This is the English translation of my Malayalam book, Visudhapapangalude India, published in 2016. The travels recounted here began seven years prior to the first publication, in my journalist's search for a Sunday feature, and eventually led to the book which received the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award in 2019.
What began as a short report on the closing of dance bars quickly turned into an extensive investigation spanning seven states and as many years. A conversation in Karnataka would lead me to Andhra Pradesh, a story heard in Mumbai would force me to go to Ujjain to learn more; in this manner I travelled extensively.
Everywhere I went, I saw how women were forced to bear the brunt of society's failings. Whether it was lower-caste families in Karnataka being pressured to make their young daughters devadasis in order to 'please the gods' or impoverished farmers forced to sell their daughters into prostitution; from ageing, neglected widows voluntarily setting off to Vrindavan to disillusioned exrevolutionaries turning to the trade in a desperate bid to survive, I saw how the lethal combination of poverty, patriarchy and religion often left women face to face with deep discrimination and abuse. And when the exploitation of women is veiled behind religious faith, the government and political parties to turn a blind eye to it.
In the face of this widespread problem, as I despaired about what my inconsequential news reports could possibly achieve, one of my articles about devadasis being initiated in Uchangi had a much greater impact than was expected. Sabu Stephen from S.L. Foundation, Thiruvananthapuram, approached the Supreme Court with this article. All of a sudden, my article was moving ministries the Karnataka Chief Secretary and the Central Ministry of Home Affairs were instructed to step in; the National Commission for Women would conduct a study in conjunction with the University of Madras. The case even caught the attention of the national media.
The court's intervention seemed to have been fruitful too; when I revisited Uchangi in February 2016, I couldn't see a single person initiating new devadasis.
While this was certainly no small victory, my travels were already showing me that very often interventions, even well-meaning ones, would not end oppression, only change its face. Even though the devadasi practice was banned in Karnataka back in 1982, the practice continues to this day. Mujra dancers forced out of Ujjain by the government simply ended up in Mumbai's Kamathipura Even the banning of sati, lauded as a significant progressive step, had an adverse side effect. Many families began to abandon widows at temples, such as the Kalighat temple in Kolkata, turning these areas into hotbeds of prostitution.
The fact is that traditions and customs become deep-rooted in the minds of people and are difficult to reform. I have realized that the heritage that we take pride in is not necessarily prestigious for everyone. What is more unfortunate is that many have become so conditioned that they do not even realize they are being exploited. Even while devadasis proudly defended their patron goddess, or the widows in Vrindavan declared that they were content with their lives there as Lord Krishna's 'Radhas, it was obvious that most of them were unhappy with the hand that society had dealt them.
Researching for and writing this book has brought about a radical change in my perspectives on sex workers.
The lives I saw made me reckon with arguments of sex work as labour and sex workers as eligible for labour rights. All the same, I got a clearer picture of the exploitation that exists in sex work as well. The disturbing images of Charu who learnt it was easier to subsist through sex work than get a better life through a revolution, Sandhya who took pride in not giving birth to a girl, and a number of other sex workers of Sonagachi and Kamathipura remain uneffaced in my mind.
In the end, I realize that a complete investigation is quite impossible. I have only documented what has been shared with me by the people I met, and what I have seen and experienced first-hand. I have tried my best to put aside my political leanings and moral standpoints to listen to everyone without prejudice or bias, sticking to journalistic ethics. I believe that the book reflects various viewpoints without fear or favour. One can only hope that this book increases awareness and perhaps helps in some small measure in improving the lives of so many.
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