Polls bring festive touch to red light areas

Said Dodawaa, 40, smiling shyly to reveal the black dots, that once held gold, so painstakingly carved inher front teeth, “I have been here for the past 25 years and I have always cast my vote.” Only once, she has voted in her village in Bijapur district. Subbawa, also from Karnataka, is voting for the fifth time.

With more than 52 per cent voting by 3 p.m. and the rest trickling in slowly, the election officer at the Gujarati High School near the City Post Office revealed that out of the 486 listed voters, 360 were women. The three other polling stations in the locality drew as much attention.

Datta Sagare’s, corporator and ardent campaigner for Suresh Kalmadi, was a very visible presence. In his white kurta-payjama, hoarse with the vocal effort of the past few weeks, Sagare, who is the son of a Devdasi, said he was sure that at least 900 of the 1,400 population of Devdasis in the locality would vote. “I have grown up with them, they are bound to vote for the man I want,” he said.

Promises of old age homes for dying prostitutes, sewing machines for the live, creches for children and running water werebeing dangled. In the air were also unconfirmed promises of Maruti Zens, for the most conscientious campaigners. The women in question seem neither aware nor concerned. Every chawl, every dingy lane, every narrow staircase in the locality had a marked index finger, ample proof that voting had taken place. “These are the men who help us in trouble, we will help them now,” the arrangement was quid pro quo. They were performing a democratic exercise, but obviously of a democracy which has a lot to grow.