Nov 19, 2015 · Middle aged, unkempt women were striking deals with equally frowsy men in dark corridors. On our way there, we did a little research online about what to look out for in the red light district of...

Jul 18, 2017 · Halfway down the road is Kotha 64 — the largest brothel. Inside rooms are filled with darkness and a smell of dirt and perfume lingers. The floors are littered with used condoms and cigarette...

In India kotha, from Hindi, also refers to a brothel (See prostitution in India); the literal meaning is rooftop and is still used for the same especially in and around Lucknow. Since Tawaifs (courtesans) used to practice music and dance on the balcony/rooftop (kotha), this word became synonymous with a brothel in the Indian subcontinent .

By the 18th century, they had become the central element of polite, refined culture in North India. [24] [25] The kotha of a tawaif is a performance space and as a guardian of arts and culture, and is only open to the city's elite and wealthy patrons. [22]

G.B Road has one of the few red light areas in India apart from Kamathipura (Mumbai), Sonagachi (Kolkata) and Chaturbhuj Sthan (Muzaffarpur). The place also contains thousands of prostitution rooms or kothas.

Mar 15, 2022 · Delhi’s GB Road is infamous for prostitution. Laxmi Sooni, who works in Kotha here, says with helpless eyes and in a compulsive voice, ‘I have been living in this kotha of GB Road for the last 10 years.

Feb 14, 2019 · In India, large brothels in identifiable red-light areas are rare. The prominent ones are Kamathipura in Mumbai, Budhwar Peth in Pune, Sonagachi in Kolkata, and GB (Garstin Bastion) Road in Delhi. Many towns in India have brothels on a smaller scale.

Dec 4, 2019 · Rekha is one of more than 5,000 women working on the notorious Garstin Bastion Road in India’s capital New Delhi. The sex workers have little chance of escape, and many were kidnapped and sold to...

Jan 8, 2016 · Middle aged, unkempt women were striking deals with equally frowsy men in dark corridors. On our way there, we did a little research online about what to look out for in the red light district of our city, and found out about Kotha no 64. Allegedly, this is where you find the best of the lot. Kotha no 64 was in dire straits.

These extraordinary women unveiled the secrets of the kotha, sharing with me their clandestine, devious, and intimate ploys for survival and economic independence, challenging the very ‘respectability’ of society’s central pillar – marriage.