By: Laxmi Hosmani

In Maharastra there is one small, beautiful town called Sangli. We were six people in the train traveling together, and the journey was eight hours. Our journey was wonderful, we had so much fun and enjoyed the train. When I took my first step in that village, suddenly I was surprised and there was a smile on my face. I can’t explain how happy I was there.

Now I am very happy because I got a wonderful opportunity and I wanted to use it to the full. And when we talked to Sangram’s staff, I learned so many things about sex workers and realized that we had many similar opinions, opinions that are unusual. The most important thing I learned is that sex workers can be excellent role models, not only Mahatma Gandhi, Chacha Nehru, but also sex workers and our moms.

In Mumbai there are so many places with red light areas, but there are so many differences between Sangli and Mumbai. Sangli, including the red light areas, was very beautiful and clean. And there, women have so many powers to fight for their rights. The most important thing is that all the sex workers communicate with each other, they are abetting other women in their bad situations, but Mumbai sex workers don’t know their rights . Also another important thing is that the sex workers in Sangli come on their own, nobody forced them to do sex work. This is a big difference between Sangli and Mumbai.