Everyone Deserves to Indulge Him/Herself.
By Nazia Patel

Everyone deserves to indulge him or herself. It so happens that given we are sexual animals, most of our guilty pleasures are driven by the libido.

THE VIBRATOR

From the time of Hippocrates up to the 20th century, doctors believed that hysteria expressed the womb's revolt against sexual deprivation. Genital massage was a standard treatment for hysteria; its objective was to induce "hysterical paroxysm" (better known as orgasm) in the patient. Before long, technology offered physicians vibrating devices in the treatment of this "medical condition." Although the theory of "hysteria" was officially debunked by American Psychiatric Association in 1952, the vibrator continues to be a popular and gleeful indulgence of women around the world. The pleasure chest has now expanded to include sex toys such as dildos, aphrodisiac lotions, massage kits, and French ticklers all of which can be enjoyed alone or with a companion.

"SICK" DAY OFF

Who hasn't woken up on a weekday and wished it was a Saturday? A call to the office in a muffled voice with some strategically placed coughs can result in what is known as the "sick" day off. Start off with an icy shower, the trendiest clothes in your closet and a cool pair of shades. Only three types of people are free on a weekday: the rich and famous, the tourists and the unemployed. To locate the first category, lunch at the trendiest restaurant in town is recommended. Two dirty martinis later, you should find yourself on your stomach, the reassuring hands of a Swedish masseuse (choose gender to taste) kneading your back muscles. By the time you walk out of the spa and fling your sunglasses back on, it will be about the time your friends are leaving the office. But since you're living the life of the bold and beautiful, DON'T call them. Instead, saunter into the nearest hip bar that morphs into a club as the sun sets. Since it's a weeknight, only the cool and cultured will slink through the doors and dance away the night. Enjoy till 4am when it's time to go home and prepare for reality to set in ... till the next "sick" day.

THE EASTERN EUROPEAN LOVER

Gorbachev is known for his liberalism, economic reforms and the fall of the Iron Curtain, but most of all, he is famous for allowing the rest of the world to enjoy the pleasures of Eastern European company. Years of unfortunate communist rule paradoxically resulted in three attractive qualities in Eastern Europeans: the lack of entertainment meant that sports was the only thing to do besides studying resulting in athletic strong bodies; the lack of religious institutions meant a strong emphasis on science and mathematics resulting in keen sharp minds; the unhappiness at being ruled by dictators resulted in an appreciation and knowledge of freedom and artistic expression. The young Eastern European man or woman, therefore, looks like a supermodel, talks like a Math professor, philosophizes like a poet and has a very attractive "live and let live"; attitude towards relationships. Estonians, Romanians, and Croatians are just some of the nationalities that fall into this category. The Eastern European lover is, without hesitation, the ultimate accessory for any cosmopolitan South Asian intellectual.

Photograph by Madhur Shroff