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Society
Pearls of Love
December 2004
was a special month for Suman, Aruna, Poonam, Naaz and Mala. They were
part of the festival, `Dhai Akshaar Pyar Ke' (renamed `Pearls of
Love' in English), an event that brought several sex workers together to
display their skills in classical music and dance.
The women, who came from Muzzafarpur (in Bihar), Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh
(UP) and Rai Sena in Madhya Pradesh (MP), sang qawaalis, thumris and sufi
songs and displayed their prowess in kathak and folk dances. The festival
was organized by Guria, an NGO working in Varanasi to improve the lives of
sex workers, making them aware of their rights, and supporting and
educating their children.
Started by Ajeet Singh, 40-plus, a resident of Varanasi, Guria ('doll' in
Hindi) began working for women in prostitution (a term Singh uses) in
1993. "Even during my student days, I felt women in red light areas didn't
have options for another life. I saw some attempts made to train them in
other professions, but this took a long time. Often the women lost
interest and went back to their original profession," says Singh.
Initially, when he tried working with sex workers, Singh says, they were
not convinced of his ideas. "They even abused me, but I continued talking
to them," says Singh. However, he realized one big concern for all of them
was their children. In 1993, Singh adopted the two daughters and a son of
a sex worker and started educating them. He ran classes from home. Today,
Guria reaches out to over 800 children (aged four-15 years) and educates
them in its non-formal education centre, called the Guria School.
"In the beginning, the women felt that perhaps it would be better if their
sons went to school and daughters worked with them. But we managed to
convince them that even their daughters had a right to a better life,"
says Singh. The Guria School educates children of different age groups
through a specially designed curriculum. Some of the children take
admission in regular schools; those who don't, stay back and learn a craft
or vocation.
Raised in a disadvantaged environment and without a father figure, many
children suffer serious psychological problems. It requires a lot of
patience to change their situation, feels Singh.
Besides working in the Shivdaspur red light area of Varanasi, Guria works
with the Bedias, known for community-based prostitution in MP.
The Guria Mahotsav - as the festival was earlier called - began in 1995,
when Singh decided to encourage the women to look for some alternative
employment. "During my conversations with them, I realized that they were
immensely talented. Some of them were very good dancers, while others were
excellent singers. Some of the women were trained in classical music
during their childhood." The women wanted to be appreciated for their
talent. And the festival offered them a platform. "I decided that this was
my solution for an alternative employment. Instead of training them in
something new, I thought it better that their existing talents were shown
to the world. The idea was to train them as professional performers and
give them enough programmes so that they can earn a living like this."
"Initially, we received a lot of brickbats as people could not accept
these women performing in `decent' surroundings. But the women were
enthusiastic, were ready to face everything - even catcalls - and more
festivals followed," says Singh. In various programmes, the audience
included celebrities like the late poet Kaifi Azmi and wife Shaukat,
filmmakers Mahesh Bhatt and Tanuja Chandra, activist and bureaucrat G R
Khairnar and tabla maestro Pandit Kishen Maharaj.
So far, around 75-80 women are a part of the Varanasi festival group,
while the Bedia community women form a team of around 25-30. They get Rs
1,000 (1US$=Rs 45) during the festival season. Singh says he wants to
organize more festivals so that the women have a regular source of income.
The Guria team was also invited to the World Social Forum in 2004 (held in
Mumbai). Singh recalls: "It was a major opportunity. My team was nervous,
as this was for the first time they were performing in front of such a
huge audience." The rechristening of the festival to 'Dhai Akhar Pyar Ke'
sends out a clear message, he says - the women want love, and want to
spread it around too.
Guria is funded by organizations like ActionAid, Asha and CRY. It is now
trying to convince tourism officials in UP to include their concerts in
the annual tourism festival.
� Tarranum Manjul
January 16, 2005
By arrangement with
Womens Feature Service
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