By what name / handle / initial will you like to be referred to in the interview?
Karen
When did you organize your first munch and in which city? (Approximate date/month/year will suffice)
I organized my first munch in Bombay in 2001
Did you attend any munch before you organized it yourself and if not, what prompted you to take the initiative of organizing a munch?
The reason I tried to organize munches in Mumbai and then later in Bangalore, was because I had lived in the USA and had attended many munches there. When I moved to India I was unable to find any kind of place where kinksters could meet up.
If you had attended a munch before please share your experience.
Yes. I had attended munches at Boston, New York and SF.
Munches were meant to be a safe, pressure free place for people interested in BDSM to meet. Normally at a restaurant or a coffee shop during their non peak hours. Just meet like minded people who also just wanted to talk about their fantasies or kinks without being judged.
How did you get in touch with people for attending the munch and how did you choose who all to invite?
In India, alt.sex.bondage or similar sites were not popular in the late 90s/ early 2000s . So I began to look everywhere on the internet. And I found a Yahoo group page called Bombay Mumbai BDSM group. This is where I put out my invite to meet up at a munch.
Tell us a little about your experience of the initial few munches and what were the hurdles/ challenges that you faced?
Almost everyone was afraid to come out and meet up. Either they were embarrassed to accept that they were kinky or were afraid that someone could find out their real identity and out them. So the initial few munches I organized just had me sitting alone at a restaurant by the window while a few men either stood across the street from the restaurant or walked in casually but didn’t join me. Finally, after a couple of failed munches, I was joined by two brave men in their early 20s. They kept coming for every munch and stood by me through my mistakes and miseries.
I even offered to pay the entire bill for the first few munches so that cost constraints were not a deterrent.
Did the munches change over time in terms of number of people, venue, age group, sex ratio, or any other way?
Yes ofcourse. For a long time, the ratio of males to females was 95:5.
That put off the women because it was a sausage fest and it put off the men for the same reason.
However, the number of people at each munch kept increasing as thru the years. The initial munches had a lot of serious players and people from a similar socio economic background as compared to later years when younger men would come just out of curiosity.
Also the munches changed to reflect a better mix of sexes with time.
Venues also changed and got better. In the later years, it was always held at a place that served alcohol.
What are your favorite memories associated with the initial munches?
One of my favorite memories was having a munch on Juhu beach. We were running short on funds and since we were sponsoring the initial munches, this was a really cheap venue. A couple of us put up a few bedsheets on the sand and stuck a flag next to us as the ‘sign’ for those who wanted to attend the munch to find us.
Also, at most munches I have pleasant memories of almost everyone losing their inhibitions as the evening progressed aided by copious amounts of alcohol. People got friendlier and more talkative by the end of the night.
Did you have any bad experience while organizing the munch?
Yes. I did have a few bad experiences. Since I was the one organizing the munches it was my number that was given out to those who wanted to find the venue / table. This resulted in a lot of misuse as it was assumed that a kinky woman automatically meant you had loose morals.
Also, there was a time where we tried to keep out one person who made most women uncomfortable at past munches. But he would get the information regarding the munches and crash them uninvited.
And finally, the downside of alcoholic munches meant that we had drunk people who sometimes even passed out and we were responsible for them.
Anything else that you would like to share?
Yes.
Though I’ve always told attendees that munches are not the place to hookup, I broke my own rule and met my husband at a munch.
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