent in our culture. And this is in a country, where images and statues of the ling proliferate homes, temples, markets and minds.

A therapist friend of mine recently held a month long workshop for bright and intelligent college students who had opted for a training in sexual abuse. She asked them to take turns in drawing the human body on a blackboard, labeling each part. While all of them displayed great drawing and labeling skills, each of these bright students conveniently forgot to point out the genitals. Is it that genitals do not exist in India, or is it that they are a vestigial organ that we have been taught to ignore.

I was at a Vipassana retreat recently. Mr Goenka’s voice bellowed from the tape recorder, “Feel every part of your body – the ankles, the calf muscles, the thighs, the back, the chest, chin, ears, forehead, head, etc.” At the end of the sermon , I felt very confused. He had instructed us to feel every part of the body, and while he had mentioned each of these parts, he had forgotten to mention the genitals. Was I supposed to feel the genitals or not? It was perplexing. At the end of the meditation session, I walked up to the teacher, and asked her in a hushed voice, ‘Are we supposed to feel our genitals as well?” She whispered back, “Yes, he said very part of the body.”  Damn it! Why did he not mention it then!