Big-ticket book launches lined up for Kolkata litfest

Kolkata: Can a woman in a brothel feel irritated with smelly socks? That's a weird question, many would say. Especially those used to romanticising life in red-light districts where a woman is merely a cardboard creature bereft of emotions and certainly not capable of having any personal preferences. Author Ruchira Gupta, who has edited 'River of Flesh and Other Stories: The Prostituted Woman in Indian Short Fiction', has compiled 21 stories from 12 different languages about women in brothels. One of these short stories (Kamleshwar's 'River of Flesh') is about a girl who has a problem with a customer wearing smelly socks. The anthology will be launched on January 17 at the Apeejay Kolkata Literary Festival that will be held in association with The Times of India. While this book will be launched at the Town Hall with readings by actor-director Aparna Sen, there are two other big-ticket book launches to look out for at the AKLF - Ben Okri's 'Age of Magic' and Meera Syal's 'The House of Hidden Mothers' - both in partnership with Victoria Memorial, and scheduled to be held on its premises.Fourteen years ago in 2002, Gupta had made a documentary, 'The Selling of Innocents', for which she had won an Emmy award. In that documentary, she had 22 women in prostitution narrating their stories. But once that work was over, the haunting question was about the future of these girls. That's what prompted her to start Apne Aap, a grassroot movement to end sex trafficking. Her personal experience, Gupta insists, has helped her edit this anthology. "Some of these stories, including Arunava Sinha's translation of Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay's 'Heeng-Kachuri' and Rakshanda Jalil's translation of Manto's 'The Hundred Candle Power Bulb', are so true to life that I couldn't believe that they were friction. I have come across so many girls in Sonagachhi who suffer from insomnia just like Manto's heroine," she says.Incidentally, this book has been dedicated to two sex workers from Sonagachhi. "One among them is Swati Das, who was murdered by her customer. Keya, the other one who continues with her struggle, will launch this book," Gupta says. Keya feels 'honoured'. "She has felt my pain and asked me to do this job. I can never thank her enough," Keya says.Gupta, however, insists that she isn't in favour of the term 'sex worker'. "The term refers to some kind of a work. But I feel that it is always a case of exploitation here since someone is taking advantage of a woman's vulnerability. Intertwined with vulnerability, are the issues of caste, class, sex and age since most of these girl are under-age," she points out. Language, Gupta insists, is political. "Words affect change. The moment a debate starts on the word 'sex worker', it will be of help," she hopes.