Empty Kitchen

After checking the entire so called kitchen of her small house, Kshama sat disappointed. There was little water left in the earthen pot which she thought of drinking. She took the glass in hand and then thought about her dad. Papa may need it when he comes back home. She kept the glass back and went to the door. Every evening she sat by the door and waited for her father to come back. Her father was her only hope.

He worked in the construction site and got his daily wages. He was getting old and hence getting work had become more and more difficult for him. Kshama tried getting some household work for herself but had lost all her jobs because she was not very presentable. Her face was half burnt because of an incident that occurred years back. It took away her mother and little brother’s life too.

That day her father returned empty handed. Whenever they were not able to earn their basic food, the daughter and father would think they are fasting that day and would give their prayers to God saying this day was for him.

The next day Kshama went along with her father to find some work for herself too. She was tired of being hungry and miserable. After a long day of work, when they were returning back in the evening, they saw many people coming out of the temples and mosques.

The day was important for both the religions, Ekadashi for Hindus and it was Ramadaan for Muslims. When Kshama saw people buying sweets and food for themselves and their families, she asked her father what was going on.

After listening to the way everyone fasts for the gods they believe in and give their prayers, she thought to herself “I fast almost every day out of poverty but god has never heard my prayers until now”

Earn and Eat if you are hungry, God won’t come and serve you just because you are praying and fasting.

Please Help !

I recognized Anjali as one of the most gorgeous looking girl in my college. She had a fair & glowing skin, long hair, amazing eyes and a good dressing sense. She wasn’t my friend and at the same time we didn’t dislike each other. She was always surrounded by people and from what I could make she liked the attention. There were guys who kept commenting on her looks and kept dreaming of dating her. The girls on the other hand were nice to her but disliked her at the same time for obvious reasons. She was the topic I thought people never got tired of discussing.


We started our MBA in the year 2004 and it had been the most awaited time of my life. I came to Mumbai for the first time and was looking forward to my stay here.

Sameer became my friend as soon as I met him. He was an amazing company to me. I could connect to him easily because we always had some healthy discussions and our different opinions made the topics more interesting. Surprisingly, Sameer never showed any interest in talking about Anjali unlike other guys.

4th July 2004: I distinctly remember, we had our Finance Lecture. Coming from a Science background, I never understood anything in this class. Sameer was my only support in terms of debit and credit calculations and he was planning to come late. The lecture started and my eyes were glued to my professor hoping to learn something. Anjali walked in late and she had no option but to sit beside me. The lecture continued. Her cell kept vibrating every 2 minutes and she kept fiddling with her cell phone under her desk. I left hope and started scribbling in my book because I knew I will never be able to absorb anything today.

She suddenly turned towards me and asked if she could use my cell phone as her cell was out of battery. She wanted to send just one international message. I was a little shocked with this request of hers; we barely knew each other. She almost pleaded. Courteous I was, I handed my phone to her.

Who the hell, is she going to message from my number? I thought.

Once the lecture was done, she said a thank you and ran off the class. And behind her some 20 odd people, basically to spend some time with her. She had so many fans, she could have asked for anyone’s phone. Why me? I was completely angry. The first thing I did was to check my message box and call logs. There was nothing.

I called Sameer immediately. I went to him and blurted the entire incident in one breath. He looked much tensed and was about to say something. But in the meantime, my cell rang. “Unknown number calling”. When I answered, the man on the other side started screaming and swearing on me. I was shocked. I had never heard someone talking so dirty to me. Looking at my tearful eyes, Sameer snatched the phone from me. It seemed he had anticipated this. He went a little away from me and spoke something on the call. I was in a state of shock.

He came to me and asked me to follow him. He went to Anjali and screamed “Why do you do this. When you know what is going to happen, why do you? Why did you have to use her (pointing me) phone when you know what the consequences would be. Suddenly Anjali's face turned pale. She looked at me and apologized that I had to go through what just happened. I, by now, had gained my senses and asked Sameer what was going on.

“I need your help”, said Anjali to us.

Sameer was still angry but concerned too. The 3 of us headed to a coffee shop.

“He is my father” and there was silence. Sameer had assumed she had a very possessive boyfriend who was behind this entire drama. But FATHER! We had 100 questions running in our minds.

She continued, “I was a victim of child abuse when I was 14 in the year 1997. It was my father who tried to rape me in his unconscious mind under the affect of alcohol. My mother and my elder brother Aneesh came at the right time and I was saved. My father was sentenced imprisonment for 7 years. My family did their best to erase those memories from my mind. The memories were replaced with some good ones but they never got erased. We lost mom in 2001. She suffered her first heart attack and it snatched her away from us. Aneesh had to leave for a 1 year project to Canada in 2003. He will be returning next week. I keep talking to Aneesh all the time over the phone. My father has been tracking this, I don’t know how. The same thing happened when I used your phone the other day Sameer. I am really sorry for what happened. I just need to be safe for a week until Aneesh arrives. He is trying his best to wrap up things soon and return. PLEASE HELP" and she burst out crying. She was too scared and so was I.

Sameer decided we would stay in his apartment until Aneesh arrives. He made all the arrangements. Sameer was basically from Kerala but his dad had an apartment here in a reputed and a very secured colony and that was the best option for now.

12th August 2004 : We were at the airport to drop Anjali and Aneesh. They were leaving Mumbai forever. Aneesh filed a complaint against his father for torturing them. He was put in a rehab centre because the court and the doctors decided he needed help more than punishment. Anjali was beautiful as ever. Her smile had returned after her elder brother arrived. She now felt completely protected and confident. She completely believed in him.

There were 2 men here Aneesh and Sameer, whom I could not stop admiring and there was one man there in the rehab who had lost his mind because of his own demon like deeds.

P.S. : There have been many incidents reported on child abuse. Abuse could be physical, sexual, Emotional/Psychological and Neglect.

According to CRY (Child Rights and You)

• 8,945 children go missing in India every year
• 500,000 children are estimated to be forced into the sex trade every year
• Approximately 2 million child commercial sex workers are between the ages of 5 and  15 years
• Approximately 3.3 million child commercial sex workers are between 15 and 18 years
• Children form 40% of the total population of commercial sex workers
• 80% of these children are found in the five metros – Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and Bangalore
• 71% of them are illiterate

Fighting the LAW

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Priorities

"Seema, please set your priorities straight. You are married and expected to do things your family agrees on”, screamed Mr. Seth, Seema’s father.

Seema was married at the age of 19. After her graduation, her parents informed her about the marriage plans. This is how the family had been. None of the daughters were allowed to pursue higher studies.

Seema was married to Ajinkya, a S/W engineer. He was an educated guy but with old school of thoughts. He had been very clear with Seema’s family that he wanted his wife to be a home maker and to prioritize family.
They got married in 2005 and life went on as expected

2007:
Ajinkya was hosting a party at his home on the occasion of his promotion. The atmosphere in the house was very positive and happy. Seema had put in all her efforts to host the guests well. She was pleasantly surprised to see her school time friend Naina, in the group of guests who had come. They recognized each other spontaneously and were very happy to meet after so many years. Naina worked in the same company with Ajinkya. Naina had completed her MBA and was currently working as Business Analyst.

After the party, Seema started thinking about the crucial years of her life that she had lost. But at the same time, she also realized it was not too late. She was confident that Ajinkya would agree to either her studying further or at least support her in taking up a job somewhere.

But Ajinkya did not agree on to both the things. In fact he told Seema, he wanted to start a family soon. For Seema, it was very early to be a mother as she was only 21. She was of the opinion; she can easily invest some more years of her life for her own self and then start a family.
The discussions went on for many days but Ajinkya refused to agree. Then was the time, Seema decided to speak to her parents but there were no signs of support from there too.

She was in a crisis now. She did not know what to do! Her in-laws, her husband and her parents, none of them agreed. As most of the other vulnerable women, she gave up.
Things went back to as they were and within a year she gave birth to a cute little baby girl.

“I want my daughter to be a doctor", said Ajinkya once. “I wish my parents had such ambitions for me and I hope my daughter does not marry another Ajinkya”, replied Seema.

Ajinkya was angry hearing this and he left the room immediately. He somewhere realized he was wrong but he did not want to agree.

2012:
Ajinkya met with an accident and is paralyzed for life. The entire savings are spent on his hospitalization. And now Seema has to take care of his medicines, their daughter and the household expenses.

The search for the Job is still on for Seema. Guess it will take some time for her to settle things in her life. Her confidence level has gone down, and with so many responsibilities on her, she is just getting depressed.


When we talk about priorities, we should talk about our own priorities and not others’. Each one has a right to decide on their own priorities.

There will be a lot of women like Seema who give up on their education and careers for people around them. Women need to start standing up for themselves.

If we are confident about ourselves, there is no one who can stop us!

Nisha - Woman of Honour

When I got my appointment letter, I was glad to read I was posted in Nariman Point, Mumbai branch. Though there have been very good commercial centers built in Mumbai; somehow I always wanted my office to be in Nariman Point - Proper Bombay, what we call it. There is a different aura of that place. It is a different feel altogether when you travel by Local trains, stand in a queue to get a cab, share your cab with new people each day.

23^rd November 2010 was the day I remember pretty well. We had an event coming up the coming Sunday and hence there was a lot of work on our heads. We were three of us who waited till 9:30 pm including my Program Officer – Amaan Khan, and the Marketing Lead – Seema Sharma.  After finishing our dinner, we thought of walking by the sea and then taking a cab home.

It was a beautiful sight. We stood facing the sea and there was not a single word, we spoke. We were enjoying the sound of waves and the feel of cold wind. That day Mumbai, my very own home, seemed to look more beautiful to me.  The bright stars reminded me of the quote “Bombay - the city of dreams”. It indeed is, I thought.

Suddenly there was this chai wala (Tea vendor) who came to us and asked us if we would want to drink garam garam chai (Hot hot tea). All the three of us readily agreed. It is heaven to drink hot cutting chai late night on a sea face.

The chai wala sat besides us, he looked at Amaan and asked “Aur kuch chahiye sahaab” (Do you need anything else). Amaan just nodded his head clearly indicating a NO. Suddenly Amaan’s facial expression changed and he urgently paid the guy. His gestures proved he wanted to leave. I didn’t understand what was going on. What else did the chai wala have to sell? Amaan wanted to leave but Seema and me requested him to stay back for 10 minutes and promised we would leave then.

Just as the chai wala guy left, we saw this young, very beautiful girl coming towards us. She kept walking to and fro. It was as if she was waiting for us. Seema could not handle her stares and asked her if she needed anything. The girl was shocked by the question.

“Y’all called for me”, she said.

Amaan stood up and with sufficient respect “Ma’am, we don’t need anything. I guess someone has misguided you”

She looked disappointed and left from there!

Amaan called for a cab and we all got into the cab. We realized what just happened and we very upset about it. No one spoke about it. I suddenly started hating Mumbai. The city, I was admiring just an hour back looked like a devil to me. But least did I realize, it is not about the city, it is about PROSTITUTION which exists everywhere.

2 months later:

I was with my friends at Worli Sea Face (another beautiful sea face in Mumbai).

I saw the same young girl with a little child besides her having ice cream. I could not resist myself; I went and greeted her without really knowing whether she would recognize me. She quickly stood, gave me a broad smile and greeted me back.

“Meet my son”, she readily said. I cannot take him to Nariman Point as that is my work place. I gave a wrong reaction when she said “Work place” which I should not have.

She said “Yes, it is my work place and prostitution is my profession. I need money to give my son the right education and there was a time in my life when I had no option but this. I don’t regret anything. Life did not give me too many options and I did not have the time to find out any.”

But yes, I keep telling all my customers that I am looking for a good job but they are hardly interested in what I want. The only thing I pray to god is to give me some good customers because they are the only point of contact for me to the outer world.  Before my son understands my profession, I want to change it, she said. She gave me her cell number and told me she could speak fluent English, had very good bargaining skills (which I would term as negotiating power) and could sell herself very well.

I smiled and told her “Though, I am not your customer, I can find a job for you.”

Today, Nisha takes her son at any sea face in Mumbai with her head up!!!!

When I see her today, I have RESPECT for her not only because the way she has led her life without any regrets but also because she still does not forget what she has been through. With the money she earns, she makes sure she shares that with the woman who need support and an opportunity in their lives. 

Nisha for me is a Woman of Honor.

  

Some Findings:

    1)  According to the law for prostitution in INDIA, prostitutes can practice their trade privately but cannot legally solicit customers in public. Organized prostitution (brothels, prostitution rings, pimping etc) is illegal. As long as it is done individually and voluntarily, a woman (male prostitution is not recognized in the Indian constitution) can use her body's attributes in exchange for material benefit. In particular, the law forbids a sex worker to carry on her profession within 200 yards of a public place.  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immoral_Traffic_in_Persons_Act#Legal_status)

    2) According to UNICEF, India contained half of the one million children worldwide who enter the sex trade each year. 

      (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prostitution_law)

    Some more links :

         http://prostitution.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=000772

         http://www.ncpcr.gov.in/Acts/Immoral_Traffic_Prevention_Act_(ITPA)_1956.pdf