This week’s Sunday Guardian carries an interesting story on the unsafe cities of Delhi, in which two reporters roam the streets after dark. They mostly encounter prostitutes and a steady throng of haggling customers
The business is difficult. “People do not pay up. Or pay much less. Sometimes, they do not pay at all and say they did not enjoy it. At other times, they pick us up in cars and take us to their places. We find out that we would have to service a group of friends instead of one person as originally planned. But we cannot do anything. We have to do it. They do not pay us extra,” complains Naina. Her friend Monica seconds her. “Men behave like bastards,” she says.
Aside from the Captain Obvious headline (Delhi is sex crime capital of India) which also happens to be highly ambiguous (the story is mostly about the thriving sex business), it is an interesting piece about what happens when the clock strikes 8. Unlike Cinderella’s chariot which turns back into a fairly innocuous pumpkin, the streets of Delhi comes alive with insidious pimps and helpless sex-workers. But I wish the story had been slightly more in-depth a la Caravan magazine (Prayaag Akbar, trust you’re listening).
Do read: Delhi is sex crime capital of India
