In the bustling corridors of Mumbai’s King Edward Memorial Hospital, where conversations about the body often stopped short of its most private functions, a quiet pioneer named Prakash Nanalal Kothari decided that sexual health deserved the same dignity and scientific attention as any other branch of medicine. A graduate of Mumbai University, he completed his MBBS and later earned a PhD in 1981. At a time when the subject was still wrapped in silence and stigma, he founded and headed India’s first Department of Sexual Medicine at Seth G.S. Medical College and KEM Hospital.

For more than five decades he listened to thousands of patients—men and women whose difficulties ranged from anxiety and dysfunction to deep misconceptions about their own bodies. His approach was distinctive: he favoured a careful, drug-free method that first addressed fear and misunderstanding. “Most problems begin in the mind,” he would explain gently. “Once we clear the fog of anxiety, the body often finds its own way.” He conducted thorough evaluations that considered psychiatric, endocrine, urological and neurological factors, always assuring complete confidentiality.

Kothari’s work extended far beyond the clinic. He authored influential books, including Orgasm—New Dimensions for medical professionals and Sex & You, a clear, accessible guide that was translated into several Indian and foreign languages. His research on orgasm and the Kamasutra brought international attention to Indian contributions in the field. He presided over the 7th World Congress of Sexology and the 1st International Conference on Orgasm, and remains the only person elected ten successive times to the advisory committee of the World Association for Sexology. The Association named him Man of the Year and awarded him its Gold Medal; the Asian Federation for Sexology honoured him as Sexologist of Asia.

In 2002 the Government of India recognised his pioneering service with the Padma Shri. Through lectures, workshops and patient care he continued to dismantle myths and replace them with knowledge. “Sexuality is part of health,” he often told young doctors. “To ignore it is to leave half the person untreated.”

From a time when the subject was barely spoken of in medical colleges to a specialised department that has helped countless individuals reclaim confidence and intimacy, Prakash Nanalal Kothari turned silence into science and stigma into understanding—proving that the most personal of human experiences can be met with compassion, clarity and quiet courage.