Now, when the guilty me is brooding over the wasted time, the addict in me has something to soothe. It has come up with a list of life skills that I could learn from Farmville. It says that I could consider the gaming period as a life skill training session.

Dedication: Imagine waking up at 3 am to check if some work is done. I would never do that. But I did wake at this hour to check if my crops had grown and harvest them. I feared if I waited till morning, the crops would wither.

Goal Setting: The advantages at higher levels of the game lured me. I worked towards climbing the levels. I made up my mind that on a certain day, I had to climb one level. To attain this, I played without getting off my seat until I reached the level.  At times I even stayed up all night sowing, reaping and visiting neighbours’ farms. This certainly means that I have the ability to forget my sleep and work. I just need to set a goal, just like the way I made up my mind to move forward in the game.

Experience Matters: In Farmville, you climb up the game, through gaining more XP, and not by earning more coins. When you have more XPs, you also get seeds that yield more money. You gain more XP, when you work more on the farm.

I read XP as experience. Only when I work diligently, I will gain experience in my trade. Experience will help me make better decisions, just the way I can buy better seeds in Farmville. With better decisions, I will make more money.

Patience: Crops that give more money, take longer time to grow. For instance, strawberry which is sold for 35 coins can be harvested in 4 hours, but an artichoke which is sold for 204 coins takes four days. From this I learn that patience helps.

Judicious use of money: I was tempted by the various decorations in the Farmville market and wanted to beautify my farm. I realized these pretty things were a waste since they did not yield any returns. Some of the better decorations needed Farmville cash, for which I had to use my credit card. So, the stingy me came up with the plan of using trees.

I bought trees of different colours to landscape the farm. The harvest from the trees added to my revenue.

The Favour Bank: Help from my neighbours on my farm, prompted me to help them in return. When I was not in a mood to help all my virtual neighbours, I helped only those who had fertilized my crops. However, impartial you are the idea of a “Favour Bank”works.

Moreover helping others isn’t a waste. For by helping, you gain experience (XP).

Joy of Gifting: I never thought that receiving a virtual reindeer or a candy would make me so happy. Gifts brought joy, irrespective of how big or small they were. When I snet gifts to my neighbours, I too received them in return.

Besides these learning, Farmville had other positives too. I got in touch with many friends who were on my Facebook, but I hadn’t spoken to them. I also brushed up my knowledge on crops, trees and animals.

Laxmi joined the INA when she was 15 but after independence she was forced to work as a domestic help. Her grandson Probin Raj who worked in Bangalore had been helping her fight the battle to get her freedom fighter’s pension from the Centre. Laxmi who lived in Orissa got just Rs 1,000 a month from the state government.

“On August 18 2008, she met President Pratibha Patil who promised her that the government will fulfill her needs. The president signed the pension papers on September 26. But my grandmother died on October 6. During her lifetime she did not get any money from the government and washes dishes to make a living. The authorities too made her run from pillar to post,” said her grandson Probin Raj.

A year before her death, I had spoken to Laxmi Panda, and she had narrated her story.

Laxmi joined the INA when she was 15 along with her brother Nakula Rath. “Our father was working with the railways in Burma. During a bomb explosion, both my parents died. Lt N C Das of the INA adopted the kids. We both became active members of the INA,” she told MiD DAY. She was a part of the Jhansi Laxmi Bai Regiment.

When Subhash Chandra Bose met her, he changed her name to Indira. “My officer was Capt Lakshmi Sehgal, and Bose felt that both the names would be confusing and named me Indira,” she said.

At INA Laxmi was trained in arms and also in espionage. “The British soldiers loved frogs. So we women used to sell frogs to the soldiers, and in the meanwhile collect information on their movements and ammunition,” she said. They were in hiding and would come out only at night. “Women soldiers used to hide in the jungles of Burma. When we had to escape to Singapore, we moved only at nights,” she said.

She went to Singapore and to Malaysia. In 1945 at Singapore they got orders from Bose to disperse. “The British were after Bose and us, so Bose asked us all to disperse and come together only after further orders. I married a fellow soldier, because I wanted to be able to fight again when Bose called us. If I had married someone else, I would have had to live in ‘ghunghat,’” she said.

 She then came to Jeypore in Orissa and gave birth to a son and a daughter. Her husband too passed away and she had to fend for her children. She started working as a domestic help. Because of poverty she couldn’t educate her children. Her son became a fruit seller and his children are working as labourers. Her daughter was married and came to Bangalore. Laxmi is now relying on her maternal grand son Probin Raj to fight for her.

“I am illiterate and so couldn’t fight for my pension. But I trust my grandson. My family is in a very bad condition. We don’t have money for even my medicines,” she said.

In 1973, the union cabinet approved the freedom fighters pension for her. But the officials did not intimidate her about submission of any documents. She being illiterate too could not follow up the case. Capt S S Yadava, General Secretary of the All India INA Committee, has been writing to the Freedom Fighters Division, but all in vain. Capt Lakshmi Sehgal too wrote in her favour, but that too didn’t work.

Her grandson Probin had been meeting ministers and officials seeking help. But all he gets is promises. “Officials say that pension will be given only to those who go to jail. Why don’t they understand that a brave soldier is one who does not get caught?” she asks. MP and former Orissa Chief Minister Giridhar Gamanga promised to fight her case, but it has yielded no results. Their local MLA refused to help her stating that he didn’t have a money plant.

Officials advised her to go to court. “Lawyers told us that we would have to give them 50 per cent of whatever pension arrears we get. Morover, my grandmom is old and the case will drag for years,” said Probin.

Laxmi was dejected and feelt all she did for the country was a waste. “Now, who asks for freedom fighters’ families? They remember us only during functions. The eminent citizens are only those who have money,” she said.

 This article was published in MiD DAY. Check the link http://www.mid-day.com/news/2008/oct/071008-laxmi-former-ina-soldiers-pension-released-dead.htm

“Even after winning the national award for the best child actor, I was begging in Mumbai for a living. Now, I am driving an auto to make ends meet. Film makers just use us and throw us. The children in Slumdog Millionaire too will be forgotten with time. Just like the way I was forgotten. I only wish that the media keeps following these kids, at least because of which the film makers ensure a good life to them,” Shafiq, who is now 32 years old told MiD DAY.

When we met Shafiq he was waiting in an auto lane for passengers at Koramangala in Bangalore. Dressed in khakhi auto drivers’ uniform he was reading four newspapers. “I have bought these papers today just because Slumdog won the Oscars. I am looking at the pictures of these kids and their families celebrating the victory. I remember my past. It is good to see that these children went for the Oscar ceremony. I hope the focus on these kids remains,” he said.

Though Shafiq is happy with the Oscars, he did not like ‘Slumdog Millionaire.’ “Fr George of Bosco House for street kids took me to a multiplex to watch the film. I did not like it. It is a good commercial film, but does not show the reality. Just tell me a simple thing. How can a chai wala reach Kaun Banega Crorepati and speak in English in the first place. Moreover, he gets all the answers right because of the flashbacks. We have been watching the quiz show for so many years, has any slum boy won the big money?” he reasons.

He however lauds the story of ‘Salaam Bombay.” “There the boy Krishna ends back on the streets and is lost in the crowd. The same happened to me. This is reality. Slumdog won the Oscars just because it was made by a foreigner,” he said.

Shafiq is now working on a script based on his life. “I ran to Mumbai, acted in an award winning film, won a national award for best actor and ended back on the streets. Now, I am driving this auto to feed my wife and three kids. I know the reality is that I need to take care of them,” he said.

When he was 12 years old, Shafiq ran away from home in Bangalore and went to Mumbai. “We would beg near a dargah in Churchgate and sleep on foot path. One day we were standing at Churchgate railway station when someone came and asked if we were interested in acting in a drama. I went with them. A workshop was conducted and I was selected for the lead role. It was only after a month and half that we were told that we were to act in a movie. Manoj Balpai and Irrfan Khan were among the people who conducted the workshop. Now they are all big people. Meera Nair directed the film and it won accolades. I won the national award for the best actor. After that I acted in another film Goutam Ghose’s ‘Patang’ which also won the national award for the best film. I was back on the footpath and I returned home to Bangalore,” he said.

Awards for Salaam Bombay

Won

• 1988: Audience Award, Cannes Film Festival
• 1988: Golden Camera, Cannes Film Festival
• 1988: National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi
• 1988: National Film Award for Best Child Artist: Shafiq Syed
• 1988: National Board of Review Awards: Top Foreign Film
• 1988 : Lilian Gish Award Excellence in Feature Film, Los Angeles Women in Film Festival (tied with Elysium)
• 1988: Jury Prize, Montréal World Film Festival (tied with The Dawning)
• 1988: Most Popular Film, Montréal World Film Festival
• 1988: Prize of the Ecumenical Jury, Montréal World Film Festival

Nominated

• 1989: Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
• 1990: BAFTA Film Award Best Film not in the English Language
• 1989: César Award for Best Foreign Film (Meilleur film étranger)
• 1990: Filmfare Best Director Award
• 1989: Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film

 This story was published in MiD DAY. Check it on the online edition http://www.mid-day.com/news/2009/feb/250209-Shafiq-Syed-Salaam-Bombay-former-child-star-Slumdog-Millionaire-Rubina-Ali-Azharuddin-Ismail.htm

MiD DAY visited Auto Raja’s Home of Hope, and met people who seemed educated and spoke good English, but did not remember anything of their past.

Few months ago, the police found Latha on the roads with barely any clothes and brought her to the Home. “She had been sexually abused and didn’t know anything. After a week, she regained her memory and told us about herself. She was from Kerala and was traveling to Chennai to join her husband who was running a shop there. She had been missing for two weeks, during which she had lost her memory and was wandering at the bus station. Men raped her and left her without clothes. She gave us her husband’s contact details and he came to take her,” he said.

Last year, the police brought a Russian woman, who was found lying on the road and lost her memory. “After three months she regained her memory. She told us that she taught at a university in Russia and had come to Bangalore to visit the Satya Sai Baba ashram. Her daughter flew down and took her home,” he said.

Another boy Jabeel was rescued from a road side, where he was lying with injuries on his body. “We brought him home and tended to him. He did not know anything about himself and seemed to be dazed. With time, he too recollected things. He is perfectly normal now and remembers everything, but does not want to go back to his village,” said Auto Raja.

Jabeel told MiD DAY that people felt that there was evil spirit in him and had whip lashed him. “The people in my village near Mysore had whipped me saying that I had evil spirits in me and then dumped me in Bangalore. I am happy working in this home and do not want to go back,” he said.

Raja said that such cases were common. “Many people, who we think are destitute, slowly remember their past and go home. A few months ago, the police had brought another lady who was wandering with 30 grams of gold jewellery on her, but she did not remember a thing. After two months she recollected things and gave us her father’s address in Basaveshwarnagar. The lady was harassed by her in laws and so had become like this. Her father then took her home,” he said.

Home of Hope has many people who have still not regained their memories. Farida, was rescued from Race Course Road eight months ago, and was blank about who she was. “She was found begging on the road. Her head was full of lice and maggots. Slowly she remembered her name and she is remembering more things,” said Auto Raja.

Farida spoke to MiD DAY and said, “I have finished my plus two and was doing B Com in Maths from Annamalai University.” Beyond this she did not recollect anything about herself or her family.

Flora, an old lady speaks impeccable English. “I work in Frazer Town ma,” she said. When we asked where she worked she thought for some time and said, “In the Pastor’s House,” she said and did not remember anything more.

Kaushalya says that she is from Maharashtra but doesn’t know how she reached Bangalore. She was found in Shivajinagar. “Two three men used to take me to bushes everyday and do things,” she said and wept.

Two days ago, Raja rescued a girl from Chintamani, who was among pigs and she too doesn’t remember anything. A lady was found near Indiranagar Coffee Day with eaten chicken bones with her. “She speaks Telugu and seems to be from a good family, but she doesn’t remember her name,” he said.

Auto Raja’s story

T Raja, popularly known as Auto Raja was disowned by his family because of his stealing habits. “My family would even lock the food in the cupboard. I lived on roads among the homeless. I felt that I had to do something for them. It was after a month after Mother Teresa’s death that I found a man lying naked on the road and resolved I should become like Mother Teresa,” he said.

One day Raja picked up an old lady and brought her to his house. “I kept her in the place where my father kept his scooter. From then there has been no looking back and its 11 years now. I have taken care of thousands of people. 900 died in my arms and some got well and went back home,” he said.

As of now, Raja’s Home has about 300 people, out of which over a 100 have no clues of who they are. All the inmates call Raja Daddy.

Raja himself treats them and cleans them. “Many come with diseases and worms in their bodies. At least 10 to 20 people are brought here every month, and there are deaths too and we cremate the bodies. Some children bring their aged parents here and we refuse to take them. They them leave them on the road to the Home,” he said.

A few months ago, a case of forced conversion was slapped against Raja. “I am a Christian and I am doing service but I have not converted anyone so far. My friends had gone preaching and some RSS people complained that they were into conversion. Since I knew the police they called me for help. When I went there the RSS complained against me too. I am out on bail now. Because of this incident people have stopped giving donations,” he said.

Raja gets donations from some churches and also some individuals. “We get about Rs1 lakh as donation every month, but the expenditure goes up to Rs 1.5 lakh. I don’t want money, it will be nice we people give their old clothes, dettol, phenyl, bleaching powder, soap, coffee, tea powder, rice, dal, oil, chilly powder, dry chilies or some other things,” he said.

If you spot a destitute, or to help Raja call him on 9845281915/ 080 65997274/ 080 28445509.

Julie got an attack of multiple sclerosis seven months ago, making her bed
ridden. She has got a demyelinating condition in the central nervous system, which has made her legs and left arm spastic. She can only mover her right arm, but cannot rise from the bed. But her vision, auditory conditions, voice and memory have not been damaged. Her husband Samraj is unemployed while her son Prasad is a house-keeping staff in a residential apartment.

Julie was a nurse at St Martha’s Hosiptal, and was working as a private nurse before falling ill. She was studying nursing is St Philomena’s Hospital, when Amitabh Bachchan was seriously injured while shooting for Coolie. “I attended to him then. I used to serve him apple juice,” she told MiD DAY. “There were many Malayali nuns working in the hospital. They made only appams. But Amitabh didn’t complain. He used to say “very nice” and eat it.”

She recalls him to be “very tall and very handsome.” She remembers to have seen many actors that time. “Shashi Kapoor and Rajnikanth had also visited him. They used to come only at night. All the actors would sit in the community hall and chat.” The crowd of fans was manageable she says. “When he was discharged, he did not go through the hospital gate. He took the back gate of the church and went away.”

Julie finds working in the hospital the most exciting. “I like to serve patients and old people, and I have been doing it. I don’t know why this has happened to me now.” Julie was an active lady and used to walk from Indiranagar to Koramangala. “To save money, I used to walk through the ring road. I want to walk again,” she said. “I will be able to walk no? I will become fine no?” she kept asking.

Julie was in Satya Sai Baba Hospital, and in NIMHANS before coming to Bowring. “The beds were full in NIMHANS, so they asked us to go to any government hospital and take the prescribed vials. So we came here,” said her husband Samraj.

The doctor taking care of her, Prof Shamaiyya said that the husband had not yet given him the case history from NIMHANS. “The vials may help her. They are not available in the hospital and have to be bought from outside. But they cannot afford it,” he said.

Julie is admitted in No 6, 4^th floor, Medical Block, Bowring Hospital. She does not have a bank account. “The minimum amount required to open a bank account is Rs 500, which we cannot afford.”

After this article appeared in MiD DAY, help poured in for Julie. Other media houses too followed the story and money was collected to meet her medical expenses. After a year, we found that her son and husband had taken all the money. She was left ailing. Now, Julie is being looked after by Humanitarian Foundation, Bangalore.

When I met her first in Bowring Hospital, no one knew that she was Amitabh Bachchan’s nurse. The credit should go to Dr Nagendra, who was then a student of Bangalore Medical College and the founder of Orkut Hospital Community. He was interning at Bowring Hospital and was moved by Julie’s condition. He then contacted if seeking help. When we enquired about her, she told her that she had been Amitabh Bachchan’s nurse. She was very casual about it and didn’t expect any great help to come through it. The journalistic fiend in me knew that only if she was projected as Amitabh Bachchan’s nurse, help would come in faster.

My grandmother was also one of the dreamers, who thought that a quiz show could make anyone instantly rich. So innocent was her understanding that she felt that the host was a very rich man who gave the prize money from his own wealth.

Perplexed I asked why she was interested in his house, when she did not understand Hindi let alone watch Hindi movies. Her reply was “He makes everyone a Crorepati. I want to see how the house of the one who can make others also Crorepatis is.”

When we returned from Mumbai without fulfilling her wish, she was upset. She called her Mumbai trip worthless and said that the city did not meet the hype it had. For her the city was as good as Shimoga, the town near her village. The only difference being that “a magnanimous Arabpati actor lived there who made lesser mortals Crorepatis.”

When we returned from Mumbai without fulfilling her wish, she was upset. She called her Mumbai trip worthless and said that the city did not meet the hype it had. For her the city was as good as Shimoga, the town near her village. The only difference being that “a magnanimous Arabpati actor lived there who made lesser mortals Crorepatis.”

Our explanation that Bachchan was himself revived by Kaun Banega Crorepati, didn’t make any sense to her. She even urged me to try and get into the show. Well, I tried several times but was not so lucky to get a call.

On February 18, 2006, at around 7.30 pm, Balakrishna was waiting for a bus at Jalahalli Cross, after visiting a friend. “An auto stopped by me and the driver and another man asked me to get in. I refused saying that I will go by bus. But they pulled me in and took me to a forest in Hesaraghatta. Three bikes too followed and there I was raped by the men. Looking at my behaviour they might have known that I was gay,” he said.

Balakrishna was raped and beaten by the eight men form 8 pm to 6 am and then thrown away. “They forced me to have oral sex and anal sex with them. When I relented they beat me and burned me with cigarette butts. They also poured liquor on me. The insult and physical torture was so much that I pray that no one goes through such a thing,” he said. At around six in the morning, the men threw him in the jungle and sped away.

“I walked to the road and managed to reach Rajmahal hospital in RMV extention, where I was admitted for one and half months. The bleeding went on for more than a month,” he said.

Three months after the incident, Balakrishna went for a HIV test, and was tested positive. “A month before the rape, I had donated blood and had undergone a HIV test too, but then I had tested negative. I was also careful to always use a condom. I am sure I got HIV from the rapists,” he said.

Though Balakrishna’s world came crashing down, he did not lose hope. “If you contarct HIV, it doesn’t mean that you have no life. Instead of brooding and locking up yourself, you have to come out and live a life. Brooding will take you to death. Instead it is better to come out and make use to the opportunities that life gives,” he said.

He had faced ridicule from people, but his family stood by him. “My neighbours ridiculed me. People in the gay community too used to go far from me. But my family stood by me and fought with the neighbours. Now they are fine and are friendly with me. In fact many come to me to clear the doubts on HIV and AIDS,” he said.

Balakrishna, who had lost his job in a cafeteria of a BPO after his employees got to know that he was gay joined Sangama, a NGO working for sexual minorities and went on to become the Executive Director of Sadhane, a NGO which works for HIV positive people. “I create awareness on AIDS, and work for HIV positive people. I take them to hospitals and see that go for check ups regularly. I also work for the HIV positive people in Bowring Hospital,” he said.

Thirteen year old Francis was found in a urinal in Majestic, eating his own flesh. He is mentally challenged and abandoned. His

 hunger drove him to eat his own flesh. He put his wrists to his mouth and chewed then. John Kennedy saw this child and embraced him. He brought him to ‘Morning Star,’ a home he runs for abandoned children. He has 55 children in the house, of which 20 children are mentally challenged.

A quarry which is just 200 meters from the home, has made life difficult for these children. The noise from the quarry scars the challenged children, who scream and have sleepless nights. It affects them so much that one among them Krishna passed away a few days ago. “He hated the noise, and would scream. One day after he heard a blast, he gave a loud shriek and fell on the ground. I took him to the hospital, but he passed away the next day,” said John. The impact of the blasts has also left cracks in the house.

When John’s repeated visits to the mines and geology department yielded no results, he filed a case in the civil court. The blasts stopped three weeks ago, but not the problems. The quarry owner Bachegowda cut the water pipeline of the house. For two weeks, John had to buy water from private suppliers. “We need 4,000 litres of water only for the challenged children. They pass out wastes wherever they are. So we need water to keep them clean,” he said.

John filed a complaint in Devanahalli police station, but the pipelines remained broken.

Two days ago the children of the home themselves fixed the pipeline. But John has been getting threats to his life. The quarry owners also tried to force him to sign on papers stating that the quarry poses no problems.

The hearing of the case was on Thursday, and is now adjourned to February 19. But when John was near a Photostat shop in the court premises, the quarry owners snatched the documents in his hand and tore them. Luckily he had another copy of them.

John found his first child on the roadside 19 years ago. The child is now 24 years old and is a pharmacist. He brought him in a one room house, and from then on there was no looking back. He picked up kids from dustbins, railway tracks, urinals and roads.

His latest child is eight year old Philip. He sits in a pram, and his physical and mental growth is that of a one year old. This challenged child was found abandoned on the road side. “He was stinking and I thought he would die in my arms, but by God’s grace, there is a lot of improvement now.” Another child like Philip, Joseph was found laid on the railway track. Joseph can now sit on a chair. Both these children cannot stand the sound of the quarry. “They can’t even stand thundering and rain. The quarry noise, makes them yell and cry.”

Thirteen year old Tata Sumo looks like a three year old. He has a hole in his heart. John found him laid on a railway track. Murali was also found on the railway track. But his stomach was cut open. John not only saved his life, but also gave a new life. Arul was found eating cow dung on MG road.

John has been helping the needy from a very young age. When he was a student at St Joseph’s College, he used to collect the clothes of beggars on weekends and wash them at the hostel. He then founded ‘Morning Star.’ It is located in Chalagatti, near Yelahanka in Bamgalore.

Vatal Nagraj and wife Gnanambike in their younger days/

“Love in the olden days was very much different than the way it is now. There was no going around, meeting in restaurants or going for movies. People simply saw each other and loved. My parents’ love story was also like that,” she said.

On his many struggles for Kannada, Vatal visited T Narasimhapura village in the late sixties. With his friend he went for lunch to his friend’s sister’s house. There he saw a seventeen year old girl, and it was love at first sight. “There he first saw my mother. She was his friend’s sister’s daughter Gnanambike. She was serving food,” she said.

Vatal then approached Gnanambike’s parents, who flatly refused in giving their daughter in marriage to the politician. But Vatal had made up his mind. “My father said that he would marry only Gnanambike and no one else,” she said.

In the meanwhile, Gnanambike had also fallen in love with Vatal. “She too put her foot down and said that she would marry only him. Since my mom fought for the Kannada cause, she was impressed with him. She said that she had to be lucky since my dad wanted to marry her. She too said that she would not marry anyone else,” said Anupama.

Gnanambike’s parents had many reasons on why Vatal was not a good suitor. “They said that he had no job, no house and no property, but only his Kannada cause. My grand mother even said that he was not good looking. My grand father hated politicians. To top it up my father kept going to jail. My mother was the eldest and they did not want her to suffer with an activist. My mother did not budge and they had to give in,” she said.

 As told by her parents, on the wedding day Vatal was in jail. “The rituals were conducted without the groom. At 3 am in the morning he reached the wedding place dirty and with over grown beard. Then, the wedding was held,” she said.

Vatal Nagraj and Gnanambike after years of marriage

After marriage the couple faced a lot of problems but they stood by each other. “My father did not have any steady income, but my mother did not let him know of the problems we were facing at home. She wanted him to concentrate completely on the Kannada struggle. We would get rice from the Public Distribution system. My mother would give this rice to you and good quality rice to my father. She said that she did not want him to be bothered with the problems at home,” she said.

Anupama feels that Vatal now regrets for not being able to give comforts to his wife. “He says that he had fallen in love and married my mother, but had not been able to keep her happy. But my mother says that she is proud of my father and is very happy,” she said.

“Female condom is like mythological character Karna’s diamond armour for us. Before this we were at the mercy of clients, and couldn’t do anything when clients refused to wear condoms,” said Radhika (38), who was a sex worker and is now working as Field Supervisor of Suraksha, a NGO.

Though sex workers insist on condoms, some clients force them to have sex without a condom. It is then that the female condoms come to their rescue. “It is usually goondas and policemen who want to have sex without condoms. They don’t even pay us. There are some clients too who force us to have unsafe sex and pay more. There are some, who tear the tip of the regular condom and come out,” said Geetha (30), General Secreatary, Karnataka Sex Workers Union.

Geetha has herself become a victim of Sexually Transmitted Infections. “Some years ago, I was in desperate need of money, and agreed to have sex without condoms for a higher price. Later I got boils on my private part, and was healed after medication. At that time there were no female condoms too,” she said.

Besides safety, female condoms are also used by sex workers during their menses. “For some of us, periods last for a week and forgoing our earnings for a week every month is a huge loss. So we wear female condoms at that time. It blocks the blood and the clients too don’t come to know that we are wearing a condom or that we are having our periods,” said Radhika.

The other advantage of female condoms is that that the man doesn’t get to know if the woman is wearing it. “It is like a tube and goes inside the vagina, and clients don’t get to know. We either wear it before meeting the client, or go to the toilet and wear it just before the act,” she said.

Radhika says that in Channapatna taluk alone, she distributes over 150 female condoms every month. This is besides the regular male condoms. “Sex workers take three to four female condoms in a week,” she said.

While one female condom costs Rs 70 in the market, the Karnataka Health Promotion Trust distributes it to sex workers for Rs 5 per condom. “I tell them that they spend Rs 5 for flowers which dry away, while this condom can safeguard them,” said Radhika.