Born In The Brothels

OK here goes, I had gone thru the papers when there was a lot of coverage from none other than ToI on it, but due to some other burning issues, could not delve into it.
http://www.kids-with-cameras.org/home/
While going thru the link which captured the photographs taken by the children of Sonagachi , the first thing that struck me, was how normal and mundane everything looked! Don’t get me wrong and before you all pick up your cudgels let me explain. I mean, ever since we were old enough to understand the concept of prostitution, there was always an aura of mystery that surrounded it. After I saw the pictures, I realized that I had never actually outgrown the mystery. Zana and her team of kids, managed to do the impossible, that is de-mystify the whole Concept of prostitution. The thought that the link leaves with you is that, these are normal people who also earns a daily living to meet subsistence requirementsThe photos are very stark, they do their job very well, they set you thinking and make you ponder beyond self, id and I for a few seconds, and that is surely no mean feat.

One particular picture by Manik, "Self Portrait" deserves special mention. In a profession where sex brings the bread and to some fortunate few, even the butter, the abject poverty and total mirthless surrounding is quite a blow.Kudoes to Priya! So far Priya and Chari enters the Hall of Fame of noteworthy Presidentians batch of 1999. Maybe some of us will do more than think on this topic and then we can salute some more.Will end with a small ditty.

My only experience with slum was when I was doing something esoteric called LTS in class 10. It required me to go the slums opposite Majestic Cinema and make a band of 9 kids literate.With all the ideals and rosy outlooks of a 16 year old, I approached the deed with absolute sincerity. However, even after 3 months of regular weekly visits, when none of them could count beyond 25 and only one could remember the alphabets, I completely lost it.I did not scold, chide or reprimand, I positively bellowed at them. Amazingly they were unfazed, (later realized, they had probably seen enough violent displays of emotions to remain unmoved by mine).Once I was through,a 10 year old said to me "Didi tumi ar eshona, amader roj raat-e jege thekte hoye, roj rate ma babar maramari hoye, tai ghumote parina, ar sharain pet bhore khaina, porbo kokhon?...tumi ar eshona.."I have nothing more to say.