The CUSTOMER likes it!
She highlights her almond shaped eyes with kohl. They need it since they aren’t her best feature. She deliberately applies bright pink eye shadow over her lids. A little “oomph” has never done bad for anyone. She outlines her lips with great concentration before filling them in with colour. They say- “Well begun is half done”. She thoroughly coats her long wavy hair with jasmine oil. Its scent makes her stand out in the crowd. She generously dusts her face with talcum powder. Fair is beautiful, after all. She paints her well-shaped nails to match her outfit.
She dangles fake ruby earrings from her lobes. If she puts up the appearance of being an upper class girl today, maybe she will get there someday. She slips her feet into shoes labelled Aldo. Hopefully the fake brand name will draw more attention than her large feet. She eats only two meals a day to keep her voluptuous figure on check. Curvy is the new sexy, it says so on all the magazine covers. She wears a pair of dark blue jeans that hug her hips and thighs. Her tightly fitted Levi’s top leaves nothing to the imagination.Her red scarf has sequins that she sewed on last night. The customer likes it when she looks a certain way, you see. She pays rent for her room every month.Her house isn’t her property, but atleast she has a house. She orders cold drinks and enquires about the well-being of every guest she entertains. Atithi Devo Bhava is every Indian’s motto. She bribes policemen. Otherwise, they stop her from conducting business. She can never get her papers in order due to the lackadaisical attitude of government servants. She has lots of dreams for her children. She hopes that they will achieve much more in life than she was able to. The customer doesn’t understand that she is just like him in certain ways, you see. She is sensual. She is vulnerable. She is erotic. She is selfless. She is playful. She is imprisoned. The customer likes it when she acts a certain way, you see.
She works late several times in a month. Her husband sleeps at the construction site on those nights. She has sex with men who are not her lovers. She has sex without condoms because her partners claim to feel more pleasure that way. She contracts sexually transmitted diseases from unhygienic government hospitals. She carries children of unknown men. She cannot get abortions because it will require her to rest her body after the procedure. She cannot afford to lose out on any kind of business. She raises her child in a balcony and in the waiting area where customers await their service. She sends her child away to unknown relatives because they can provide her child with a better life. She wishes her father hadn’t sold her. She wishes she could have had another chance at life. She wishes society wouldn’t judge her without knowing anything about her. She wishes. The customer doesn’t understand that he can’t recognize certain parts of his whore’s life, you see!
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About the Author: This article is contributed by Aashna Banerjee, our Intern.
