My name is Professor Dr. Prakash Kothari. I am Professor and Chief of Department of Sexual Medicine at KEM Hospital, Bombay.

What is the topic of your presentation?
Well, I’ll be talking on sexual problems, a utilitarian approach. That’s the title of my talk.

What do you mean by “utilitarian approach”?
An approach which is realistic – which is not just beautiful, but is also useful. So this particular approach clears the myths and misconceptions, offers adequate knowledge of sex and sexuality, to combat sex anxiety. Also, it leads to positive transference in the patient. He gets the feeling that “my doctor has understood my problem, and then he’ll be able to help me out.” Another thing – the doctor also gets a better insight of the problem, so if by chance he has committed some error, there is a scope to correct himself. I found it ideal for both developed as well as developing countries.

Can you offer an example of this utilitarian approach?
Very simple – say, for example, masturbation. People go and talk about masturbation – what is masturbation, masturbation is good, masturbation is not harmful – it’s not going to be effective. I tried for 40-45,000 clients of mine. But when you explain that during intercourse, what the penis does in a woman’s vagina, it does the same in a folded palm during masturbation – meaning thereby, if you have a good grounding in English, you can pick up French faster, because of the same script. If you explain it to them like this, things become easier. What is important is not what you know – but how much you can convey.

Closing Statements…
Well, sexual pleasure is not a performance to be gauged, it’s a pleasure – or more correctly, happiness to be shared between two individuals. Thank you.