“My mother does a respectful job because she does it for me”, says Sonu Kundu, a footballer from Kolkata’s Sonagachi red-light district in a documentary made by 101 India.com. Kundu represented Indian team in Dana Cup in Denmark.
Sonagachi is Asia’s largest red-light district. It not only shelters sex workers from India but also from Bangladesh.
Unwanted pregnancies are daily reality. However, the babies born here are not treated as unwanted. Despite living with the stigma of being born to a prostitute, these children aim big.
Eight boys from Sonagachi represented India in Dana Cup in Denmark. The son’s of sex workers played, won, and become group champion and lost only in the pre-quarter finals to Norway.
In the documentary, when one of the footballers Ismail Sardar is asked about his mother, he reveals, although reluctantly, that she is a sex worker. He says whatever she does is for his betterment. It’s only ironical, Kolkata that houses Asia’s largest red-light area is also the city where football is treated not just as a sport but also as a religion.
