Abstract
Prostitution is currently a contentious issue in India where they are estimated to be in the range of over 2 million female sex workers. Majority of them venture into prostitution due to lack of resources to support themselves or their children. Most do not choose this profession out of choice, but they do it due to necessity. Such is a case in Meerut Kabari Bazaar, that is, Junk Market where people trade in all kinds of goods from spices, clothes, grocery and also sex.
Neemuch’s Bachchda Community
In Bachchra community of Neemuch, Madhya Pradesh, the birth of a girl evokes jubilation but all for a very different reason. From the moment she is born, it is known that she will eventually become a sex worker and will be brought up to operate on a kilometre-long stretch of the Neemuch–Mandsore highway, with truck drivers as her primary customers. The trade is conducted quite brazenly. When a truck driver pulls over, the terms are negotiated by the girl’s father or brother, who acts as her pimp. The sex usually takes place on the bare floor of a one-room cottage that the family has set aside for this purpose. The only way out for a girl in the community is to find a suitor who is willing to pay a hefty dowry to the girl’s family. The origins of Bachchra prostitution is not clear. According to local lore, Bachchras, once a nomadic tribe in Rajasthan, are descendants of palace courtesans. The community lives in seclusion, and their trade is ignored by the police and state administration.
Kabadi Bazaar: The Red Light Area of Meerut
Prostitution is currently a contentious issue in India where they are estimated to be in the range of over 2 million female sex workers. Majority of them venture into prostitution due to lack of resources to support themselves or their children. Most do not choose this profession out of choice, but they do it due to necessity. Such is a case in Meerut Kabari Bazaar, that is, Junk Market where people trade in all kinds of goods from spices, clothes, grocery and also sex. In what follows, I here try to showcase the ‘Daily Life’ of prostitutes in Meerut Kabadi Bazaar. ‘The everyday life of prostitution is distant from most of us. And here, our imagination is a poor assistant. Negotiate a price with a stranger. Agree. Pull down one pant leg. Come and take me. Finished. Next, please. It becomes too ugly to really take it in. The imagination screeches to a halt.
A child ‘born in brothel’ is something that struck me the most as I was in Meerut visiting friends, when suddenly out of somewhere the prostitution topic was brought, and that’s where I got to know about a child called ‘Nihal’ named after a luxury hotel in UAE. Apparently Nihal’s mother was impregnated by a wealthy sheikh in a hotel named Nihal, so it became his name.
23 years old Shalu, an active prostitute, agrees to come in front of the camera, if her face is not identified.
Prostitutes can be seen on a balcony of the brothel, Kabari Babzar, Meerut.
Prostitutes with their children, in Kabari Babzar, Meerut.
A 7 year old boy born to a prostitute named Shilpa, based in Meerut. He was born as a result of a sex trade in Gulf. Shilpa has now quit prostitution.
The sex workers are busy luring customers from the balcony which is their daily routine while the little unaware boy is feeling bored amongst them in brothel, Meerut Kabadi, Bazar, that is, Junk market where people trade in all kinds of goods raging from spices, clothes, grocery and also sex.
26-year old Nisha is an active prostitute. When asked about her red chili neck piece, she replies that she is wanted to look hot.
60-year old Rakhi is perhaps the oldest Notch girl in Meerut. Being born in a brothel, Rakhi has spent her entire life here without knowing the outside world. The small brothel room is what Rakhi calls her world and is probably where she will meet her end. On being questioned about her clients, she answers ‘there are still lot of crazy men out there’.
For 32-year old Nidhi, the burqa is not a religious diktat, it is the perfect foil. It assures her anonymity. It acts as an equalizer. A commercial sex worker at Kabari Bazar, Meerut, she manages to get quite a few respectful glances as she walks down the streets to shop in a hijab. It is another matter that she actually seeks out the leering advances of prospective clients once she gets down to work
Shalu, a former dancer at an upscale Mumbai dance bar, became a sex worker in Meerut when Maharashtra enforced a ban on dance bars.
Unidentified prostitutes deal with clients on highway. The trade in Neemuch is no longer dependent on truckers alone.
Unidentified prostitutes deal with clients on highway.
Unidentified prostitutes deal with the client, as torch light is the sign to move towards them.
Rekha, 28, gets about ₹200 from each customer and the sex takes place on the floor of a designated ‘Dera’.
