It’s been 10 years since British photojournalist Zana Briski began teaching photography to children of sex workers in Kolkata’s Sonagachi red light area, and four years since Born into Brothels, the film Briski co-directed with Ross Kauffman, won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. Since then, Suchitra’s life has changed. For the better, she admits demurely.
In the passing: Briski with a Sonagachi resident
Suchitra was one of the eight children featured prominently in the film—the others being Puja, Manik, Shanti, Abhijit, Kochi, Gour and Tapashi. The film traced their childhood in Kolkata’s biggest red light district through a photography project Briski conducted; we are trying to trace their current status.
Finally, we are face-to-face with Suchitra in her aunt’s minuscule room, having reached it after walking primly through the bylanes of prime evening-time Sonagachi, past hundreds of sex workers and aggressive pimps. Three women—under-dressed, with the almost obligatory loud made-up —sprawl around the building’s entrance. We take care not to step on anyone; the women themselves remain unmoved. Inside, there’s the stench of urine, women in petticoats tied around their chest taking a communal bath, a narrow wet staircase and un-plastered walls.
On the first floor, music floats out of a room, empty bottles of alcohol lie in a corner and more women lounge around in anticipation of a lucrative evening.
We come to Suchitra. She who had pondered over the question and bluntly said “no” when asked if she sees a solution to Sonagachi’s problems in Born into Brothels. Now, in her escape she’s found a solution. A long streak of vermilion marks her forehead and after initial scepticism, Suchitra’s in-laws have accepted her into their house, which lies many miles—and worlds—away from Sonagachi. “I won them over with my behaviour,” the 22-year-old says. Her education stopped after class VIII, but she married the tuition-mate she fell in love with.
A bylane of Sonagachi
These days, Suchitra works for an NGO that designs greeting cards. A replica of the Oscar statuette given to her, she says, is showcased in the NGO office. “I miss my relatives here, but don’t miss the life,” she says as we leave.
A room away, two middle-aged men are admitted inside by a woman who pulls the curtain tightly behind her. Children, including Suchitra’s cousins—seemingly of the same age when she was filmed—huddle together on the terrace.Approximately 3,000 children of sex workers continue to live with their mothers in Sona gachi, according to Durbar Mahila Samanway Committee, a sex workers’ forum active in the area.