Soofi offers readers a glimpse into how sex workers interact with customers, often aggressively and crassly, and the more regular aspects of their lives, including cooking and praying. Soofi spoke to Reuters about his book and the sex workers who he now calls his friends after spending three years with those he describes as ordinary people living in an extraordinary world.
Road, I had no intention to write a book on the place. Now you can get sex on the Internet and hook up with people. I think maybe after 20, 30 years, G. Road will become extinct. Q: Did you have any misconceptions about people involved in the sex industry that were shattered once you got to know them? Q: As well as documenting the relationships the sex workers have with their customers, you write about more mundane aspects of their lives.
Why did you think that was important to cover? Sometimes writers turn people into circus performers to create interest for the reader. This to me means we can get a better sense of her character. She is not just a commodity.
Q: In your book, the sex workers come across as strong, independent women. Is that a fair description? They are very independent in their lives. Q: You met dozens of people while working on this book. Who did you like interacting with the most? I was so amazed by her story. It was such an uncliched story. Her story begins with a cliche that her husband beats her and then she ran away to Delhi and became a prostitute.
But she chose to revive her marriage and stayed in touch with her husband. I was last there two, three days ago. This book is not a conclusion of a part of my life. These people on G. Road and in number are friends and are friends irrespective of my book. My friendship and relationship with them continues in a normal, natural way.
