India’s red light youngsters going for gold

IN A break from training for one of the world’s largest football tournaments, Yakub Ali swells with pride at the idea of putting a smile on the face of his mother back in Asia’s biggest red light district.

“We’ve grown used to people sneering about where we come from and telling us that our mothers are worthless,” says 15-year-old Yakub.

“So this will be a gift to all of our mothers who have to put up with discrimination, abuse and injustice every day of their life in Sonagachi.”

Yakub is one of eight sons of sex workers living in Kolkata’s notor ious Sonagachi neig hbourhood who are heading to Denmark later this month to ta ke pa r t i n t he 25t h Dana Cup, an internationa l yout h tournament.

His Durbar Sports Academy t e a mmates a l s o i n c l u d e youngsters drawn from other slum areas in India’s eastern metropolis. They will join hundreds of teams taking part in the tournament which runs from July 26-30.

The tournament in the northern town of Hjorring will include teams of boys and girls from every corner of the globe, but few will surely match the raw desire to prove their worth than the Durbar line-up.

The academy is overseen by the Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee (DMSC), a charity organisation which works for the welfare of Indian prostitutes and also runs Asia’s first cooperative for sex workers.

Situated around 40 kilomet r e s ( 2 5 mi le s ) s out h of Kol kata, t he academy g ives underpriv i leged youngsters an opportunity to let their hair down far away from the narrow alleys and squalid apartments of Sonagachi.

Treated as untouchables

An estimated 8,000 sex workers ply their trade in Sonagachi which is home to several hundred brothels, gaining it the reputation as the largest single red light zone in Asia.

Smarajit Jena, a public health scientist who founded DMSC, said the boys were routinely treated as pariahs in Sonagachi and often found themselves with no one to turn to when they encounter challenges in their daily life.

“The kind of loneliness that t he chi ld ren of sex workers have to endu re i s ha rd to describe. They are treated as untouchables,” Jena said.

“Most of them end up droppi ng out of school because of t he st ig ma, so we need somet hing to focus on a nd br i ng t hem back i nto t he mainstream.”

Yakub, a wiry centre-forward, said he had “cried tears of joy” when the team qualified for Denmark. The cost of the trip is being underwritten by several Indian and international corporations.

“Football has opened doors for boys like us to prove our worth,” the teenager said.

“We got a taste for victory when we won our league in Kolkata last year, but now we are only looking forward.”

Yakub says he never goes anywhere without a picture of his hero Lionel Messi in his pocket, but acknowledges that he will have to temper his inclination to go on mazy runs like his Argentine hero.

“We are training hard and trying to stay focused. We are being trained to perform like a finely tuned orchestra rather than a solo act,” he explains.

While cricket is the number one sport in India, Kolkata is often regarded as the premier football city, and it is just as common to see youngsters kicking a ball on the streets as wielding a bat.