Finally, a Web Series That Gets Parents and Kids Talking About Sex

‘Sex Chat With Pappu & Papa’ attempts to make sex and sexuality a bit easier for parents and kids to talk about.

Anand Tiwari and Kabir Sajid in a scene from Sex Chat With Pappu & Papa. (Photo courtesy: YouTube/Y-Films; altered by The Qui

There are many things we need to start talking about openly. Sex and sexuality have probably been on the top of that list for a long long time. And let’s face it, if we suck at talking to each other about masturbation, there’s no way we’ll ever be able to educate our kids. But Y-Films’ new web series Sex Chat With Pappu & Papa has taken a bold step and aren’t we glad about that.

The first episode of this five parter series available on YouTube has a curious little boy (Kabir Sajid) asking his dad (Anand Tiwari) what the word ‘masturbation’ means. What’s interesting is to see that the father’s single point agenda is to be a ‘papa’ rather than a ‘baap’.

While Anand Tiwari plays a devoted ‘papa’, what he’s trying to be is the opposite of what his ‘baap’ played by Sachin Pilgaonkar was. A ‘baap’ scolds the child for asking such a blasphemous question and shoves the conversation under the carpet, while a ‘papa’ is a friend who tries to answer the question honestly and with some tact.

Sex Chat With Pappu & Papa is a novel idea no doubt, but should the child have been a tad bit older maybe? I think so. The show doesn’t address the age-appropriateness of the explanations being given.

Here’s Papa talking to a 7-8 year old Pappu about masturbation. He does a great job of explaining sex using the concept of partnership with the metaphor of cricket. But maybe ‘masturbation’ should be something to talk about closer to puberty, no? The need for parents to learn the tact of giving their kids accurate sex education, without feeling embarrassed to death, is a dire one.

It’s amazing how little even women know about their own menstrual cycles. Unfortunately most schools have no sex education. And the places it’s there, it’s not curated or delivered well. Most kids are learning about sex/sexuality through porn. Their first ‘go to’ is the internet. Half- information or misinformation is worse than no information. Your parent has to be the first stop for satiating curiosity. We hope we are able to start the conversation at least.

Ashish Patil, Head of Y-Films

A good concept, well made too. But I can’t help feeling a little concerned about the poor Pappu who literally turns into a ‘masturbation guru’ at the end of the episode. This one is a good watch for Papas and Pappus to bond over, though at a more sensible and relevant age.