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Miss Conduct S03 E01: Gangubai Kothewali

Suresh Solanki

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Our first episode of Season 3 is about Gangubai Kathiawadi, or in some circles as she is known, Gangubai Kothewali. 

Gangubai was a woman who existed and thrived in the 1960s in the Kamathipura area of Mumbai, which is essentially a red light district in the city.

She is known to have been a sex worker and a madam of a brothel. But more importantly she was known as a social activist, working for sex workers’ rights and the well-being of the children and orphans in the Kamathipura area. 

We are given to understand that Gangubai’s work, although involved in the flesh trade, aimed at sensitising the country’s perception of sex workers. To get the country to imagine them as people with hopes, dreams, rights, and agency. 

However, the way she did this – through a series of acts involving hooliganism and bootleg alcohol trading – puts her on the fence. 

There’s also a movie about her, made by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, that came out in February 2022. Very small budget movie with a newcomer called Alia Bhatt. Not a bad movie actually, you should check it out ! 

SOURCES: 

On Gangubai:

 On the movie:

 On Kamathipura / Sex Work in India: 

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/as-pandemic-hit-brakes-on-red-light-areas-sex-workers-pushed-out-of-mumbai-city/articleshow/87095294.cms