When an Indian sex worker's tale brought Bill Gates to tears!
New Delhi, Nov 30: Bill Gates during one of his several visits to India as part of the AIDS prevention programme of the Gates Foundation couldn't hold back his tears on hearing the story of a sex worker whose daughter committed suicide after being harassed and ostracised by her schoolmates, says a new book.
Ashok Alexander, who headed the Gates Foundation's HIV/AIDS prevention programme Avahan for over 10 years, has come out with a book A Stranger Truth: Lessons in Love, leadership and Courage from India's Sex Workers in which he talks about the country's sex workers, their lives, how India is a success story in the epidemic and what leadership skills and life lessons can be learnt from them.
The author mentions true stories of the lives of sex workers in India that are about finding hope and redemption amid heartbreak and despair.
During their visits, Bill and wife Melinda had the ability to completely shut out everything extraneous and focus on the community of sex workers, the author says.
They sat cross-legged on the floor, facing the community members who were sitting in a small circle. Melinda asked some of them if they would relate their stories. All the tales were sad ones - of rejection, utter poverty, and then somewhere a spark of hope. They were brutally honest and raw.
One of the stories is about an incident that took place during Gates' visit to India in the early 2000s. A woman related to Gates how she had hidden the fact that she was a sex worker from her daughter, who was then in high school.
When her classmates found out the truth, they relentlessly teased, harassed and ostracised the girl, who soon went into deep depression.
One day her mother came home to find her child hanging from the ceiling fan, and a note left behind saying she couldn't take it anymore. I noticed that Bill, next to me, had his head down and was crying quietly, Alexander recalls in the book, published by Juggernaut.
When Alexander left a high-profile corporate job to head Avahan in 2003, he was plunged into an India far removed from the comfort zones he had lived and worked in all his life.
It was a grinding place where women sold themselves for Rs 50 and 14-year-olds injected drugs. It was the shadow world of transgenders and of young gay men in a country that criminalised same-sex love then.
It was the strange world of truckers, lonely journeymen along forgotten highways. Above all, it was a place where valiant battles for a barely decent life were being fought every day.
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No more street vending on B’luru’s main roads, as govt plans to bring new policy for street hawkers
Bengaluru: Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar on Friday said that the state government has decided to formulate a new policy for footpaths in Bengaluru, under which street vending will not be allowed on main roads and sub-main roads.
Addressing the media after a budget preparation meeting and executive meeting of GBA corporations at Vidhana Soudha, Shivakumar said discussions were held with MLAs from the GBA region regarding the corporations’ budgets and key civic issues.
Leader of Opposition R. Ashok also participated in the meeting and shared his views. Officials from multiple departments, including police, BESCOM, BMRCL, BWSSB and BDA, along with ministers and legislators, were present.
He stated that all five municipalities have prepared their individual budgets, while MLAs have submitted their demands, including calls for ward-wise grants.
“We have decided to bring a new policy for footpaths. Citizens are struggling to walk as footpaths are encroached upon by street vendors,” Shivakumar said.
Highlighting the need to balance livelihoods and public convenience, he added that “a separate space will be provided for street vendors, and specific roads will be designated for their business,” ensuring that pedestrians can use footpaths without obstruction. He noted that there was unanimous agreement among MLAs on this approach.
Issuing a warning to vendors, Shivakumar said that authorities will act against those violating the rules. “If vendors operate during the day and leave their carts on the roadside at night, authorities will clear them. People should be aware of this,” he said.
Providing data on street vendors, he said that around 60,000 vendors have registered so far, of which 30,000 have applied for vehicles, and a tender has already been floated.
“Only those with street vendor identity cards will be allowed to do business. Those without ID cards will not be permitted to operate on the streets,” he added.
