The title novella came out in 2006 in the puja issue of Desh, the Bengali literary magazine. The buzz was that it made readers gasp—especially the patriarchy that formed the core of the Bengali literati. The 31-year-old Sangeeta Bandyopadhyay had reintroduced hardcore sexuality to Bengali literature. Given Bengali sensibilities, there was every chance that the novella would be branded a gimmick and, for a while, it was. But now, Bengalis are making and watching films like Obhishopto Nightie (Cursed Nightie), and the form Bandyopadhyay introduced is largely accepted. English readers had no access to the stories till Arunava Sinha translated Panty and Hypnosis.
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