Column | From struggling with body image issues to making sex toys for women, Delhi entrepreneur Sachee Malhotra has come a long way

Sachee Malhotra co-founded That Sassy Thing, a sex-ed first, intimate wellness brand, to bridge the gap between misinformation and ignorance in India's bedroom. With her husband Himanshu, she provides reliable, useful information to women and built its community with plain speak. 50% of buyers are now men, and the company recently introduced the Taco, their first playful offering for men. Malhotra's own lived experience of patriarchy and her struggles with PCOS and toxic relationships have helped her understand the need for female pleasure. Her parents have been supportive, but her mother worries about what people will say. Malhotra is part of the culture to change the culture.

How does a South Delhi girl, who’s spent nearly three decades of her 32 years living within a 15-km radius, and whose homemaker mother and businessman father had all the usual expectations from her, get into the women-focused sex toys business? Luckily, for consumers of That Sassy Thing, in one word, patriarchy, and her lived experience of it.

In a country where misinformation and ignorance thrive in the bedroom, usually at the cost of female pleasure, the nearly three-year-old sex-ed first, intimate wellness brand that Sachee Malhotra co-founded with her husband Himanshu, whom she met in Gurgaon on the outskirts of her contained life, is a frontrunner among a handful of companies and individuals creating a body of free, accessible online sex education. According to a 2023 survey by Allo Health, 66% of Indians rely on social media platforms to learn about sex, sexual health and pleasure.

Malhotra’s company tied up with sex educators and trauma-informed sex therapists to provide reliable, useful information to women and built its community with plain speak: shame is lame, porn isn’t real sex, and flavoured products can give you a yeast infection.

Of course this being India, even a business born with the idea of celebrating female pleasure must worry about men’s feelings. Thankfully, men are thinking more about their partners’ satisfaction. “Purchase patterns now show that 50% of our buyers are men. The idea of men finding pleasure products threatening in the bedroom is changing,” says Malhotra.

Women indulge this insecurity too, worrying how their partners will handle the introduction of toys. “Buying one for each helps bridge the gap,” Malhotra says. That’s partly why her company recently introduced the Taco, their first playful offering for men. It is a temperature-controlled vibrating stroker with an open-ended sleeve, quite like that Mexican favourite.

That’s another thing about homegrown sex toys. We much prefer that they are not “phallic-looking” and instead resemble innocuous objects such as paperweights and bluetooth speakers. “They’re products you can feel comfortable to leave on your nightstand,” says Malhotra.

Apparently we worry a lot about uncomfortable conversations at airport security. “‘How do I travel with it?’ is one of the most searched topics on our blog,” says Malhotra, who adds that one of her big learnings in this business is that she has to be part of the culture to change the culture. In case you’re wondering, they fall in the power banks category on planes.