One Month in Kolkata: How I Found Hope in the Heart of a Red-Light District

-Nandika Nair (Bachelor's in Social Work, Tata Institute of Social Sciences)

-Nandika Nair (Bachelor's of Social Work, Tata Institute of Social Sciences)

When I signed up for a month-long internship at an anti-trafficking organization in Kolkata, I

thought I knew what I was getting into. I'd read the statistics, understood the theory, and was ready to "make a difference" through a new exposure. What I didn't expect was to spend my days surrounded by women who'd been through hell and back, kids doing their homework in the shadow of a red-light district, and a determined woman named Smarita who's quietly revolutionizing how we think about rehabilitation.

Spoiler alert: This internship wrecked me in the best possible way.

Pre-Planning:

Me and my fellow classmate Fayez, we had been planning to land an internship in this sector

for months and Destiny was the perfect NGO for exactly that and we were hellbent on joining it and us being travel enthusiasts we never thought of the struggle of adaption in a new city. We were excited to be on peak survival mode and hustle on prepping defrosted breakfast to pondering about dinner all under budget.

Meeting Destiny:

Destiny Reflection Foundation isn't your typical NGO. It's part humanitarian organization,

part fashion business, and entirely unlike anything I'd encountered in my social work

textbooks at TISS. The brainchild of Smarita Sengupta and Rebecca, it's built on a radical

idea: that survivors of trafficking don't just need rescue they need a paycheck, dignity, and a

reason to believe their lives can be different. The feeling of hope was necessary so that they

could hold onto that for believing they have an equal right to a normal life as well and that is

exactly what destiny provided.

The stats are sobering. West Bengal is a major hub for human trafficking in India. We're

talking about 11 million people living in modern slavery across the country, with a

heartbreaking number originating from this region. Poverty, gender inequality, climate

displacement all the usual suspects create a perfect storm that traffickers exploit ruthlessly.

But here's where Destiny gets interesting. Instead of the typical "rescue, rehabilitate, release" model that often sees survivors fall back into exploitation (the dreaded "revolving door"), they've created a hybrid social enterprise. One side is a foundation that rescues and supports survivors. The other side is a fashion business that employs them, turning saris into gorgeous handcrafted accessories that sell globally.

It's genius, really. The business generates revenue to fund the social programs, but more

importantly, it transforms survivors from "victims" into skilled artisans earning their own

money. I saw this transformation up close, and honestly? It's the kind of thing that makes you

want to stand up and salute for coming up with something this self-sustaining and innovative

in that period of time when such a new concept was completely foreign to the existing

models.

Two Worlds, One Mission:

My internship took me between two very different spaces that eventually felt like home. The

main office in Lake Gardens is this calm, creative hub where survivors work on their craft,

where tables are covered in colourful fabrics, rooms filled with echoes of laughter, and where

you can actually feel hope in the air. Then there's the Khidirpur Community Centre, located

right in the middle of one of Kolkata's most notorious red-light districts yet the place is

contradictory to its name as the children and women in the centre radiate the place with

utmost potential and positivity.

Walking into Khidirpur for the first time was intense. It's a port area that's equal parts bustling slum and restricted red-light zone. Kids grow up surrounded by violence, substance abuse, and the constant threat of the sex trade. The community centre sits right in the middle of it all, a bright spot of resistance with colourful murals painted by local volunteers.

The contrast between these two locations pretty much sums up the organization's approach:

meet people where they are, but show them what's possible.

Into the Heart of Rural Poverty:

One of the major projects during my month was planning a new rural initiative in Purulia

district. If you haven't heard of Purulia, imagine the driest, most underdeveloped corner of

West Bengal. It's got the second-highest tribal population in the state, a literacy rate among

tribals of barely 54% (and for women, it drops to under 40%), and an economy that's almost

entirely based on agriculture and forest resources.

We did a field visit to the Baghmundi block, and honestly, the scenery was stunning almost

like it belonged in one of the museum frames with the Ajodhya Hills, dense forests of Sal and

Mahua trees, this raw natural beauty. But beneath it all was this crushing poverty. The Birhor

tribe, once semi-nomadic forest dwellers, now live in settled villages but struggle with

landlessness and basic housing. They've got this rich culture of communal labour and

traditional crafts, but no real way to turn that into sustainable income.

The plan we all together came up with was to establish a community centre there that

provides educational support to kids. The logic is simple but powerful: if children get

education and their parents get alternative livelihood skills, they're way less vulnerable to

trafficking. Break the cycle at the root.

The locals we met were so eager to participate. That eagerness and that hope despite

everything that's what stayed with me. Being a social work student, we have been previously

exposed to many such rural areas but this one stood out in terms of its dire conditions and

how they still thrived in their own ways. Even the nearest medical facilities were 8 kms away

and with no proper connectivity and resources to the point that they had to transport patients with makeshift stretchers.

From Saris to Second Chances:

One of my favourite projects was organizing a Saree Donation Drive. We targeted private

schools in Kolkata, and it was way more than just collecting old clothes. It became this whole

educational campaign about textile lifecycles and upcycling.

Here's how it works: wealthy families donate their old silk saris (which would otherwise just

sit in closets forever). These saris come to the office, get checked for defects, cleaned, and

then "reincarnated" into high-end fashion accessories like bags, jewellery, decorative items.

The survivors do the work, earn money, and the products sell globally.

It's this beautiful cycle that connects affluent urban families with marginalized survivors

through fabric. Plus, it teaches kids about sustainability in a tangible way. Not just "reduce,

reuse, recycle" as an abstract concept, but "that gorgeous clutch purse was made from your

grandmother's old sari by a woman rebuilding her life." I loved watching students' faces light up when they understood that connection.

Mapping Hope in Khidirpur:

At the Khidirpur Community Centre, we ran this participatory social mapping exercise with

the students, and it was one of the most fun bonding experiences of the entire month.

We gave the kids materials to map their neighbourhood from their own perspective. They

identified "safe zones" places like the community centre, a trusted local shop, a friendly

neighbour's house. And they marked "vulnerability zones" areas where drug use happens,

where they feel unsafe, where exploitation is most likely.

What emerged was this incredibly detailed picture of the red-light district that you'd never get as an outsider. These kids live this reality every day, and their maps showed a geography of survival that was both heartbreaking and empowering.

The activity wasn't just research for us it was therapeutic for them. It gave them language and tools to articulate their experiences. It fostered this sense of civic agency, this feeling of "I know my community, I understand its problems, and my voice matters."

One girl helped map out her entire daily route to school, carefully marking the spots where

she starts her day with a bath at the common bathroom, where fights break out, where she

feels watched. Then she said we should draw a big star over the community centre and as it

made her feel "safe". That star has been burned into my brain ever since.

Breaking Through Barriers:

I'm not gonna lie, the language barrier was tough. In Purulia, people speak Bengali and tribal dialects like Santhali. In Khidirpur, it's mostly Bengali with some Hindi mixed in. My Hindi is good, my Bengali is basically non-existent, and my Santhali is... well, let's not even go there.

But here's what I learned: communication isn't just about words. There's this whole language

of presence, of showing up consistently, of listening even when you don't understand every

word. The organization relies heavily on local "Community Mentors" who bridge these

cultural gaps, and watching them work was like seeing master translators in action.

This experience drove home something my professors always said but I didn't fully get until

now: real social work isn't about swooping in from outside with solutions. It's about

partnering with communities, empowering local voices, and recognizing that the people

living these realities have the deepest expertise about what they need.

Another complain we always rant about is the transport in Kolkata that we personally felt was

more catering to some areas and a headache in areas like ours because autos were only meant for certain routes and even reaching there would often require you to board another auto that doesn’t exist because routes according to our convenience are not worth consideration. And don’t get me started on the glorification of raw liquid cash like I admire the state for being so in touch with the routes and going to such extents to maintain the “vintage” vibe but God forbid someone who uses Gpay on daily basis rather than losing their money at hand. Apart from the above-mentioned rant the place is an absolute beauty and the way the people here preserve their culture and flaunt it so graciously is so mesmerizing and though you may get startled by the loud chaos initially yet you will eventually miss the comfort it came with.

Selling Stories, Not Just Products:

December is festival season, and we participated in two major events that showed me the

business side of this social enterprise.

First was the German Christmas Market at the German Consulate in Alipore. Picture this:

about 600 people, the smell of Bratwurst and mulled wine everywhere, Christmas carols in

English and German, and our NGO stall right in the thick of it.

The strategy wasn't just "buy our stuff." It was "buy into this story." Every handmade

stocking, every ornament, every bag came with a narrative. Customers weren't just

purchasing a product they were participating in someone's rehabilitation journey. That

emotional and ethical value? That's what sold.

The networking was amazing too. We connected with other NGOs like Shuktara Cakes and

the Hope Foundation, sharing strategies and building relationships within Kolkata's social

work community. Personally, it was so fun to dress up in Christmas attire wearing jiggly

headbands that our lovely Sudeshna Ma’am adored and we had the opportunity to munch on some delicious snacks and sweets and I also purchased the cutest crochet creations from a NGO working with the deaf and dumb ultimately helping their cause as well.

Then there was the Birla High School Winter Carnival. Different vibe, bustling with students,

more local families, teachers, alumni. The crowd wasn't as internationally focused as the

German Market, so we adjusted our pitch. Talked more about environmental awareness, local impact, supporting neighbours. Here we had the opportunity to interact with the freshest set of minds that glowed with excitement and curiosity. Spread of the word was more powerful here since we already knew the students can’t purchase much so the main income was from the fellow parents.

I worked both stalls, and it taught me so much about adaptive marketing, communication and pitching skills and most importantly it taught me the importance of stepping out of your

comfort zone to achieve what you want. Different audiences need different stories, but the

core message stays the same: these products represent human dignity and second chances.

The Emotional Rollercoaster:

Let me be real for a second: this work is emotionally exhausting to an extent.

You hear stories that make you want to cry and scream and punch things all at once. Stories

of betrayal by family members, of violence so casual it's treated as normal, of children

who've seen things no human should ever see. There were moments when I just wanted to sit down and question the inequality of privilege.

But then you see these same women and girls laughing, creating beautiful things with their

hands, planning for futures they're actually starting to believe in. You see kids in Khidirpur

doing coding classes like coding?! in the middle of a red-light district, dreaming about

careers in tech then you admire the silver lining and get inspired by how they are blooming so bright in between the toughest rocks.

The staff at Destiny talk about this emotional spectrum a lot. Sometimes you want to "stand

up and salute" the survivors' strength. Sometimes you just want to cry. Learning to manage

that emotional investment while maintaining professional boundaries? That's the real skill of

social work, and it's way harder than any textbook makes it sound.

Looking Forward:

By the end of my month, I was part of discussions about the organization's future. We talked

about establishing a formal library at the Khidirpur centre, a quiet, safe space for studying

that could literally change kids' educational trajectories.

We discussed creating a dedicated "scholarship desk" to help students navigate financial aid platforms. For a kid in Khidirpur, a scholarship isn't just money, it's a ticket to a life outside the red-light district.

There were plans to expand the digital sales platform and social media storytelling, tapping

into the growing global market for ethically sourced, sustainable fashion. The products are

incredible, but not enough people know about them yet.

And there was talk of strengthening monitoring and evaluation systems to track long-term

outcomes. Where are the coding students five years from now? What are the health outcomes for the Purulia artisans? That kind of data is crucial for scaling the model globally.

What I'm Taking Home:

This internship fundamentally changed how I think about social work. Before, I had this

naive idea that good intentions and hard work were enough. Now I understand that

sustainable change requires business thinking, cultural humility, emotional resilience, and a

willingness to play the long game.

Smarita Ma’am's mantra is "one life at a time," and I finally get why. You can't save 11

million people at once. But you can help one woman learn to stitch, earn money, reclaim her

dignity. Then another. Then another. And slowly, you build a model that others can study and replicate.

The numbers back it up: 98% of survivors supported by Destiny avoid re-trafficking. Ninety-

eight percent. That's not just impressive, that's revolutionary.

I came to Kolkata thinking I'd be helping people. Turns out, they helped me way more. They

taught me about resilience, about hope in impossible circumstances, about the quiet power of showing up every day and doing the work even when the problems feel overwhelming.

Honourable mention to the great Smarita Ma’am who provided us with this amazing

opportunity and took us under her wing with utmost love, care and dedication and she gifted us this wonderful destiny family including our unofficial elder sister Sudeshna Di and all the lovely staff members like Soumitri Di, Raju Da and all the wonderful ladies working there.

They made this internship feel like a vacation at home and that’s putting it lightly.

I'm heading back to TISS with a completely different understanding of what social work

means. It's not about being a saviour. It's about being a partner, a witness, a persistent

presence in people's lives as they do the hard work of healing and rebuilding.

And if I learned anything from those incredible women stitching saris into second chances,

it's this: the threads of survival are stronger than they look, and hope is something you can

literally hold in your hands.

If you want to learn more about Destiny Reflection Foundation or support their work, you

can find them through their website or visit their office in Lake Gardens, Kolkata. They're

open to volunteers, donors, and people willing to buy products that actually change lives.