TeenBook, India’s first comprehensive life skills resource for teenagers, today announced the launch of The-Incog-Teen-O-Mode, India’s first sex-ed podcast for the Desi teens. Together with its website and the podcast, TeenBook hopes to build knowledge, skills, and behaviors that will enable teens to make informed and responsible choices as they progress on their journey towards adulthood.

The podcast is in Hinglish (a mix of Hindi and English) to reach out to as many teenagers across the country as possible. The language is everyday fun and ‘teennish’. Most importantly, the podcast is not imported content. It is a podcast made for Indian teens, in their own lingo and for their own set of issues, often driven by culture and regional attitudes.

According to Ms. Vithika Yadav, a senior rights activist and founder at TeenBook, "Our children are indeed growing in a world where they are exposed to far more information than we ever were and it is very important to talk to our children about issues that are important to them or perhaps bother them. But it’s not always easy, especially as no one ever talked to us about them. The podcast makes it easy for teens to consume this information in their own space."

“There is so much going on during teenage years. From the development of your bodies to those first romances, to the building up of pressure in academic and other fields – some of it our education system prepares us for. For others, teens are on their own. Whenever your teacher helps you with heartbreak or when you are struggling with your weight. But these issues are real and impact the well-being of our children. So with the podcast, we are hoping to reach out and provide tools to teens that will help them deal with issues.", agrees Ms.Arti, ex-editor at BBC and co-founder at TeenBook.

The podcast is hosted by a recent teen and has three segments. In the opening segment, the anchor talks about an issue teenagers face in their lives - Periods, crushes, exam stress, bullying, body hair, parental pressure, career choices, relationship issues, pimples, fashion predicaments, peer pressure, gender, sexuality, and much more.

The host then provides some scientific and useful knowledge on the subject to the teens in her bright, energetic lingo that connects with today’s teens. The knowledge section is then followed by an interview with a teen or a group of teenagers on the issue. Teen/s share their experiences in a free-flowing chat that normally always happens in either school corridors or rooms with doors slammed shut! In some episodes, the host loops in subject matter experts to share their knowledge or perspective. It could be a parent dealing with the issue to share their side of the story or an expert (sexuality/career/health counsellors) with tools to help with the broader issue at hand.