My visit to Sonagachi, red light area

Months back, a Film Appreciation / Review competition was organized in our bank. Since I had a few tours on hand, I did not enter my name for the same. However on the day of the competition, I was very much in town and attended the programme. But seeing the list of speakers, I decided not to give my name. Two reasons : 1. The speakers, belonging to different cadres, were very talented persons who were known for their oratorical skills. 2. Everyone would be speaking in Hindi and I did not want to spoil the show !
The programme started on a promising note with the comperer announcing that the films ranged from good, old Ben Hur to latest, Three Idiots. As the 14 speakers came one by one, movies like Bhagban, Meerabai, Mother India, Chak De, etc. were covered. Personally I felt that all the speakers were talking about the movies, the story line, the acting part, reciting some of the famous dialogues, singing few lines from the hit songs, etc. But the message did not really seem to be delivered. What was the impact the movies had made on them as a person, as a family man, as a citizen… Should they not have talked about how the movie changed some of their opinions / feelings rather than telling usual things? I felt. I then decided to give my name and thought I would talk in whatever Hindi I know. But since time was short and also a few other requests came, it was decided by the organizing Department and Judge not to entertain any last minute entries. At the end, the Judge frankly told that none of the 14 speakers had done justice to their speeches and what was expected of them was the message the films had delivered and its impact on them. I felt disappointed that I could not share my thoughts with my colleagues. (Only now I realized Blog is very much there for me for my bak bak !)
Few films have really the power to affect and influence us. I have listed this Tamil movie, “MAHANADI” (released in 1993) as one of my favourites. Before narrating the impact the movie made on me, let me tell the story in brief.
Krishna (Kamalahasan) is a widower living happily in a village with his daughter and a son. He happens to meet Dhanush, a con from the city, who asks Krishna to join his chitfund business, with an eye on his properties. At first, Krishna was reluctant. But once his rich friend, a NRI, visits him and the desire to become rich arose in the minds of Krishna. He agrees to Dhanush's proposal and comes to the city. Expectedly, Dhanush swindles away the chit funds money and the entire blame is on Krishna. He lands up in jail, gets early release due to good behavior after a few years only to learn that his mother-in-law is dead and children have run away from home.
After a long search, Krishna finds his son with street-artistes and brings him back. He again meets Dhanush, who now assaults and teases him in a third rated manner and finally tells that his daughter has been sent to a place called Sonagachi, in Kolkata.
Krishna now goes to Kolkata in search of his daughter and is shocked to know that Sonagachi is actually a popular red-light area in Kolkata. Amidst heart-wrenching scenes of young girls who took to flesh-trade, Krishna poses as a customer and eventually lands up in front of Kaveri. They try to escape and are attacked by the goondas there. However, help comes in the form of the elder sex-workers who agreed to work extra-hours for the Madam to make up the loss of Kaveri. Though Kaveri is liberated and brought back to Chennai, her experiences continue to haunt her in her dreams. Her repeated screams "Bastards, I am not a machine, leave me, leave me" shakes Krishna like anything. Unable to bear her condition, Krishna decides to seek revenge on Dhanush and others who are behind the evil game. In the climax, Krishna chops off his own hand with which the villan was hanging from a high-rise building. He again goes to jail, comes out after 14 years to see his son, a grown up man and his daughter, happily married. THE END.
Kamalahasan has portrayed the grief of a humble village man in a realistic manner. His emotions at different stages of life are a treat. The eagerness to start a business and earn money, the grief shown when he knows that his children have run away, the shock when he sees his daughter in the brothel and the anger when taking revenge…. Excellent performance. Two particular scenes even now come before me. First, in the jail when he knows that his daughter has come of age, the happiness and helplessness is revealed so naturally. The second scene which will ever remain in my mind is his shock & grief and the emotional outburst on meeting his daughter face-to-face in the brothel and running from the mob of pimps, holding her in his arms. Kamal was at his best. Deservingly, it received National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil. The music by Ilayaraja was par excellence.
Personally I felt quite a few issues were touched upon in the movie. Foremost, the film depicted the growing problem of child sex workers. The happenings and dealing in Sonagachi which were adequately covered, threw great light on the issue of flesh trade. The film also touched upon other aspects like increasing aspiration amongst the middle class people to become rich, setting up of business without due diligence, blindly trusting friends/acquaintances, problems of urbanization, jail reforms, unity in a family in times of crisis, etc. There was absolutely no overdose in dealing with any issue.
Personally, I was touched by the scenes of Sonagachi and I remember having cried while watching those scenes. The most important decision I took that day was that I should visit a red light area. And with me posted in Kolkata, I alongwith a friend, who was in a social service organization or what we popularly call as NGO these days, decided to visit Sonagachi. Certain facts were shared by my friend beforehand. That Sonagachi is one of the largest red light areas in India, that more than 10,000 sex workers reside here, that the brothels were owned by mafia, that the women were socially shunned and susceptible to extortion, blackmail, rape or murder by local gangsters and pimps, visitors are not supposed to interact with the worders, timings are strictly controlled for visitors, etc.
The place was a nightmare and looked like a ‘bhoolbhulaiya’. It had narrow lanes/ alleys, lined with hundreds of houses, the buildings were old and there were shops at every corner of the intersections. The roads were crowded with women outnumbering men. Hundreds of girls/women were standing at every possible place, with odd make-ups and consequent weird looks, trying to steal the attention of prospective customers. I was pained to see young girls right from age of 12. Mothers with children in their arms and also holding slightly grown up ones by their tender hands, were also seen moving around. My friend had already made prior arrangements to visit one house. (exposure visit?) The so-called house was a modest less than 100 sq. ft. room, with three partitions; a living room (are they living or dead already?) and provision for two beds and a third one in case of business boom. There was no door; just a piece of cloth/old saree hung as curtains, indicating that there was no privacy. Hygiene was totally absent inside the room and outside, in the lanes. More than half a dozen girls came out from nowhere when we entered the house and kept scanning / glancing at us. Though inside for a short while, it created a state of helplessness and insecurity in me. What appalling conditions! How could men derive pleasure after looking at these? To what extent have these girls/women suffered so as to choose this profession? The visit left such a deep and ever-lasting impact on me that the regard and respect for women increased manifold.

It was my first and last visit to any red light area and a bitter and most unforgettable learning experience.