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Mumbai: A former bar girl, who spent 16 years as a singer in sleazy joints and published her autobiography, has taken up studies so that she can become a lawyer to defend women victimised by the society.
Vaishali Haldankar's book in Marathi Bar-Bala: An Autobiography of a Bar Singer, published by Mehta Publishing House, Pune, has sold 250 copies even before its formal release tomorrow.
"Let me tell you first and foremost, I am not against the profession of women dancing or singing in bars but I am only angry at the way they are abused and victimised," Haldankar told Gulf News.
Even as she is awaiting the release of her book, Haldankar, 41, is bitter about how life has treated her. "Even if a man is involved in murder, he can manage to put on an acceptable face in society," she says. "But the stigma around a woman persists all through her life. And I want to fight this," she said.
Thanks to Varsha Kale, a woman's right activist, Haldankar was persuaded into writing about the trauma of her past - a victim of sexual abuse, poverty, prostitution and desperation.
She was born to a musician couple. But her life turned upside down when she was sexually abused by a neighbour and she had to get married at 14. Poverty forced her to move into the slums and then take up jobs in bars, where she wa forced into sexual relationship with customers.
She later tried to seek solace in spirituality where also her stigma as a bar girl haunted her. She now wants to become a lawyer.
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