Last Updated:January 17, 2026, 11:20 IST

Speaking to News18 at the Jaipur Literature Festival 2026, Shobhaa De reflects on shame, desire and why women are taught to censor pleasure.

Shobhaa De discusses sensuality, cultural contradiction and reclaiming desire at every stage of life.

The second day of Jaipur Literature Festival 2026 unfolded as a layered exploration of ideas, intellect and self-expression. Held at Hotel Clarks Amer, Shobhaa De’s session positioned sensuality not as spectacle, but as lived experience – one shaped by memory, conditioning and quiet resistance.

Shobhaa De, whose writing has long occupied the space where glamour meets social commentary, approached the subject with characteristic candour. Rather than framing desire as transgressive, she spoke of it as intrinsic – something learned, unlearned, and often suppressed over a lifetime.

Speaking to News18 at Jaipur Literature Festival, De reflected on a pointed question: has shame around women’s pleasure disappeared, or has it simply changed its language? She traced the roots of this discomfort far earlier than adulthood.

“From a very young age, women are made to feel extremely self-conscious about their physical selves,” she said, pointing out that even childhood is not spared the vocabulary of restraint. “Even a little girl is taught the meaning of the word shame. You grow up with those feelings of being ashamed of whatever your fantasies may be. Even your thoughts are not left without censorship,” she told News18.

She was quick to underline the contradiction at the heart of Indian society. “In a country like India, we have a very rich and glorious tradition of sensuality,” she noted, gesturing towards the everyday food, colour, clothing, and ritual. Her most evocative example was the saree. She continued, “The saree is by far the most sensuous garment ever created. No designer can compete with the imagination that goes into draping that saree. Each woman treats it her own way.”

For De, The Sensual Self is not about provocation for its own sake. It is about asking questions society has long discouraged about desire, trust, romance, love and the emotional lives of women at different stages. “For a long time, we were too inhibited to question any of this, even for ourselves,” she reflected, adding that meaningful conversations around women’s pleasure were rarely encouraged.

In giving language to what has long been censored – internally and collectively, Shobhaa De positions pleasure and desire not as rebellion, but as remembrance.