Born again

SONAGACHI may have found the spotlight with Zana Briski8217;s Oscar winning documentary Born into Brothels but over the last ten years it h...

SONAGACHI may have found the spotlight with Zana Briski8217;s Oscar winning documentary Born into Brothels but over the last ten years it has been the focus of social activists. And the results are there to see.

Tutul Mukherjee, Abhijit Sarkar, Raj Singh and Dolly Das are all children of sex workers living in Sonagachi in central Kolkata. They have struggled to defeat the stereotypes. Tutul learns computer and photography while Raj wants to be a footballer. Abhijit got a first division in school and Dolly is a student of classical music.

The silent workers

THEY were rank outsiders. But today they are Sonagachi8217;s own people. For five days in a week a congested room in a brothel comes alive with Hindi lessons. P.C. Shastri, a teacher from neighbouring Bal Krishna Vidyalaya, makes the trip to give free Hindi classes to students. He finds no stigma in helping these children towards a 8216;8216;brighter, better future8217;8217;.
Shastri is not alone in the mission. Swapna Singh, a graduate, joins his efforts, giving free tuition to eight students. 8216;8216;Most of them are bright, but unlike their classmates, they cannot
afford to go for private
tuitions.8217;8217;
Another thoughtful
programme comes from the Kadamtala Milan Sangha, the local club a few steps away from where sex workers line up to solicit customers at sundown every day. The club has started a creche, which at present has 26 kids.
Says its secretary Sisir Bhattacherjee: 8216;8216;Being at home when their mothers entertain customers can have a traumatic impact on children. When we opened this creche two years ago mothers were reluctant to leave their children with us. But that8217;s changing now.8217;8217;
Sonagachi has also made some young friends. Badal Ganguli, Raj Pande and M P Singh8212;all teenagers are members of what they call the Junior Club. They collecting a ruppee every day to help 8216;8216;lesser blessed8217;8217; friends.
Jayanth Jacob

They are not exceptions either. In Sonagachi, children are beginning to do what children all over the world do. Go to school, learn computers, attend music, dance and drawing classes. Some of them even have formed a Bangla Pop Band, staging shows all over India.

OVER the years, Sonagachi8217;s children have joined the world outside its neighbourhood. There are about 10,000 sex workers in the area while another 4,000 visit it regularly. About 6,500 children live here.

In the last decade, workshops, schools, clinics, creches and coaching centres have been set up in Sonagachi. While Zana8217;s efforts were acknowledged this week at the Oscars, there are others like film director Gautam Ghosh, novelist Samaresh Majumder, bureaucrat Nitin Ganguly and Columbia University professor Mani Nag, who have been quietly doing their bit.

Says Mani Nag: 8216;8216;Just 15 years ago the situation was bleak. Most sex workers8217; children would become bootleggers or pimps. The situation, though still difficult, has changed a lot.8217;8217;

One organisation that has helped bring about a change in Sonagachi is the Durbar Mahila Sammanaya Committee DMSC. The DMSC has 65,000 sex workers as members in West Bengal and has become an umbrella organisation of all other organisations working for sex workers.

Story continues below this ad

It is perhaps the combined work of all these groups that has made acceptance of the children of Sonagachi much easier. 8216;8216;My friends as well a few of my teachers know my background but they are not bothered about it. In my five years of school I have never faced any taunts or sneers,8217;8217; says Bishu Mukherjee, a student of class VIII at the Sri Vaidya Niketan school for boys at Beadon Street.

Names have been changed to protect identity of children