Sonali stares proudly at the three hundred-rupee notes, a couple
of fifty rupee-notes and an assortment of smaller notes bunched up in
a smelly handerkerchief, in addition to a wristwatch and umbrella.
The watch and umbrella together will fetch another two hundred rupees
or so. She has managed a full pack of cigarettes, another with three
or four, a lighter and half a bottle of rum.
Quickly, she hides one of the hundred rupee notes and the loose
cigarettes—just seconds before her brother
is a development journalist based in Kolkata. She has been reporting from red-light and prostitution-impacted areas across India and several other parts of the world for over 15 years. She has received the Chameli Devi Jain award, The Statesman Rural Reporting award, and The Brief Media award, among others.
