Maa Durga and Sex- workers
Before judging me or thinking this is another article with a “clickbait” title then my intentions are not to mislead you in any way. Yes you have read the title correctly and this article in fact deals with the relation between Maa Durga and Sex-workers!
Have you been at the doorstep of a sex worker lately? Did you look deep into her? What did you see? Did you see through her despite all the lust within you? You don’t need to answer any of that.
Champa Mandal, she told me her name was on a boat in Babughat. Obviously that is not her real name; she never told me her real name. My friend Arjun and I were shooting a short film for our college project. We decided to do something about the lives of sex-workers. Champa was my find. We spoke for days trying to understand her; she revealed so much but kept away a lot more, leaving me to guess the rest. On asking if she would take me to her house, she cried. She never took me to her place. Champa was forced into the dark by lanes of Kolkata, I never understood her but I tried. Champa cannot be understood; none of the “Champa” you or I see can be understood. You need to possess a heart as big as Mount Everest to probably understand or a heart as deep as the Atlantic.
Maa Durga, the Goddess loved by all is known as the Mahamaya. Makers of Durga idols at Kumartoly work all day long before the festivities begin. The makers give shape to the idols, the ten hands, the weapons, the lion, Mahisasur with six pack abs! The makers make it all, the breasts and the eyes. What do they think of when they make the private parts? They only think of mother, the supreme energy that gives life to the entire universe. However, one can see in Kumartoly Mahamaya being made by maya (the created)! I thought Mahamaya made us!
The idol makers approach the sex workers quarters to collect the dust from the doorsteps. It is believed that when a man enters the sex quarters he drops all the fruits of his good karma at the door steps of sex workers. The dust is then mixed with mud from the Ganges which is later translated into a beautiful idol of Mother Durga. Mother after bathing in Ganga water along with mud from Ganga and dust from Champa’s house looks beautiful. She goes back to Ganga after the festivities. Champa goes back to a life where there is no coming back from.
Maa Durga needs Champa or there will be no Maa. How far have we come as a society? How deep into ‘mud’ have we gone?
Vikram Pratap Singh is a writer and a content creator for www.extrainsights.in. He is inspired by arts, music and society. This article is his take on the declining Indian society.