Style over substance

Fallen Angels tries to present a human face to the problem of prostitution and has some interesting essays. Yet, the emphasis on lavish images works against the intention, says KALPANA SHARMA.

WHY the title? That is the first thing that strikes you when you pick up this lavishly illustrated book. Is this one more voyeuristic journey into the world of the prostitute, sex worker or whatever is the current politically correct term?

I must admit I dreaded reading another sentimental essay about the infamous "cages" of Mumbai's Kamathipura or about the Devadasis. You would think that by now enough has been written, millions of pictures have been taken and dozens of documentary films and TV news features have been made on this subject. Therefore, why one more book along the same lines?

Despite its title, and some patchy bits, Fallen Angels is different in some ways. The images are not very different. But the text by a couple of the contributors provides new information and is written in a non-sentimental yet sensitive fashion.

One of the best is by Hasan Mujtaba and Munni Saha, "One-way ticket to Karachi". It traces the route of the trade in girls between Bangladesh and Pakistan which passes through India. It tells of poor Bangladeshi women who are caught between a life of poverty at home and a life of continuous exploitation in Pakistan. Anusheh Hussain has a moving essay about the prostitution of children in Pakistan.

From India, Harsh Mander, former Madhya Pradesh bureaucrat who now heads Action Aid in India, describes the world of the Bedia caste, who were classified as a "criminal tribe" by the British. Sex work is virtually a tradition in this community and it is difficult for women to break away from it. Mander tells the moving story of a woman who did, and the young man from the same caste who decided to marry her despite tremendous opposition.

Another interesting essay is by British journalist Jeremy Seabrook who has written extensively on India. He follows the young male sex workers who hang around places like Delhi's Connaught Place. He describes the choices faced by a young boy of 16 who comes to the city to look for work and gets drawn into this other life.

Rajendra Menen writes about Kamathipura and the different kinds of brothels that exist in the same place - the "welcome brothels" which are better appointed and where the women get paid more, and the cages which are little more than a cubby-hole with a narrow bed hidden behind a curtain.

The essays also speak of the terrible world of child prostitution. Of the two million prostitutes in South Asia, a third are estimated to be children. In Bangladesh bonded girls and daughters of prostitutes come into the trade when they are barely 11 or 12 years old. Says John Frederick, "The provocative word 'paedophile' is applied almost solely to pot-bellied foreigners, a negligible proportion of consumers in the region." He suggests that NGOs working on issues of child prostitution should be encouraged "to re-tool their interventions, and the public might be shaken out of its apathy if they seriously consider that an immense number of South Asian men are indeed 'paedophiles'."

The preface to the book explains the reason for the book, as an attempt to present the human face to the problem. The authors say that they are not trying to cover every aspect of the issue, or to provide data and statistics.

Yet, the text essentially explains the images. And although many of the images are powerful, you are still left feeling slightly uncomfortable about some of them. When books are produced in this kind of style, one is never sure what is the purpose. Does not the form over-rule the content? How many people will read the text? What will they go back with if they only look at the pictures? I am personally not convinced that the end result is all that different from the books that have already appeared on the subject.

Fallen Angels: The Sex Workers of South Asia, edited by John Frederick and Thomas L. Kelly, Roli Books, p.168, price not mentioned.

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