Buying Options

Read for Free

OR

Kindle Price: $1.99

Deliver to your Kindle or other device

You've subscribed to ! We will preorder your items within 24 hours of when they become available. When new books are released, we'll charge your default payment method for the lowest price available during the pre-order period.

Update your device or payment method, cancel individual pre-orders or your subscription at
Your Memberships & Subscriptions

There was an error. We were unable to process your subscription due to an error. Please refresh and try again.

Enter a promotion code or Gift Card

Share <Embed>

Daughters of the Red Light: Coming of Age in Mumbai's Brothels (Kindle Single) by [Shanoor Seervai]

Follow the Author

Shanoor Seervai

Daughters of the Red Light: Coming of Age in Mumbai's Brothels (Kindle Single) Kindle Edition

by Shanoor Seervai (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

258 ratings

in One-Hour Politics & Social Sciences Short Reads

See all formats and editions

Price

New from

Used from

Kindle

"Please retry"

$1.99

—

Kindle
$0.00 Read with Kindle Unlimited to also enjoy access to over 1 million more titles $1.99 to buy

When Shanoor Seervai first visits Mumbai's red-light district as a young volunteer, she is shaken by the violence and despair that women there endure every day. Years later, now a newspaper reporter, she returns to gain a deeper understanding of the lives of sex workers.

Daughters of the Red Light is a searing look at the poverty, injustice and stigma that keep entire families from escaping India's notorious sex industry. Seervai takes readers to Mumbai’s grittiest alleyways to discover the stories of these women and girls. As she unravels the brutal web entangling them, she finds an unexpected reason for hope.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Shanoor Seervai is an Indian writer and journalist. Her work has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The Daily Beast, Guernica Magazine, The Caravan and The Indian Express. Born and raised in Mumbai, she now lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where she is pursuing an advanced degree in public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.

EARLY PRAISE FOR DAUGHTERS OF THE RED LIGHT

"This is a meaningful and important piece of writing that contributes in a significant way toward understanding the lives of sex workers and their families and how we might help alleviate their marginalization and suffering. Shanoor Seervai's book shows you the humanity of the mothers and children in the red light district, as she takes you on her journey of discovery into their world and her place in the world at large. It gave me new insight into the lives of the sex workers and their children, and how the tireless work of some offers real hope—the greatest gift of all."

— Geeta Anand, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of The Cure

"Most writing about India's underbelly treats people as passive victims. It is far too easy to find stories of misery in Indian cities and hold them up as one-dimensional examples of the country's uneven progress. Shanoor Seervai does not do cutouts. She dives into the world of Mumbai's sex workers, introducing us to real women with families and dreams we recognize. She brings the reader along for her journey, which is journalistic as well as personal, as she navigates the gender norms and class divides of urban India with sharp observations and true empathy. I've been visiting Mumbai all my life and feel I understand it better having read this heartfelt work."

— Shashank Bengali, South Asia bureau chief, Los Angeles Times

"A thought-provoking headlong dive into a little known culture."

— Sonia Faleiro, Award-winning author of Beautiful Thing: Inside the Secret World of Bombay’s Dance Bars.

"With this honest and insightful memoir, Shanoor Seervai peels back a tattered curtain to reveal the complex and brutal world of Mumbai’s commercial sex trade. Through her eyes, we begin to really see the women — and children — behind the makeup. Through her journey we are challenged to consider our common humanity; and our own, personal response to the injustices that land (and keep) millions of the world’s most vulnerable children in the hell we call the 'Red Light.'"

— Laura Entwistle, Founder and CEO of EmancipAction, an international non-profit organization working to end child sex trafficking around the world

Print length

38 pages
Language

English
Publication date

August 16, 2015
File size

206 KB
Page Flip

Enabled
Word Wise

Enabled
Enhanced typesetting

Enabled
See all details

Hannah Rubenstein
258
Kindle Edition
1 offer from $4.99
Hill Krishnan
156
Kindle Edition
1 offer from $7.99
Shaida Mehrban
237
Kindle Edition
1 offer from $4.99
Anne Schreiber Thomas
153
Kindle Edition
1 offer from $7.99
Kaighla Um Dayo
205
Kindle Edition
1 offer from $9.99
Barbara White
32
Kindle Edition
1 offer from $3.99

Create your FREE Amazon Business account to save up to 10% with Business-only prices and free shipping. Register today

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0141DKB96
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Global Dispatches (August 16, 2015)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ August 16, 2015
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 206 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 38 pages
Lending ‏ : ‎ Enabled

Best Sellers Rank: #67,415 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #1 in One-Hour Politics & Social Sciences Short Reads
- #10 in One-Hour Biography & Memoir Short Reads
- #12 in Kindle Singles: Politics & Social Sciences

Customer Reviews:
258 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.

Shanoor Seervai

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Shanoor Seervai is an Indian writer and journalist. Her work has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The Daily Beast, Guernica Magazine, The Caravan and The Indian Express. She is the author of 'Daughters of the Red Light,' a Kindle Single about the women and girls of Mumbai's brothels. Born and raised in Mumbai, she now lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where she is pursuing an advanced degree in public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.

Customer reviews

5 star		35%
4 star		29%
3 star		24%
2 star		8%
1 star		3%

How are ratings calculated?

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

chuck johnson

Indian Culture and the sex trade.

Reviewed in the United States on December 1, 2021

Verified Purchase

This story sheds some light on a hidden part of our world and touches on some causes of the shadows around that world. It is an interesting social dilemma somewhat different than the sex trade industry in the US that has overtones of drug abuse and with less purpose than feeding a family.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Theresa Miller

Shanoor Seervai has a great take on Mumbai’s Sex Worker’s Lives!

Reviewed in the United States on August 6, 2021

Verified Purchase

This is a very well written account of Sex workers and the social environment that Indians continue to emphasize in their society. Shanoor points out the dual problems caused by these beliefs, the “not in my backyard” to the inability of Indian society to recognize that these women need employment, and they are denied basic necessities simply because they have no other choice in order to have a means to feed and clothe themselves and their children. I’m eager to read more by Shanoor Seervai.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Laurie m

We can and need to do better!

Reviewed in the United States on August 21, 2015

Verified Purchase

Shanoor Seervai has written a book that shares with us a very personal story about her life and the lives of the oppressed women she wants to help.
The writing is powerful because it is thoughtful and authentic. I didn't feel like I was being preached to, sold to or coerced. The women in these stories face enormous challenges and in my mind are heros and champions of the human spirit. They face tremendous adversity and yet they meet the challenges and strive to overcome them for themselves and their children. The stories reveal some hard truths about the human condition and the horrible things we do or let happen to each other but it also shares some truths about our potential to be amazing and do great things. The setting is India but the scope of the lessons and insights for me were much bigger.
We can and have to do a better job caring for, respecting and helping each other!

5 people found this helpful

Helpful

Molly

A touching, educational and heartfelt memoir

Reviewed in the United States on August 29, 2015

Verified Purchase

This is a beautifully written and introspective story of exploration and self-discovery. Shanoor Seervai is incredibly self-aware on her journey through Mumbai's red-light district; she recognizes the ways in which her presence affects the residents of Kamathipura, and is deeply aware of the ways in which stepping into their lives impacts her. What makes this book unique is how she tells her own story in tandem with the stories of the people of Kamathipura. Her vulnerability helps her to expose their struggle to survive and make a better life for their families. In this way, she humanizes people who are so easily ignored. She doesn't preach to the reader that they should try to change the world and she works to understand their lives through her own experience, while helping the reader to do the same. She empathizes, which is something we should all try to do.

4 people found this helpful

Helpful

disneyfan1313

It is good... But....

Reviewed in the United States on May 6, 2016

Verified Purchase

When you read a Kindle single, you know they are going to be short and easily digestible stories - but usually they tell one fleshed out story. This tells many partial stories that just cry for even a few more details. It also is really only about the daughters of the women in the brothels - if you are looking for insight into the brothels themselves, you will be disappointed. Overall it is worth getting to learn about a subset of a subculture.

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Ms. Tee

Enlightening...

Reviewed in the United States on May 25, 2021

Verified Purchase

It never cease to amaze me what we as humans do to one another. It was enlightening. I commend the author for shining a light on this issue.

Helpful

tbd

Eyes on the World

Reviewed in the United States on September 25, 2021

Verified Purchase

A rare book that brings our eyes into a far away but important small part of the world. Little by little we can all make it better.

Helpful

Aditi Patel

I can't recommend this book highly enough!

Reviewed in the United States on August 23, 2015

Verified Purchase

Shanoor Seervai's book deals with an issue that is all too easy for most Bombay residents to ignore. Seervai's courage in defying the expectations of her privilege to hear and share the women's stories is hugely admirable, as is her unique ability to tell their stories in simple and unpretentious language, without a trace of pity or condescension.

I especially enjoyed reading about her own journey of personal growth, and was left wanting to know how a similar journey might develop for the young women at Kranti. Perhaps we will find out in her next book? Either way, no matter what she chooses to write about next, we can be certain that Seervai has a promising and exciting literary career ahead of her!

7 people found this helpful

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

alkan

Giving a voice to those who are rarely heard

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 8, 2015

Verified Purchase

This book is well written and clear. The author describes the wretched circumstances of the lives of Mumbai's sex workers dispassionately but she balances this with exploring her own situation and feelings. The book is based on interviews with sex workers and makes one re-think one's preconceptions of this much maligned group. The author sets out to give the sex workers a voice and she succeds in doing so. This is a clear, readable account which makes the reader think about the complex issues described and re-examine their own attitudes and prejudices.

See all reviews