Taboo: The Hidden Culture of a Red Light Area (Review)

Taboo is a result of extensive research carried out by an eminent social scientist and human rights activist in Pakistan. Dr. Fouzia Saeed has been a prominent figure on the NGO-scene in Pakistan and is attributed with setting up an organization called ‘Bedari’ (awakening) which was the first ever NGO set up to address the lack of basic human rights for women. With this background, her book comes as yet another groundbreaking feat. In Taboo, she studies the lives of the people of the Shahi Mohalla in Lahore. Shahi Mohalla is a place inhabited by a community of entertainers, dancers and musicians. This community is known for providing all forms of entertainment and traditionally its forte has been in providing sexual services to clients who visit the Mohalla. It is a place which has been a source of mixed feelings for all that know about it. Some think of it as the devil’s playground (in the book a reference is made to a place called Shaitanpura which was a community of prostitutes set up during the reign of Aurangzeb), while others think of it as a place where innocent women are lured in to selling their bodies due to lack of any other source of subsistence. Then there are those who think of the Mohalla as any other Bazaar where they go to buy ‘commodities’ and then there are some like me who always thought that the Mohalla was just a place where performing artists resided and are branded as prostitutes and pimps because of the ages-old stereotype. Therefore, the Mohalla has always been well guarded under layers of myths and perceptions.

Dr. Saeed’s work has been the first definitive step towards sifting out the myth and creating a factual account of what life is all about in the Mohalla.

The inspiration for this research is totally relatable. In the opening chapter, Dr. Saeed touches upon the association of dance and music with prostitution in our society. In her own words, she talks about how she had to tackle with this association as an annoying obstacle to her desire to learn and master various classical and folk forms of dance. As a woman she had to face discouragement due to one of the most clichéd terms in our society- ‘achay ghar ke ladkian yay naheen karteen’ (girls from good families do not indulge in such activities). This obstacle set her on a quest and she spent considerable effort in penetrating this uncharted domain of social sciences in Pakistan. The book is a result of this extensive research.

An interesting and integral characteristic of the book is its non-judgmental treatment of the people of the Mohalla. Dr. Saeed has worked on studying these people as individuals living in circumstances that are unique. She has interacted with these people not to find answers to whether they are good or evil or how they can be eradicated. Rather, she has focused on studying their life with an objectivity that is essential for any scientific work. This approach has resulted in her work being real and factual. It is neither sympathetic nor degrading towards the subject and thus free of any myths or perceptions. She has reported what she has seen and left it to the reader to form a judgment if they cannot live without one.

Reading through the book, amidst all the scientific objectivity, one does see traces of Dr. Saeed’s background as a human rights activist. These traces always appear in the appropriate context and make the reading experience worthwhile. Leaning on her background, Dr Saeed asks some very valid questions in the book. Questions which go right to the core of how we as a society manage to live with our double standards. As an example of these questions and reflections, Dr Saeed asks why is it that a woman who is a prostitute is branded as an evil person while her customer is let go with a slight slap on the wrist (sometimes not even that!!!). She asks as to why traditionally, prostitutes are blamed for sexual misconducts in the society and not those who pay for their services. So, the book uses the case of the women in the Mohalla and manages to find parallels between women in the Mohalla and women anywhere else in the society. With this approach, Dr. Saeed points out the inherent exploitation of the ‘weaker’ sex that prevails in our society.

The book is written in the first person thus keeping the reader interested. With this style, the book does not suffer from the typical dryness and monotony that usually accompany non-fictional work. Speaking in first person, Dr. Saeed narrates one intriguing anecdote or conversation after another and presents an almost 'sugar-coated' (for students who might have to read it as text) peek in to the lives of people in the Mohalla.

The book is not only a peek in to the way life is in the Mohalla but is also a source of interesting facts. For example, it is interesting to know that Kanjar is a legal family name or ‘zaat’. One thinks that it is a swearword (similar to the word ‘pimp’ in English). Reading the book one finds out that there are people who carry this name proudly as their last name and have done so for generations. These are people who act as pimps and facilitators for the women of the Mohalla and their profession is a skill that they inherited from their ancestors. In one of the chapters, Dr. Saeed interviews an interesting character who goes by the name of Mooda Kanjar (roughly translated, “Mooda the Pimp’). This person is a political leader in the community and is very vocal on the plight of people in his constituency. His interview is interesting and is a worthwhile contribution to the question of understanding the life of these people.

Another unique feature of the book is that it is interspersed with quotes about the topic from various members of our society. There is a quote from an actor, a professor and also from a street vendor. These do well to convey the various perspectives that people have when it comes to the people of the Mohalla.

After presenting her interactions and experiences with the people of the Mohalla, Dr. Saeed sums up her work in the last two chapters. In the second-last chapter, she presents the idea of co-existence of influential men and prostitutes. She traces the origin of this co-existence to historical times and establishes a symbiotic relationship between the two. However, the argument seems to be disconnected from the rest of the book. It seems that the data in the preceding chapters is not enough to come to this conclusion. Maybe the conclusion can be justified well with other experiences that the author may have had. Or maybe there was some information (that would have supported the argument) that may have been omitted from the book. Basically, the entire book is mostly very scientific and subject-centered. It is primarily localized in one time, one location and on a certain group of people. The analysis in the second-last chapter is all of a sudden, temporally and socially very wide. This is sort of an abrupt transition for a reader.

Moving on to the last chapter, Dr Saeed sums up her entire work to reflect the immense social pressures that women face in our society. The setting is perfect and Dr Saeed plays a listener to a conversation between a ‘normal’ girl and a girl from the Mohalla. Reading the conclusion in the words of two people who can be seen as characters in the story of the status of women in our society, proves to be a treat. All I can say is that I understood and agreed with each and every word of it. This discussion is presented as a session of self-realization where a young girl from the ‘normal’ part of the society talks to a girl of the Mohalla and through their exchange of ideas they come to conclusions about their similarities and how they are part of a bigger system and have almost similar roles to play. This session is very enlightening and makes one think about how things are for the women in our country.

Overall, the book is a very interesting read and for those who are interested in learning about people and social issues that challenge us, it is a must-read. The book is also a source of enlightenment as it sheds light on the life of a group of people that has always been looked at from a safe distance. For all of us who wanted to know everything about the Mohalla and were afraid to ask, Dr. Saeed took the initiative and dedicated a considerable amount of her scientific work in researching and learning about these people. And not only that, in her reporting of the lives of these people, Dr. Saeed went on to ask some serious questions about the state of affairs for women in general.

(Visit http://www.pak-philes.com/taboo to learn more about the author

The book is available for sale at http://www.desistore.com/taboo.html)