"There's more?" you might be saying to yourself. Oh yes, my friend. Poverty is also subject to other sinister forces in Calcutta, as if hunger and disease aren't enough. The Mafia operates out of every slum, some brothels and many individual beggars. Fear and intimidation rob these people of hope. And sometimes of operation of limbs: it is true that some beggars were crippled, blinded or freakishly altered in some way in childhood on purpose. Twisted arms or poked-out eyes lend to greater sympathy and thus more profitable begging. Men and women promise poor villagers that they'll find good jobs in the city for their daughters, only the jobs they have in mind mean forced prostitution. Or, a husband might have to go into debt (or die in debt), and their wives are forced to pay off debts through selling their bodies.
Josh and the Word Made Flesh team invited a few of the women on Sonagachie Street to go see a movie with them, to relax and just be entertained. One of the women was able to go. At the last minute, the "man in charge" said she couldn't go, that she had to work. Josh talked to the man (WMF has actually developed good relationships with the pimps and madams, for lack of better terms), asking how much money he would be losing by letting her go. The man gave a number, and Josh offered him three times that much just to let her go to the movie. He refused; no reason given. I guess having the power over another human being was just too much to give up for two hours.
A list of sinister activities like violent body alteration and prostitution just wouldn't be complete without drugs. A man passes me on the street, usually very casually with his hands behind his back, and upon passing me he quietly says "hashhhhh." Paul and Trever are offered hash and other drugs much more often, and more boldly. Trever has taken to yelling loudly, "No, I don't want to buy hashish from you!" And the men scurry away quickly. Unfortunately, some foreign tourists on Sudder Street think, "Hey, cheap hash . . . all right!" If the demand is there, the supply will continue to flow, I suppose, and drug-dealing will continue to be a viable option. And in desperation, selling drugs can be a profitable way to feed one's family.
