The Goa Project

Fringe and Geekery

Fringe Topics and Geekery Track of The Goa Project 2016

The Fringe: Live on the Edge

This is where you have no limits. This is the part of TGP 2016 where you can truly be what you want to be and express yourself about anything. This is where the rebels and nonconformists gather and talk about anything and everything.

Fringe/Geekery is the track which hosts the content that doesn’t fit anywhere else. If your talk is the square peg and the other tracks are round, come to Fringe and find your place - we’ll talk about anything that you’re passionate about and want to tell us about. The zanier and more offbeat the better - we don’t have guidelines for Fringe, because there aren’t any - there is no content limitation and no restriction - come and tell us about your passion (except for the overall restrictions placed on politics and religion).

In particular, the geekery aspect of this track is unique: While modern civilisation may exist purely due to technology and the inventions of the gifted geeks among us, there are few platforms where geeks get to communicate and discuss their vision of what can be, and what must be.

This year, we hope to touch upon forward-looking sessions, participate in sessions that bridge the gap between where we are today and the fantastic future that geekdom is envisioning and creating: Renewable energy and the end of the oil economy, Elon Musk, Artificial Intelligence and interplanetary diaspora, and perhaps the end of electronic privacy as a concept.

Proposals with a flavor of futurism, rather than a rehashing of the present, are especially welcome for this track. Promote geekdom, adopt a babygeek today!

Hosted by

TP
The Goa Project
#The Goa Project Funnel The Goa Project is an unconference - where unlike a typical conference, the talks are not put together by a panel or knowledge partner - but is proposed by the attendees themselves. You propose a session or talk that might be of interest to the audience at the unconference, … more
All submissions

Asmi Uniqus

@asmi25

The BDSM lifestyle, a practitioner's view: In India and beyond fiction

Submitted Jan 13, 2016

Technical level: Beginner

A realistic look at practical BDSM lifestyles as they actually play out in India.
The session will address “vanilla” people curious about the realities behind the recent and infamous BDSM books and movie, as well as aspiring “lifestylers” seeking practical insight into how to dabble or plunge into the lifestyle while keeping it sane, safe and consensual.
The speaker will share from her extensive personal experiences, initiate dialogue, break taboos around personal curiosities and desires, and describe how the BDSM community is growing together within the legally foggy and socially judgmental Indian environment.

Outline

My project is about breaking the taboos around the controversial theme of BDSM. The objective is to present a structured conceptual and practical framework around BDSM, and bridge the gaps between ground reality and prevalent fantasy. This session will raise and answer questions around this sensitive and misunderstood subject, drawing upon both personal experience, and the experiences and stories of multiple lifestylers who have kindly permitted me to share their learning.

While discussions such as these are typically rather wide ranging, if they occur at all, the session will touch upon a few key aspects:

  • Concept introduction: What BDSM is and isn’t
  • Nuances and shades of the lifestyle, from experimenting to living it
  • Top v/s bottom, sadist v/s masochist, dominant v/s submissive, master/slave/TPE
  • The much misunderstood “switch”
  • Polyamory and poly households
  • BDSM and sexuality (LGBT), gender patterns, male and female led relationships
  • Fantasy and reality in the Indian context
  • Ethics and safety

Requirements

An open mind, tolerance, a willingness to ask questions, and a willingness to share. Please leave any judgmental thoughts at the door!

Speaker bio

The speaker is an active BDSM practitioner in India. She has been a lifestyle submissive for over 10 years now and is very vocal about her lifestyle choices. She believes in self–empowerment through empowerment of others; has a wide experience of writing both poetry and prose around themes of feminism, LGBT, sexuality and erotica. She has also been very active in several real-world BDSM communities and has close connections with a wide spectrum of other practitioners both in India and globally.

The speaker is also the author of a series of simplified guides to various aspects of BDSM, which are undergoing the publishing process.

All submissions

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Hosted by

TP
The Goa Project
#The Goa Project Funnel The Goa Project is an unconference - where unlike a typical conference, the talks are not put together by a panel or knowledge partner - but is proposed by the attendees themselves. You propose a session or talk that might be of interest to the audience at the unconference, … more