Michelle Obama wanted to visit Mumbai’s brothel district of Kamathiputra during her husband’s visit to India that started Saturday, the Maharastra government refused. This is what she would have seen.
Diwali, the festival marking the triumph of good over evil, has come to Kamathiputra. Like in the rest of India, candles are lit, lights are strung from trees and balconies, and firecrackers are set off.
After checking out how Mumbaikaars from Kurla to Bandra to Nariman Point chose to celebrate their holiday (including a stop at the Gateway of India/Taj Hotel to see what Obama's security were up to) at 11:30 pm we decided to see how Mumbai's most infamous red light area, Kamathipura, looked strung up in festive lights.
The roads appeared similar to the rest of the city, crackers going off every which way, crowds clogging the roads, and people generally having a good time. But with one look into any of the many doorways, it became very evident that this place was distinctly its own.
The first had around 7-10 girls, all of whom looked under 18, loitering, arms crossed. As per the stereotype, one obese madam acted as the gatekeeper to make sure the girls stayed in place.
These girls lure customers in. Behind each door there are usually dozens more that never see the light of day. A recent interview with rescued Nepali sex workers revealed they never even knew they were so close to the ocean.
Girls who come from lush, green mountainsides where rivers of clear, blue water run freely and the only noise one might hear being that of cornfields rustling in the wind or roosters in the morning are now the same girls spending Tihar locked up in dark, dingy rooms, in cramped alleys they may have never even seen except from behind a single, barred window.
The innocence and pure-hearted naivety characteristic to village girls in Nepal has been stripped away as they are forced into "servicing" men so as to keep one of the underworld's most lucrative trans-border businesses thriving. It may be Diwali, but the “work” doesn’t stop.
This is how thousands of Nepali girls "celebrated" on the day we lit candles in honor of the so-called triumph of good over evil.
Emma Sciantarelli in Mumbai