Many young gals coming from Talukas and districts around Nagpur indulge in the oldest profession in the world when they come to the city to study or work

Till now, the Nagpurians had tagged Ganga Jamuna red light as the dwelling arena of the commercial sex workers, having shut their hearts, minds and eyes to their professional and personal lives. But, many of you will be now be shocked to know that there are hundreds of young, middle-class girls coming to Nagpur from nearby places like Wadi, Hingna, Kalmeshwar and Kamptee on the pretext of pursuing their education or career opportunities and selling sex for money. We trace this murky trail...

Playing Ms Jekyll and Hyde
"Most of these girls lead double lives and make their families believe that Nagpur is the destination of their dreams," says Varsha Pagale, the project manager of a city-based NGO, who's working for the eradication of HIV/AIDS among the non-brothel sex workers in the city. She adds: "Most of these girls are in the age-group of 18-25, and contrary to popular myth, not all of them are from stark poor homes. Of course, there are some, who get mired in this muddy terrain because of poverty, but there are many who are from decent middle-class homes, and indulging in this, to earn extra moolah. We are counselling quite a few students of nursing, Arts, Commerce and Science, who have got involved in prostitution."

Money matters!
It is the lure of the lucre that plays a major role in attracting these small-town girls, says Varsha, and adds: "Since these students are young, they get good money from their clients, which are solicited either directly or through their brokers. Each girl has more than six-seven SIMs and they keep changing their numbers. Each girl earns almost 6000 to 10,000 per night. And on hourly basis, their charging rates are 1500 to 2000, depending upon the client. On an average, each girl indulges in paid sex at least twice a week. So, in a month, they rake in plenty of moolah."

Expensive tastes
"In some of the cases, a part of this money is spent on their families, but in most of the cases, it is blown on expensive mobiles, la-di-dah makeup, accessories and smart new wardrobes. Almost all these girls drink like fish and live under the illusion of being as smart and trendy as their mini-metro brethren, informs Varsha. She goes on to add: "We have registered data base of 3000 non-brothel commercial sex workers, and out of these, almost 70 per cent are students. Others are young girls, who are supposedly working in different organisations in Nagpur and indulging in commercial sex during the working hours. The parents are blissfully unaware about the true nature of their work or education."

I tried everything else, but failed...
Kamptee girl Ketaki (name changed) tells us how she entered prostitution...
My family thinks that I'm studying part-time in a college in Kamptee and I visit Nagpur for my projects etc. But, they don't know that I'm involved in prostitution to run our home. When my father died four years back, my mother started working in a glass factory in Kamptee. But soon, her health deteriorated and the onus lied on me to keep the kitchen fires burning, as I'm the oldest of the three siblings. I tried working in a hospital and later in a computer centre, but the money was just not enough! Moreover, because of my good looks, I faced sexual harassment there. Finally, I took to prostitution when everything else failed. Now, I'm earning decent amount and educating my two younger siblings too. But, deep within, there is a dream hidden in my heart that someday a young prince will come and steal me away from this murky world and will take care of my family as well.