Established by the British during the heydays of colonial rule, the Bengali babu s selected this particular area for housing brothels due to its proximity to the Hooghly river. About 10, sex workers operate from the filthy rooms, earning anywhere between Rs and Rs 20, a night.
Out of this paltry income, they are compelled to pay rent of Rs 8, The dark staircases with dwindling alleys that are filled with clothes and lingerie hanging in rows from rooms make for a depressing sight.
Inside the walls of a brothel where a sex worker hangs pictures of her son. While walking through the alleys, one sees girls and women peeping out their windows and doors. The lingering smell of their perfumes makes one dizzy, even as the odour from the drains outside their rooms makes one squeamish. But such is their world. The average size of their bedrooms, which are the cynosure of their business, is six-by-six, painted pink and green with images of Bollywood and Bengali actors adorning the walls.
At some corners, deities stare, even when they were engaged with their clients. Bottles of soda and liquor glasses take up some more place, while the bed covers the largest area in those cramped rooms. Everybody here has a story to share. Although most of them are camera shy, they are ready to share how they were trapped or chose to be in this trade. If so, then what are those men? Keya, a sex worker from Sonagachi, asks me what I do.
She lived a good life in the western suburbs of Kolkata. While studying in school, she fell in love with a boy who happened to be a labourer at a jute mill. Keya belonged to a middle-class, white-collared family. She still remembers reading the English daily The Telegraph regularly. But her relationship was not taken seriously by her family and they asked her to leave the boy.
