Of Whoring And Waiting: The Sages And Cages Of Kamathipura
A 2019 raid rescuing 141 girls held behind trap doors and steel cages raised a poignant question—how long will art continue imitating life?
The Sonshine Years: Bitter-sweet Memories Of Growing Up In Kamathipura
'There’s more hardship in sex work. The tawaif wants just a little bit of izzat, which the sex worker is denied to even dream about.'
Kamathipura Redevelopment But For Whom?
An ambitious redevelopment plan is being readied for Kamathipura, whose lanes had seen a thriving sex trade. Forced out of the area, the sex workers will lose their homes as lowrises become highrises.
Developing Kamathipura: Life Measured in Square Feet
Plans to revive Mumbai’s infamous locality of Kamathipura have remained, at best, a dream for its residents
Sex Workers Of Kamathipura: Nowhere To Go, Nowhere To Live
Multiple factors including the law have made it impossible to collectivise the women in the locality
From Shabana Azmi To Alia Bhatt: A Walk On The Wild Side
Very few Indian directors have handled the subject of sex workers sensitively. Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Gangubai is an exception.
Bollywood’s Sex Workers: Courte-sans Creativity
Never known for originality or verisimilitude, Bollywood scriptwriters trawl the absolute depths when creating on-screen prostitutes, in search of lucre
To Be Or NATO Be: Putin’s War On Ukraine Is Also A Western Creation
The West is well aware of Russia’s concerns and knows the potential dangers of keeping the NATO’s doors open to Ukraine’s membership, but it has gambled on the Russian sense of its weakness.
Kamatipura: Namdeo Dhasal’s Ode To Mumbai’s Dark Underbelly
This poem appeared in Namdeo Dhasal’s 1981 Marathi collection, 'Tuhi Iyatta Kanchi' (What Grade Are You In), later translated to English by Dilip Chitre, and published by Navayana in 2007.
Love, Loss And Longing Among Kamathipura’s Sex Workers
The parallel world of Sanjay Leela Bhansali, with its aesthetically-lit windows and luxurious sentimentality that glows in the yellow fairy lights, doesn’t tell the story of the countless other Gangubais.
Icons And Myths: How The Past And Present Are Colliding In UP’s Caste Cauldron
In the Hindi belt’s transactional politics, more and more caste groups are asserting their identity by harking back to historical or mythical icons, to demand a share of the electoral marketplace
Manipur Maelstrom: Why Is The Northeast State Witnessing Poll Violence?
If the last five years witnessed a visible reduction in alleged ‘excesses’ committed by armed forces, the 2022 assembly polls recorded unprecedented pre-poll violence
Ukraine Diary: Father, Husband, Entrepreneur…And Now A Backroom Soldier
War is not only scary, it changes you. It overwhelms your senses, makes you excessively emotional.