Programme: Special Correspondent
Telecast Time: Nov 15, Saturday, 9.30 pm
Repeat: Nov 20, Thursday, 4.30 pm
Report By: Sukarno Sen
Written By: Geetika Jain
Lost innocence
Broken dreams
Squandered lives
In alleys of brothels

Flowers of Sonagachi: Crushed before bloom

Ever seen budding flowers in a garden… Sweet, beautiful, pure… Now imagine that they are plucked and crushed even before they could blossom.
This is exactly the predicament of innocent children of sex workers in the red-light area of Kolkata – Sonagachi! The infamous lanes of this area have innumerable dark tales to tell. They stand witness to years of inclemency clouding the future of the guileless children of these doomed women.
Sonagachi, the Bangla word, literally means ‘mine of gold’. So, customers come to dig ‘gold’ here and in the process the children of these prostitutes are treated as thrown away impurities- unwanted and unwelcome. With this odious life, they lose their innocence and their dreams are stolen for no mistake of their own. They come to this world as the most unasked for entrants and thereafter are left in the cruel hands of destiny. While their mothers cater to the clientele, these children roam about in the alleys of this Rubik’s cube, which take them only to a dead end. Girl children are still cherished by virtue of their biological capability to fill in the boots of their mothers but small boys lead even more despicable lives. They become pimps for their mothers and sisters at an age when other children are busy playing with their toy cars. And these boys keep toying with the idea of fetching more customers for the women of their ‘house’ each night. They live the life of worms and die the death of dogs. The apathy of society makes them crippled forever. No one takes their responsibility and even they become callous towards themselves after a while. Nothing on this earth can compensate for the agony that these guiltless children go through. Their birth on this earth is in itself a curse upon them. It would be untrue to say that none of them goes to schools. Few sex workers have put their children in schools or hostels to keep them away from this life of ignominy. Although Central government has turned a blind eye towards their torment, a few NGOs are running in this area to provide education, health care and hygiene habits to these children. Actually, there is more work being done on tackling Aids and less for the upliftment of these children. But, all these efforts fall short. Nothing can wash away the blemish that they are born with. Their acceptability in the mainstream society seems next to impossible. They are crucified on the hearth of a censured existence. Even the educated and concerned of the society would think twice before extending love and fondness to them. They become stigmatized by virtue of their parturition. Their pain is unfathomable and their suffering is profound. The accountability for their misery is being shrugged off by everyone who is actually responsible. Their paternity not known, maternity disreputable and future in utter darkness….flowers of Sonagachi are doomed not to bloom.