<p>Author, bureaucrat and filmmaker, Swati Pandey, spoke about her book, ‘Invisible in Plain Sight: Voices from the By-Lanes of Kamathipura’, at a Prabha Khaitan Foundation event in Bengaluru on May 6.</p>.<p>The book documents the lives of women in Mumbai’s oldest red-light district. Swati, who is also the vice chairman and managing director of Maharashtra Airport Development Company, recalled visiting the Mumbai Central Head Post Office during the Covid-19 lockdown, where she encountered groups of women carrying children and struggling without food or income.</p>.<p>These were women engaged in sex work and their livelihoods had disappeared during the lockdown. Many of their children were born at home and remained unregistered. Without a permanent address, they were unable to access government scholarships and welfare schemes. Swati said she then raised the issue with UIDAI, after which the post office was accepted as address proof. </p><p>When several women expressed discomfort visiting offices where male staff allegedly demanded sexual favours, she established an all-women post office within Kamathipura. “These girls had become my family,” she added. It was their encouragement that led her to begin documenting her experiences which eventually became the basis of the book.</p>.<p>Swati said her ability to approach the community without judgement stemmed from her upbringing in Malkangiri, Odisha, where her caretaker, Mira Didi, belonged to the Maria Gond tribe, which practices Ghotul. This tradition treats premarital relationships without stigma.</p>
<p>Author, bureaucrat and filmmaker, Swati Pandey, spoke about her book, ‘Invisible in Plain Sight: Voices from the By-Lanes of Kamathipura’, at a Prabha Khaitan Foundation event in Bengaluru on May 6.</p>.<p>The book documents the lives of women in Mumbai’s oldest red-light district. Swati, who is also the vice chairman and managing director of Maharashtra Airport Development Company, recalled visiting the Mumbai Central Head Post Office during the Covid-19 lockdown, where she encountered groups of women carrying children and struggling without food or income.</p>.<p>These were women engaged in sex work and their livelihoods had disappeared during the lockdown. Many of their children were born at home and remained unregistered. Without a permanent address, they were unable to access government scholarships and welfare schemes. Swati said she then raised the issue with UIDAI, after which the post office was accepted as address proof. </p><p>When several women expressed discomfort visiting offices where male staff allegedly demanded sexual favours, she established an all-women post office within Kamathipura. “These girls had become my family,” she added. It was their encouragement that led her to begin documenting her experiences which eventually became the basis of the book.</p>.<p>Swati said her ability to approach the community without judgement stemmed from her upbringing in Malkangiri, Odisha, where her caretaker, Mira Didi, belonged to the Maria Gond tribe, which practices Ghotul. This tradition treats premarital relationships without stigma.</p>