The Durga Puja week used to be nightmare for Anita Das, a 43-year-old sex worker and single mother of two. Anita has been living in Shonagachi, one of Asia바카라s largest red light districts, in Kolkata for over 10 years and both her kids were born here. And every Puja, she faced the same problem. What to do with the kids?
바카라I had to go to work at night so that I can feed the kids in the morning, take care of their other needs. And Pujo is good business. But if I work all night, they end up missing out on Pujo. There바카라s no one to take them out for pandal hopping or for eating street food바카라.
She adds that in most cases, they were not appreciated in the pandals even when they do manage to go out. "Whenever they know we are sex workers, they want us out, many priests and puja committee organisers think we are polluting the holy environment," she adds.
Anita바카라s kids are her only family apart from the 3,000-odd other women in Shonagachi who share similar fates and problems as Anita. 바카라So we got together and started our own Pujo,바카라 she quips.
The Durbar Mahila Sammanwaya Samiti's (DBSS) Durga Puja has been taking place since 2012. This year, the committee바카라s total budget was nearly Rs 25 lakh. The committee has also ensured distribution of 바카라Bhog바카라 twice on all five days of the Pujo, starting Shoshti to Doshomi. Inside the Masjid Gali road where the pandal is located at the mouth of Shonagachi, a crowd of men, women and children throng the little office DMSS located behind the idol.
At first, the committee had just received permission to conduct the Puja inside their own office. In 2015, they were allowed to rent a community hall for their Puja. 바카라But we were not satisfied. Political committees and powerful individuals get permission so easily. But we had to fight all the neighbouring pujo committees who strongly opposed it at first.바카라
바카라No idol of Durga can be made without us. We also represent Durga and Devi Shakti and are all her daughters. Why should we not be allowed to take part in the city바카라s cultures and religious traditions?바카라 Bishakha Lashkar adds.
In West Bengal, no idol of Durga can be made without soil from a brothel. It is a key component of the Earthly form of the Devi Shakti. It is said that the custom is followed to honour the Naba Durga - the nine forms of Goddess Durga by worshipping 바카라Nava Kanya바카라, the nine classes of women that have been collaboratively mentioned in the Vedas - A nati (dancer/actress), a vaishya (prostitute), rajaki (laundry girl), a brahmani (Brahmin girl), a Dalit and a gopala (milkmaid). Many in West Bengal believe that the worship of the Goddess is incomplete without worshipping these forms and soil from a 바카라niishiddho polli바카라 is thus considered 바카라punyo mati바카라.
And yet, women of brothels have historically been denied respect in society and shunned on social occasions. The Durga Puja in the red light district, Durbar President Bishakha Lashkar tells Outlook, is an attempt by the sex workers to build a space for themselves in the city바카라s public life. From the 90s onwards, the women of Shonagachi have been protesting for the rights of sex workers and the right to sex work as a legitimate and dignified source of income for women.
Using religious practices as a site of feminist practices can become tricky in India where the rise of religious nationalism is often linked to more conservative attitudes and moralities towards women바카라s sexuality and rights. The Durga Puja conducted by Durbar becomes all the more significant since it has been an concerted and successful effort by the city바카라s sex workers to 바카라demystifying the lives of sex workers and undo the commonsense of fear and stigma that바카라, according to a 2018 paper titled 바카라Of Festivals and Public Life: Sex Workers. Activism in India As Affirmative Sabotage바카라.
In the paper, researcher Debolina Dutta noted how the success of DMSS바카라s initiative shows how a 바카라conception of rights informs the ways in which a particular group of sex workers envision their public lives and re-order the relationships they inhabit with those who are opposed to their interests.바카라 It has also helped the women of Shonagachi, who live a life shrouded in stigma and discrimination, to build an identity for themselves morphing discriminatory relations with oppressor classes to reflect their own personal struggles, joys and lived experiences.
And it has been successful. Since 2012, several Puja pandals have depicted the lives of sex workers through creatively themes pandals. This year, the Nawpara Dadabhai Sangha and others created a sex-worker-themed pandal to pay homage to the 바카라Baij바카라 era and culture of West Bengal, where courtesans have traditionally been respected as a class of women. Its President Anjan Pal said that the idea behind the theme of the pandal was to highlight the fight for right of sex workers.
Durga Puja advertisements have also picked up on the trend. An ad by Smart superstore depicting sex workers has earned much attention on social media. Mita Ghosh, a resident of Shonagachi and not a part of Durbar, tells Outlook that the Pujo is open to everyone, not just sex workers. 바카라The more people come the better. These lanes are usually just filled with customers. But now, people are coming to see the puja pandal of sex workers,바카라 Ghosh says, adding that she is proud that her sisters could make it possible through collective activism and sheer strength of character. 바카라What can better embody Ma Durga바카라s spirit than empowering oneself and freeing the self from the shackles of the world?바카라 She asks before mixing back into the crowd of women.
