Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Happy "Womens day"

During my extensive GD/ PI session , I met a lady named Manisha who was one of our HR faculty. My meeting with her became more intersting because she was also passionate about social service. She used to work for UNICEF for commercial sex workers in Kolkata.
"Commercial Sex Workers"-- this term sounded so cliched to me. I thought their heart-breaking stories were only limited to reel life. But thanks to ma'am, she exposed me to the hard reality by describing about a red light area in Kolkata.
"Around 30-40 girls, nearly 14 to 15 yrs of age, live together in a small single room. They have bunkers lined up till the roof and a small area beneath their bunkers serves as their bathroom. They serve their clients in their bunkers itself, for 100-200rs. And the client generally prefers a virgin because it is a myth that he wud get rid of his sexual sorder on an encounter with a young female."

At an age, when we didn't even know what prostitution was all abt, in a room which is smaller than our usual bedrooms, for an amount which we would just blast away in an evening, these girls have to sell their body, their souls and their lives.

At an age, when all of us were busy with our rat race for marks, when all of us were blushing in our early crushes, when all of us were happy in our mom's cuddles, when all of us were still realising what life was all about, at this tender adolscent age, these girls are exploited to their best. Their bodies are plundered by some depraved beasts, their young spirits are ripped off by the lust of the evil, their lives are sold away by the greedy, their tears go unnoticed in the darkness of their lives, their beauty is burnt away in the raunchy desires of the society.

And the irony being, when caught by the police, these girls are termed as "culprits" and their clients as "victims".

This coming saturday is the so called " Women's Day". While women are being tortured by evils like prostitution, molestation, child sexual abuse, dowry murders, female infanticides and many more. our politicians and socialites are talking of Women Empowerment..!

After 60 years of independence, this is the condition of a woman in Indian society and the only thing that haunts my mind is
" Is it a mistake to be born as a girl ..?"

Wake up people.. Its high time!