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by Reena Daruwalla, guest writer for Nancy Hayssen.com

Since I am an Indian and live in India, I like to think that I bring a different perspective to this blog, an Oriental flavor to an Occidental sensibility, if you like.

Anyone who has been to India or has read enough about India would have seen ancient Indian sculptures or pictures of them; even someone with the most rudimentary idea about India would we familiar with the Kama Sutra. If you have seen depictions of the Kama Sutra or pictures of certain temples of India, you would know that people’s understanding of the term ‘beautiful’ was certainly not synonymous with ‘thin’. The women depicted are curvy to say the least!

Full bodied would perhaps be an understatement! Voluptuous, well endowed, even chubby would be more accurate! Well rounded bottom and what would now be termed as ‘thunder thighs’ very much in evidence!

In the past, when food was scarce and malnutrition and emaciation were more common, it was the women who appeared better fed and more healthy that were viewed as beautiful and desirable. That is the interpretation I put on this perception of beauty. Even now, old timers in India encourage children and young people to eat more ‘ghee’ or clarified butter for health and strength.

I may be a bit influenced by that because I think that ‘thin’ is not a very healthy look. I have often found that people who lose too much weight, tend to lose their freshness, the glow on their skin. That may have something to do with the fact that the men in my life, my grandfather, father, husband etc, always seemed to prefer women with some meat on their bones.

If any of you are wondering what on earth these exceedingly sexual, even orgiastic postures are doing in temples, there is a reason for that. In the old days, India faced the problem of under population (as against over population today).

So the kings routinely commissioned the court sculptors to design sculptures so erotic that the people would be turned on enough to have more sex and produce more babies to populate their land!

How’s that for family planning!