Once Again the Durbar way of Being

[Guest guest]

Dear Friends,

Durbar's members commit to donate eyes after death. To celebrate this Puja, 54

sex workers are going to will their corneas on the 19th October. This is to

bring alive the myth of Rama's worshiping Durga with his own eyes, when he fell

short of two Lotus before he went to the battle with Ravana. We can only imagine

the darkness of the blinds, once the same hapless darkness was our lot.

Overcoming so many barriers we could come out into the light, and now it is an

imperative to us to add light to life. JUST IMAGINE people are seeing and

searching the world through the eyes of the stigmatized women! Let us hope they

would start perceiving the life and the worlds in a bit different way.

Would not they stop stigmatizing and outcasting people? Would not they be able

to stop violence? Fifteen years ago the movement of sex workers of Bengal paved

the democratic and successful way for fighting HIV/AIDS. In this time of history

when killing and violence at ever increasing speed and scale is being taken for

granted, and movement for peace and democracy and unbounded love is sporadic,

ours is a small contribution to that movement. It would be also the celebration

of our self.

We are donating eyes out of compassion and urge, we believe it would help

(mainstream) people rethink stigmatizing and marginalizing the 'other'. Come

join the movement of sex workers - it is the part of the democratic and human

rights movement!

DMSC, Kolkata

e-mail: <dmsc_taah@...>