Whose life is it anyway?

“I am a prostitute by birth, by vocation, by religion. No man has tricked me into this calling. No bastard has deceived me. No pimp has forced me into a 'cage.' Unlike other innocent girls who have been unwittingly trapped into the flesh trade, I have never shed tears. In fact, I have chosen this ancient profession because it gives me total satisfaction.”

These are the views of Kumud, the protagonist of this classic, written in the seventies, with her permission. She proclaims: “Whose life is it anyway? Whether I sell my body or destroy it – it is none of your fucking business.” Shocked?

This is not a novel; it is a biography of Kumud (name changed), a sex worker in Kamathipura, Mumbai, who rose to become a film star and played the lead role in a Hindi movie.

Originally written in Gujarati (Vasaksajja),
soon to be released in English The Cages