I have sincere adoration for sex workers, not for their beauty but for their honesty. At least they don’t lie or hide about what they do in their lives, unlike few women who sleep with someone else and marry someone else – and lie to their husbands forever!
These observations were made in Mumbai during my long walk from VT station (now renamed as CST) to my Indian Express office at Nariman Point (between 1997 and 2000)
The sex workers I was introduced in the movies were people who hated their profession and who always sobbed with a poignant flash back about how and why they got into this disgusting flesh trade.
But my observations were exactly opposite. In my experience of watching those beautiful angels, I never saw anyone unhappy about what they are doing! They have their own happy and sad moods as anyone else has in his or her profession.
I have sincere adoration for sex workers, not for their beauty but for their honesty. At least they don’t lie or hide about what they do in their lives, unlike few women who sleep with someone else and marry someone else – and lie to their husbands forever!
Sex workers have their own set of friends - the cab drivers, the agent and nearby shopkeepers. The agent is busy at 9 pm to get a customer for the girl, while she is busy playing chess or pakda pakdi with shopkeepers and the cab drivers. I couldn’t see a minutest feeling of lust in their relationship.
The agent gets a customer, and he is happy about it. He gets a revenue share on the same. The girl isn’t choosy about her customers. This time the customer is a 55-year old Marwadi, clad in white, mouth filled with pan masala, and who occupies ? of the taxi space. And the girl is just 14, puny and from her looks it is visible that she is from Tamil Nadu. The agent gets the money from the customer, puts her in the cab, talks to the cab driver and sways a bye. From now it is cab drivers responsibility to get the girl to her house after customer gets satisfied. After reaching home early in the morning, the girls sleep the whole day, have a good time with their colleagues, and in the evening get ready for another night. This time the customer could be a marketing guy from a MNC!
Survival isn’t easy for them at all. Sometimes they fail to get customers and sometimes they compromise on their rates. And sometimes they even compromise on the number of people per night! On top of this, they pay the policemen for using government’s space to display themselves. Failing, they are raided, jailed, beaten up and abused! And still they have a smile on their faces.
It is not that the government is unaware of this, but we need to thank them for not levying any tax on sex workers so far. And also why should we blame the government for everything? How many of us are ready to come forward to marry a prostitute and change their lives? Surely, I am not! Would you? Post a comment!
(I am sure my comment box is gonna show ZERO for sure)
PS – Unlike Mahatma Gandhi, who visited brothel thrice (please read his autobiography My Experiments with Truth before you get offended), I have not visited a brothel as yet. But would love to visit one, not to have a good time, but to know their lifestyle even better.