Kolkata's red-light kids get their guardian angel

KOLKATA: Rahool Goswami is apparently no different from any other youngster. He loves reading books, is mad about cricket and hangs out with friends. Yet, there’s something special about this 26-year-old. While most young men his age are happy to have a decent job, Rahool ventures into red-light areas to counsel youngsters and wean them out of flesh trade.
The platform he launched this Valentine’s Day offers assistance to sex-workers’ children, helping them escape the clutches of zealous pimps. Rahool has been sympathizing with them ever since his girlfriend Shanti, a sex-worker’s daughter, committed suicide two years ago.
It has not been easy for Rahool. His mission has even resulted in a two-month jail term for him in 2012. Even though it shook him up, Rahool says he doesn’t really care and that his love and conviction remain unaffected. And he admits that he wouldn’t possibly have taken it up had he not been in love with Shanti. While her mother was a sex-worker at Bowbazar, Rahool lived on the fringes of the red-light area. They met at a school run by an NGO for local children.
“We were classmates and friends for some years. Soon, we were in love. Both of us were aware of the wedge between us but that made us even more determined to be together. I knew that she had to study, get a job and a foothold outside the area. So, both of us made a valiant attempt to complete our graduation and move out,” recalled Rahool. After school, Shanti joined Bangabashi College to study commerce. Rahool was in his final year at Surendranath College by then. A new life beckoned and the couple had started making plans to settle down.
But Shanti’s family opposed the union. “Her mother wanted Shanti to join sex trade and would put pressure on her to dissociate herself from me. She wanted to run away with me but I didn’t have a job to support her,” said Rahool. In September 2012, Shanti committed suicide. Her family filed an FIR against Rahool, leading to his arrest almost a year later. He was released after 65 days at the Presidency Jail — a nightmarish period that made him grow up and take up the cause of red-light area youth more seriously. Rahool couldn’t complete his graduation and now works as a manager at a restaurant in Barasat.
Ever since, Rahool has been holding sessions across half-a-dozen red-light areas. He motivates and counsels youngsters to study and seek a life outside the confines of the area. He also supports youths like him who are emotionally involved with red-light area girls. “It’s not a crime to have a relationship or to marry someone from these areas. Just as many of these youngsters are keen to have a better life and free themselves from the chains of bondage that they are subjected to, they often find them in relationships that never culminate in marriage. They didn’t know where to seek help so I try to help them. I would be happy if I can help even one of them break out of the shackles of this trade and settle down,” said Rahool.
It’s never easy getting red-light area youngsters out of the flesh trade, according to Bappaditya Mukhopadhyay, director of Prantakatha, the NGO that works in tandem with Rahool. “While the girls are often forced to join the trade, the boys invariably find themselves working as pimps. Even if they study and get a degree, they remain stigmatized and fail to shake off their past. Rahool’s effort is incredible,” said Mukhopadhyay. Prantakatha has branded him a youth leader and will be presenting him at seminars on youth leadership.
The brave youngster is now penning a book on the travails of red-light area children. He has titled it “Stories from RLA” (red-light areas). “They are abused by everyone, including the police. They have none to support them, not even their families. Yet they survive. I don’t want them to suffer in silence and die like Shanti. Their stories need to be told,” Rahool signed off.