Sita's Curse - The Language of Desires

"Somewhere behind closed door, in her solitary world;Somewhere, under the sheets with an indifferent lover;Somewhere, is a womanwho will not be denied.."

Sita's Curse is an Indian erotica that revolves around life and longings of Mrs. Meera Patel,  a middle-class housewife trapped in a loveless marriage with a symbolic Mohan, her flights to fancy, disappointments and hypocrisy of Indian society towards a woman's sex and sexuality. The book is a dialog of woman to herself, across the stages of her growth, innocent questions and discovery about her body, soul and demands. (Sita's Curse apparently has nothing to do with the Sita of Ramayan.) Meera is a stereotypical exceptionally beautiful woman with luscious descriptive full body. And that is the only stereotype about the character. Breaking the stereotypes, Meera speaks and demands. About her desires. And sex. Born in Sinor, a village in Gujarat, Meera is a twin to Kartik. Growing up with Kartik, her soul-mate, Meera plunges into innocent discovery of her and her brother's growing bodies while playing 'touch-touch' and so on, begins her tryst with her own desires.

Her first teenage sexual encounter with her teacher who on realizing she has periods (first) shames her with "chee..how could you do this to me?", her attraction and on with her friend from the city Binal and one with a stranger on river-bed after her first suicide attempt are chronicles of her discovery to the hushed land of sex before marriage.
Meera gets married to Mohan, an emotionally and physically sterile husband who very often indulges in marital rape to camouflage his own guilt over his impotence [Read: To prove his masculinity]. Meera is labelled "barren" by her mother-in-law after she couldn't conceive a child due to her husband's dysfunction. She is taken to Guruji who is asked to "heal her womb" by her in-laws and husband, with who she has her "divine" sexual encounter. Meera happens to be the most talked about woman of Byculla among men. She gives into desires of a dance teacher in the neighborhood. Learning the internet, she stumbles on an adult website where she meets Yousuf, the first man who respects and satisfies Meera's desires virtually and a few weeks later, physically; whom Meera loses to the Mumbai floods. Meera's mother too comes with the traditional advises of maintaining her body's vital sizes to keep her husband glued to her. It is after the news of Yousuf's death that Meera gathers the courage to step out of a dead marriage, a dead house. The point where she learns how leaving home wasn't hard. It was about choosing what part to leave behind.

A brave step by the author to name an erotic fiction over a Hindu mythological character, thanks to the indifference and hypocrisy of Indian society towards a woman's desires - emotional and physical. Sita's Curse is more of a dialog of human being with itself while growing up into adults, irrespective of the sex. While it is easy to label and treat the character of Meera as a "whore" given her unquenchable sexual desires, the author draws the fine line between desires, passion and desperation. The book deals with un-talked details about masturbation, marital rape, impotency, superstitions, marriage and desires.
The plot construction is lucid and constrained, central characters well rounded and developed, language upright, the message clear; engaging the reader to Meera and her life throughout.
Among the few things that I couldn't digest is the stereotypical description of Meera's beauty,why everything about Meera and her life only sex and to an extent, the stereotyping of masculinity as an adequate organ size, something that has the power to either "disappoint" or elate Meera.

Sita's Curse is one the few decent erotica by Indian authors that carefully tip-toes between human emotions, desires, social structure, feminism (which here, doesn't become female chauvinism) and reality making it a good read for readers, irrespective of the gender.

About the author: Sreemoyee Piu Kundu, a former lifestyle journalist with publications such as TOI, MetroNow and Asian Age and a PR head, is a full-time writer based out of New Delhi. An alumnus of Loreto House & Jadavpur University, Kolkata, Sreemoyee is also a prolific poet. Sreemoyee has just completed her third novel. 
Publisher: Hachette India
Genre: Fiction/ Erotica
Pages: 344
Do I recommend Sita's Curse?: AYE! This review is a part of the biggest Book Review Program for Indian Bloggers. Participate now to get free books