Men Live In India’s Largest Red Light Street

Not working to make money, these men rely on generous mistresses in the Red Light District of Sonagachi.
Men live in India's largest red light street
The rooms have double beds, an iron cupboard, a few things hidden in the corner and a small refrigerator placed on high wooden chairs, curtains in the windows, photos of several Bollywood actors on the wall. Women in bath towels or nightgowns roam between rooms, chatting juicy in Bengali. The scene is filled with Bollywood air, when it is noisy and quiet, with doors opening and closing continuously.
Inside of a family home in the Sonagachi slum

. Photo: United Nations.
According to QZ, this is a typical brothel in Sonagachi, the largest red light street in India, with thousands of prostitutes working in high-rise buildings on countless rundown streets of Kolkata, the state capital. West Bengal
Stories about these girls have appeared in many newspapers or in the adventurer's blogs, but rarely do people write about the life of men living in Sonagachi.




Babu
Shantiranjan Saha, 42, lives comfortably in a spacious three-story house with 10 rooms, each with a caller. Nearly 40 people live in brothels, including children. Saha is babu - the way the prostitutes call him.
"Babu means boyfriend or husband", Saha laughed revealing betel-colored teeth. "A husband of unmarried girls, an illegal husband", he laughed, surrounded by prostitutes, other babu girls, some maids ..
Saha arrived in Sonagachi almost 20 years ago, while leaving a village in Burdhman, north of Bengal.



Every day, he has the task of welcoming guests to have fun with the girls. “Then I met Shonali (character name changed). I love her, ”he said.
The smile faded when Saha spoke of his family in Burdhman - a wife and three children that had been left behind by him almost two decades ago. Although she still visits her old house once a month to give the allowance to his wife and children, Saha always considers her true home in Sonagachi.
“That's my life. Shonali and I love each other. I stayed, cooked and washed for Shonali, and she let me send money home for my wife and children, ”Saha said.




Sonagachi's baboons replace their lover as housewives - like wives in traditional Indian society - cook, clean, and comfort prostitutes during their difficult days. These men do not make money, but depend on the generosity of their lovers. For every 1,000 rupees (15 USD) earned while working, Shonali gave Saha 300 rupees (nearly 5 USD).
Purnima Chatterjee, a call girl, said: “Many young girls here are stupid, they think they are in love and keep giving all their salaries to the useless babu who just take advantage of them. We call these guys lenewala babu (husband only touches money ‘wife '). There are also denewala babu (husbands give money to ‘wife '), who are often patrons, like to be with a girl”.
Saha said that when he came back to live with Shonali nearly 10 years ago, he told her not to do this anymore. “We now have 10 girls under our command.



They work for us and give a percentage, ”he explained. Speaking like a local, he is also "malik" - the grandpa of the brothel.
The girls in Sonagachi covered their faces when they saw the camera. Photo: Rupak De Chowdhuri / Reuters.
Hand trigger bait
Another young man commented, “Oh love! Love here is as much as water. Today you love one person, tomorrow you love another. Life goes on this way, ”he laughed, lit a cigarette, and put his feet up on his chair.
Bapi Behra, 32, is from a small village in the state of Odisha, near Sonagachi.



Behra was a trigger that led guests into the brothels. Behra came to Sonagachi more than 15 years ago, leaving his newlyweds at home.
“I used to work as a truck driver in Odisha. Not enough money to support the family. My wife was 16 years old at the time and it was a loving marriage. Now I have two kids and come home every few months to give my wife the money, ”Behra said.
Behra's wife thinks her husband works as a cleaning worker in Kolkata. “She doesn't need to know the details of my work, nor does she ask.



I make 10 times more money than I did in Odisha. But I miss home, I'll go home once I've made enough money, ”he said.
Returning home with a pile of money is a common man's dream in Sonagachi. Sanjay Sinha, 23, said: “I'm here just to make money. I don't enjoy what I do, but work is work and money is money. Everyone has to eat, right? I will also go home when I have enough money.
Brokers like Behra and Sinha attract customers in many ways. Some, like Sinha, will stand on the curb along Chittaranjan Avenue and look for potential customers.



They usually work for sex workers between the ages of 18 and 25.
Behra deals with mid-range hotel managers and solicits older but more experienced golfer girls.
There are no official estimates of the number of brokers living inside or outside Sonagachi, but they either have to sneak around or bribe the scene..

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