“Consent isn’t a one-time yes, it is an ongoing process”, says Seema Anand

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. If you follow Seema Anand, popular sexual health educator, Kama Sutra expert, mythologist and writer on Instagram, you are familiar with her unapologetic, feisty approach –both while talking about sex, pleasure, and intimacy or wielding trolls who cannot fathom a ‘mature woman’ talking about taboo topics.

While Instagram may be a medium that helps her connect to followers and answer a range of questions, there are some things that are best explained in the pages of a book. Anand's new book, Speak Easy: A Field Guide to Love, Longing and Intimacy, that released a couple of weeks ago, is a compilation of letters that she's received over the years from people seeking solutions – or just a kind word – for their complicated relationships, sexual confusions, weird situationships, kinks and more.

In the book, Anand along with the help of experts – especially Dr Anvita Madan-Bahel, a relational and psychosexual therapist and her podcast co-host – tackles these questions with maturity, sensitivity and a non-judgmental attitude. Commenting on the work that went into ensuring that every response would be nuanced, Anand says, “It was a lot of work.

There were some questions that I think I rewrote four times. There was some where I thought I had to add a line even after the final edit was done." Envisioned to be ‘part sex-ed manual and part wise friend,’ to quote the press note, the book is dedicated to her children.

“The reason that I dedicated it to my children is because they're my biggest support," she reveals but adds that the dedication also shows people that “it is OK for parents to advise their children. I want kids to feel that their parents are the soft cushion, the safe space that they