A Son Comes To Terms With His Mother’s Past As A Sex Worker

Shankar Sarkar

Human trafficking is a multi-billion dollar global industry - India alone is home to more than 5 million sex workers, many of whom are children. Over the years, several filmmakers and journalists have tried to capture the essence of the life of a sex worker. Mary Ellen Mark created compelling work in the 70s when she photographed the sex workers of Falkland Road and Zana Briski worked her way into the inner circles of the brothels in Sonagachi and created the documentary Born Into Brothels. Many documentaries have portrayed the lives of the people in these communities but one such documentary, titled Facing One’s Own, has a unique quality which sets it apart – it is shot from the inside-out. Shankar Sarkar is the son of a former sex worker and he spent 12 years of his life living on a dingy lane in Sethbagan; Kolkata’s infamous red-light area and as fate would have it, he was privy to the social aspects of living in a brothel district which outsiders rarely, if ever, witness.

The photographs span over 12 years and cover many aspects of Shankar’s life as well as his relationship with his mother Kavita – who was then a sex worker; and portray an inside view that journalists and photographers would take months or years to see. By not needing to gain the trust of his subjects, Shankar was able to put himself as a photographer in a position that came naturally to him. The images are quick to depict a sense of normalcy despite the harsh surroundings – it is as if a 10-year-old kid is describing all he has ever known. Dingy lanes, crowded houses and narrow gullies are the norm in this photo series and although the medium is black and white, the images paint a colourful albeit gloomy picture of the streets, shops, workers and all the people in Shankar’s life. The photo series is also a bridge for Shankar to reconcile differences with his mother and come to terms with his identity as the son of a sex worker. We delve into Shankar’s past to better understand the inspirations behind this evocative project.

"A self-portrait with my mother, an intimate moment in my life. August 2011." Image and caption courtesy of Shankar Sarkar

Shankar was born in the semi-arid lands of Malkangiri, Odisha and his father died while he was a toddler. After his death Shankar’s mother, Kavita, was not supported by her in-laws or brothers and when somebody from the village offered her an employment opportunity in Kolkata she agreed and moved to Kolkata leaving behind her two-year-old son with her widowed mother. Little did she know that she was being lured into the flesh trade and would be trafficked to a brothel in Sethbagan. Accepting her fate, Kavita regularly saved money and sent it to her mother in Malkangiri but never told her what she did for a living. When Shankar was five-years-old Kavita’s mother decided to go to Kolkata in search of her daughter and she took Shankar along. “I remember my grandmother took me with her and we travelled by train without a ticket as she could not afford one. She could sing bhajans well, and so she sang on the way and people gave her a few coins,” Shankar told Savvy.

Once they reached Kolkata, Shankar’s grandmother had no clue as to how she would locate her daughter. When she got in touch with the person who had brought her to Kolkata she was able to find the locality where Kavita lived but it was a nasty surprise to find her daughter working in a brothel. Young as Shankar was, he did not understand the implications of his mother’s profession nor did he believe that Kavita was his real mother. In fact, he never felt an emotional bond with his mother and there was always an indifferent emotional distance between mother and child as he was growing up. “To me, she was like any other woman. In fact, when I was told that she was my actual mother, I turned away from her. To me, my grandmother was my mother, whom I loved deeply till the end. My mother tried to draw me towards her, offering me sweets and toys but I simply could not accept her.” Not long after, his grandmother went back to Orissa leaving him with his mother and her live-in partner and creating a void that could not be filled by his biological mother.

Shankar was left with no alternative but to try and adjust to his new life. He tried going back to his village but was quickly sent back to Kolkata once news about his mother’s profession spread through the community. Shankar’s formative years were outlined by grief, helplessness and loneliness. At school, other students misbehaved with him and called his mother names while his teachers showed him the cold shoulder. His sense of alienation expanded as he grew up and understood the nature of his mother’s profession. He dropped out of school in fifth standard and started doing odd jobs to earn a living.

But then in 2000, his life took a major turn when a project supported by UNICEF selected Shankar in a group 100 children to be part of an initiative whose aim was to empower the children of sex workers through photography. The children were given compact film cameras which they had to share in turns. “I remember the very first day when the facilitator visited our area and sitting on the floor meeting with the then small kids asked me ‘Whom do you love in your family?’ I was shy and nervous in replying to his question. It took some time but I finally hesitantly responded that I loved my mother. The second question was ‘Why?’ and this time I didn’t hesitate and said ‘I miss her.’ He handed over a compact analogue camera and asked me to photograph my mother, family and our surroundings. He started teaching us how to compose a picture, so on and so forth.” Shankar told Galli.

Shankar’s mother was more often than not busy with clients so he began photographing his immediate neighbourhood but soon realised that in this community, personal identities were meant to stay hidden. He faced rejection from many residents who did not want to be photographed until his mother offered herself as a subject. Shankar took to exploring the world around him through the lens and over a span of 12 years created a photo series titled Facing One’s Own; which has won rave reviews from critics all over the world. The series has been published in journals and magazines in India and abroad and exhibited at prominent venues like the Delhi Photo Festival (2011) and the Guardian Gallery in London (2012). Shankar has documented his interpersonal relationship with his mother and her daily life from the very intimate perspective of a son and captured a melancholic celebration of life as we witness Kavita’s transformation from working in a brothel to working with a UK-based NGO Freeset that manufactures garments and accessories.

Shankar Sarkar photographs his mother

Shankar has seen photographers coming from different parts of the country and even from abroad taking pictures of the red light areas. Many of these photographers pay the sex workers to tell their stories and conduct photo shoots and then leave. This, in his view, is an unhealthy and unrealistic approach to telling the stories of these communities. He has seen the excitement and discomfort that is created when people talk about these areas but for him it is a part of everyday life. This is reflected in his photographs which exhibit a certain ordinariness which is uncharacteristic to what we normally attribute to red light areas.

Triumphant though the story is, the path has not been brightly lit all the way. Shankar has faced strong criticism from certain sects of society – he has been told that he has sold his mother all over again. The support he receives from his mother and the urge to tell his story are what keep him going. Though he is employed in a full-time job, he yearns to return to the carefree days of his childhood and relive the time he spent with his grandmother.

You can view the entire series here.