Mumbai: Doctor who took squeamishness out of sex, Dr Mahinder Watsa, dead at 96

MUMBAI: For a country that remains oddly squeamish when it comes to discussing sex, Dr Mahinder Watsa was way ahead of his time. The twinkle-eyed doctor passed away peacefully on Sunday night in his Shivaji Park home, working right till the end in his colourful role as ‘sexpert’. He was 96 years old.
The witty tone in his daily Mumbai Mirror column belied his age. For, he responded to the most bizarre queries --on masturbation, hymen reconstruction, and the prudence of fornicating with a goat -- with a brilliant combination of clinical objectivity and deadpan humour.His response to a question once brought on a frivolous – though highly exasperating lawsuit -- by a prude, but he patiently made his way to a city magistrate’s court, even distributing pamphlets on safe sex to bewildered cops along the way.
But the popular sex column was merely the most recent chapter in a lifetime of dedicated service to helping people understand that most important primal imperative that can impact everything – their sexual lives. While working as a gynecologist, Dr Watsa often found himself in the role of counsellor to women, which is what led him towards sex therapy. During his time at the Family Planning Association of India, he introduced manuals on sex education and once quipped that the Khajuraho temple sculptures may have been India’s first sexual manuals.
Over the decades, thousands of people ranging from old-time film actors to current-day teenagers – turned to him to freely discuss that which could not be discussed elsewhere. He would help young couples who had not managed to consummate their marriage; and lonely elderly folk who wanted to renew their sexual lives, sometimes with new partners. Everyone was put at ease and their issues treated with respect.
Dr Watsa was born in Kolkata and lived all over undivided India, including in Lahore and Rangoon, before settling in Mumbai. His father was a medical researcher in the British army, who worked on developing the plague vaccine at Haffkine Institute. His wife Promila passed away many years ago. He is survived by a son, daughter-in-law, grand-daughters and a great-grandchild.