It may be curtains down for Mumbai’s infamous Red Light Area of Kamathipura. The population of sex workers is reported to have gone down drastically with just a handful of 500 (approx) actively operating today, Arun Dongre, Chief Officer, MHADA’s Mumbai Repair and Reconstruction Board, told the FPJ.
Door-to-door area and population survey
This was revealed when a door-to-door area and population survey of the 15 odd lanes that make up Kamathipura was undertaken by the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) as part of it’s Redevelopment project there and was further corroborated by Dr Ishwar Gilada, consultant HIV/STDs, Unison Medicare and Research Centre and President Emeritus, AIDS Society of India (ASI).
According to Gilada the action now has shifted to Massage Parlours and Salons. “The era of brothels, pimps and madames has got replaced with Maalish Parlours emerging as the new and big Sex Addas”, he said.
Online Apps catering to people's sexual needs
Plus online Apps like Grinder, Kinder and Bumble are catering to both men and women on the look out for sex and dating under the garb of a good massage. “Individual masseurs are openly advertising on social media and also in the newspapers - ‘Body to Body Massage’, ‘Massage in the comfort of your home’ and what have you!…Maalish is just a front for sexual intimacy…the game has completely changed”, he added.
“I have clients who come to me with HIV Phobia after visiting these salons where after a good massage they are offered packages like ‘Happy Endings’ which in their parlance is basically masturbation, ‘Happy Endings +’ which is another word for Sex and ‘Happy Endings ++’ which includes not only Sex but also oral, genital, top, bottom etc sex. The price point depends on the type of parlour be it a high end catering to a classy clientele to a low grade option. Plus looks, experience and body physique all count when fixing the rate” he said.
Kamathipura as red light area has been on downslide for some time now
Gilada further pointed out that Kamathipura as a red light area has been on the downslide for some time now…people have stopped frequently this Asia’s oldest and second largest brothel hub partly because people have become choosy about their sexual partners, HIV Phobia and fear of other sexually transmitted diseases. “Trafficking and new arrivals of girls from Nepal to Mumbai has nearly stopped and Devdasi system is almost over. Sex workers and their new generation are getting educated and aware. Today their children have easy access to school admissions because they don’t have to necessarily reveal their father’s name”.
Also sex is now easily and readily available online and you can protect your privacy by inviting a masseur home…be it male or female.
The risk of HIV
35-year-old Abhishek Mule (name changed), an engineer who was lured into the massage parlour game and has now tested positive for HIV narrates his experience:
I am single and had not experienced sex till I met a man on my daily morning walk. We became friendly and started chatting normally. When he came to know I was single he said “You are a handsome man…Aap Akele rehete ho…Bore nahin hote?”
From then on our friendship grew and he introduced me to Apps like Grinder, Kinder and Bumble. I started exploring and checking them out. Initially I was hesitant because all along I was convinced that I was a-sexual. Then one fine day I too decided to try out a massage from an individual masseur. At first I opted for a normal maalish but gradually he started seducing me by arousing and fondling my private parts… eventually leading to full-fledged sex. I started enjoying sex with men and now I find myself getting attracted to women as well. Today I know I am Bi-sexual.
Behind curtains in massage parlours
In professional massage parlours they also offer women as partners. You have a choice. You can opt for a male masseur or a female one. At the end of the massage you can get intimate with them and they charge you for it.
The rates of private individual masseurs is lower than the salons. They charge anywhere between Rs 500 to 1000 per session depending on their looks, skills, experience and physique/figure.
The Apps offer an entire gamut of services ranging from economy class to high profile and top grade.
To be on the safer side, every three months I got regular medical check-ups done until recently when I tested HIV positive. Today my advice to young people would be don’t get intimate with anyone till you know the person well enough. Also avoid unprotected sex. I am paying for not following this.
