Luckily for Mita there is hope and light in the midst of Sonagachi’s darkness.
Nestled right in the middle of all three sex districts is a business; a business that has been in operation for going on 10 years. A business that has offered employment, dignity and a new life to 170 girls who once walked the line, Mita being the first of the girls to be employed here.
It was here I met Mita and so many other beautiful women. We sat across from each other in the finishing room clipping strings off bags and tying on price tags. We exchanged smiles, head nods, and songs. We communicated through an animated mix of one-word sentences and charades. The simple phrase “Didi” (sister) and hugs were our main channels for communicating love. All we did was clip strings and tie on price tags, but there was a joy, an inexplainable joy that floated around the room day in and day out. There was FREEDOM.
It was during our last week of work that I was able to sit down and hear Mita’s story for the first time. As she spoke tears welled in her eyes and poured forth. Sometimes she would need to pause, or just shake her head and not say anything. Retelling the tragedy that happened to her almost 40 years ago was still painful for her, but after a short silence, she picked up her head, wiped her tears and said, “I retell my story not for me, but for them.” I turned my head as she pointed out the window. . .
“There are still 10,000 girls in Sonagachi forced to sell their bodies in order to make a living for someone else. I tell my story because if more people are aware, then more people will buy our products; if more people buy our products; then the business will grow; if the business grows then we can help more girls who are still trapped in prostitution. My dream is to see 10,000 girls set free. My goal in working here is to bring 10,000 girls to work here. That is my desire for this business. 10,000 girls given a choice and an opportunity to live in Freedom!”
There is a strength in Mita and these other women that I cannot fathom. This is not just Mita’s dream this is the dream of all the women who work there.
10,000 set free.
Calcutta is a very densely populated city because of this homelessness is rampant, for the sheer fact that there are just not enough rooms and apartments for every family to have one. As a result, if the women who have come out of prostitution were to leave the brothels, finding a replacement girl would be very easy. Because Mita’s desire and the desire of her coworkers is the complete transformation of Sonagachi, these women have chosen to come to work during the day and return to the very same Brothel rooms they were once prostituted in. They live in these rooms, renting them, and at the same time inhibiting the brothel owners from bringing in new girls, saving them from the horrors of life on the line. They are literally transforming their neighborhood from the inside out.
Here in Calcutta, in the midst of the most dreadful darkness I have ever felt is a light and a hope. Here it is about more than creating bags and making t-shirts. It’s about rebuilding lives.
