Ruchira Gupta, journalist, activist, Emmy award winning documentarian, has written this ‘social justice adventure novel’ that celebrates hope even in the pit of despair. Heera, the fourteen year old girl protagonist in the book, lives in the red light district of Forbesganj, Bihar that borders Nepal. Her entire life, she has witnessed women being forced into prostitution, tortured and brutally abused. Since she belongs to the Nat tribe where there is intergenerational prostitution, her father is keen for her to carry on with this abominable tradition. While Heera vehemently opposes this, and is keen to pursue education, she faces innumerable struggles and ostracism at her school due to her caste and where she comes from. Her mother and her brother Salman remain her only support system. But one day, when she is expelled from her school and the threat of her being sold off as a prostitute at a local fair starts becoming more real, she seeks help from Rini Di who runs a girls hostel. Rini is actively fighting prostitution in the locality while taking on all the big names who are involved in this global trafficking racket. She also is providing a safe haven to the rescued girls and survivors. She imparts kung fu training to them and Heera soon becomes proficient in it, which slowly changes the entire trajectory of her life.
The book is a gritty retelling of the horrific realities of child trafficking and human trafficking that abound our cities, towns and villages. While we often turn a blind eye to this grim actuality, Ruchira Gupta has made it her life’s mission to rescue and rehabilitate the vulnerable women survivors; and she does it through her Nonprofit organisation, Apne Aap. The story too is inspired by real life events and characters, and while it begins on a very hopeless note, she sees to it that as it progresses, hopelessness keeps turning into hopefulness, and the proverbial hope just doesn’t remain an elusive dream but something real that can be claimed, built and asserted, even when all odds are against you.
Not just Heera, the narrative is peppered with various strong women characters such as Mai, Azra and Mira Di. The book celebrates resilience, determination, sisterhood and the joys of conviviality, friendship and community. While we feel shame in even uttering the word prostitution and prostitute; the women survivors of this profession are now looking us in the eye and demanding their rightful respect and dignity. Ruchira Gupta is helping countless such women to regain their self respect and this book, ‘I kick and I fly’ is just another resounding message for the same.
Must read.
~ JUST A GAY BOY. 🙌
the shiny diaries 