Sex workers have been an integral part of society across histories and cultures though both the forms of sex work and dominant social attitudes towards them have varied. The story of Sonagachi, the largest red-light district in Kolkata, is no different. Sonagachi, translated as Golden Tree, has several hundred multi-storey brothels built in the winding lanes and is home to around eight thousand sex workers.[i] The place has a long history. Something that seems to come straight out of the pages of Dickensian squalor, Sonagachi has been an essential part of Kolkata’s history.[ii] The location of Sonagachi traces the history of the city, close to the two main routes – one of the pilgrims, the other the traders.
In the 19th and early 20th century, many buildings were owned by the city’s wealthiest and respectable people who enjoyed the rental income from these women. Typical of patriarchal double standards, the women remained stigmatised while the customers continued to be ‘respectable’. Though much has changed over the years, this ‘hypocrisy’ remains even as sex workers have sought to organise themselves and demand rights like all other citizens. Perhaps this duplicity is reflected both in the story of how these women celebrate Durga Puja in Sonagachi.
Sonagachi is both home and space of work for the sex worker. Though the pandemic has changed their life as they were without any income for a long time, the collective spirit of celebrating the religious festival of Durga Pujo was not dampened. The hypocrisy of our society is highlighted in this piece through narratives. It explores how the sex workers challenged this hypocrisy and generated their form of celebration of Durga Pujo in the red light area as a form of solidarity and a protest.
It was during my fieldwork in Sonagachi, as a part of my doctoral research on the perception of wellbeing among the sex workers, using qualitative research methods, particularly in-depth interview, observations, informal discussions, that this matter of exclusion and marginality on the one hand and the assertions of solidarity within the group on the other prompted me to explore further.
Pointing towards an old Rajbari [iii] while walking around the streets of North Kolkata, Rena (name changed), one of the former sex workers, who is now a peer worker [iv] in the Targeted Intervention Project in Sonagachi, shared:
“They need the soil from our neighbourhood to make an idol of the Goddess Durga, but we were deprived of offering prayers to the Goddess in their premise. Even the puja committee in community halls used to object to our presence in the pandel. Now, of course, the situation has changed slightly as we have collectively decided to abstain from sharing our soil in making the idol. The irony is that while we are never invited or welcomed in the Barawari Durga Pujo or the pandel, we welcome everyone with open arms to visit our Pujo. Over the past eight years, we have started organising our own Durga Pujo, for which the preparation and planning start two three months before the actual celebration. We are assigned different responsibilities by our collective, formed by our fellow sex workers. Together we enjoy the festival to its fullest. With limited funds based on our contribution and donation, the festival is organised. You know, dhanuchi naach[v] (dhanuchi dance) and sindoor khela[vi] are my favourite parts of this festival. It’s special because it’s our Pujo.”
The above narrative reflects the message of solidarity and collective celebration and emphasises the dejection and discontent towards the society, depriving and boycotting the sex worker as ‘the stigmatised others’.[vii] As a result of stigma, they were often subjected to humiliation and harassment from the so-called Bhadrolok and Bhadromohila of our society.
Though accessibility to every public place irrespective of one’s gender, caste, and class should be one’s right, it is often violated and governed by the system of patriarchy and its intersection with one’s caste and class. The sex workers, too, have the right to access such public places irrespective of their identity in relation to their work. Ironically, history shows that sex workers were not always excluded from participating in religious festivals as reference was found in the Devdasi system and its contested history.[viii]
The notion of collective consciousness and social solidarity could be perceived in a place like Sonagachi where the sex workers share a strong bond of solidarity as a collective and not only fight for their rights, handle the public health crisis such as Covid-19 and HIV/AIDS through community mobilisation and awareness; by standing in solidarity with other sex workers across West Bengal, in providing food for those who suffered due to pandemic and cyclone and also demanding the High Court to render the rights essential services which were provided to other workers.
Durga Pujo in Sonagachi is a symbolic representation of protest for depriving one’s right and fight for identity. It is also a representation of resistance in a subaltern space like Sonagachi. It is also space where sex workers from different religious identity celebrate the festival. Thus, it unites them together in one tie.
Due to the pandemic, the intensity of celebration of the festival across the state was subdued, so was the celebration of Durga Pujo at Sonagachi. It’s not only a religious festival but an exhibition of art through the themes that was decided for each pandel across the state. The theme of this year’s celebration was lockdown and the tag line was ‘Lockdown’r taala bhenge niye jabi ke aamre’, means ‘by breaking the lock of lockdown, someone take me out’, to imply the plight of sex workers during the lockdown.
In 2020, despite the crucial time due to the pandemic, the Durbar Mahila Samanya Committee (DMSC), a collective formed by the sex workers, organised the Durga Pujo by maintaining all the rules and regulations. It’s imperative to note that the core committee for the Pujo also comprises sex workers from heterogeneous religious and caste identity. They have also distributed bhog (food, i.e. khichuri, mix-vegetables) and saree to the sex workers irrespective of their religious identity. The solidarity and the bonds that they share with others also contributed to building trust among the people from the civil society to support them during the pandemic.
Following the footprints of the sex workers in Sonagachi, the sex workers from other Red light areas of West Bengal also initiated their celebration in solidarity. Therefore, despite the hardship experienced by them due to social stigma, their strength lies in their solidarity and resistance to oppression.
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Nibedita Roy is a PhD Research Scholar, Centre of Social Medicine and Community Health, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi.
[i] The estimate was provided by Durbar Mahila Samanaya Committee( DMSC), a collective of sex workers
[ii] https://opoyi.com/how-sonagachi-the-red-light-district-with-rich-history-is-coping-with-coronavirus, accessed on 24th May 2020.
[iii] The old houses owned by the old city’s elite that I have referred to in the text.
[iv] Her job is to provide awareness about safe sex and tracking high-risk groups, aiding the means to provide preventive services
[v] Dhanuchi nach is a not just a dance form for Bengalis, but it’s also an important part of their prayers offered specially during Durga Pujo
[vi] Sindoor Khela, literally meaning ‘vermillion game’, is a Bengali Hindu tradition where women smear each other with sindoor on Vijayadashami, the last day of Durga Puja. Traditionally, this ritual is meant to be played by married women which will bring good luck for their husbands.
[vii] https://doingsociology2020.blogspot.com/2020/05/the-fear-of-stigma-and-its-social.html, accessed 10th April 2021.
[viii] https://idsn.org/key-issues/forced-prostitution/devadasi-article/, accessed on 24th May 2020.