Sex on highways

“Can you see her?”

“Who?”

“That lady … na, girl, Sir”

“Where?”

“There…”

Yes, at last I spotted her. Gawdily dressed. Kohl-eyed. Darkish pink lipstick.
Anil Pandeyji winked at me.

I know what that wink meant.

Yes, she is a commercial sex worker – CSW to be short.

Subtly she was signalling the approaching truck.

Would she be able to meet with the eyes of driver or his second in command behind the glasses of the Man Force truck coming in the opposite direction?

We were on National Highway 24 linking Lucknow with country’s capital: New Delhi.

We had passed Bareilly and it was past half past two.

Traffic was thin.

A phat-phat with an overload of passengers almost hanging on its bumper was in front of our 40 tonne Tata trailer.

In fact, that was moving faster than our truck.

We were cruising at 30 kmph.

Not because we love slow driving, but the highway was just a dual carriageway and with – yes, you’ve guess correctly – a lot of potholes.

The CSW, whom Pandeyji fingered at, was hardly 100 metres away perhaps.
Her signalling was superb: very subtle. Only a trained eye can spot that.

Pandeyji, a veteran 20 plus year highwayman, was one such who sported an expert eye.

Her right hand was kept closer to the body. Wherever it ended, her palm projected at 90 degrees and facing downwards, was moving up and down at a faster clip.

The message: “come, come!”

“Pandeyji, daytime prostitution?” I demanded.

“Anytime, Sir. Why only night?”

By then, we passed the CSW in question.

Pandeyji was keep looking at the rearview mirror to update me on further development! Nothing happened, I presume because he did not say anything.

After a deafening silence for a few minutes, Pandeyji’s eyes lit up.

“There… There. See… Another one.”

Pervez, second driver, who was lying down on the lower berth behind driver’s seat, quietly sat up, rubbing his eyes to get a better view.

He moved to the centre of the back seat which offered a better glimpse of whatever happening in front.

I peered in front closely. Almost my nose touching the frontside transparent glass.

I also rubbed my eyes. Quickly plucked out my eyewear, cleaned off and reinserted into the previous slot. A lot more clarity.

Hawn… There they were. Not one, but two.

Much younger lot. One in salwar kameez. Another in sari.

Yes, they too were gesticulating.

Suddenly, the Xylo in front stalled forcing us to halt.

Good comeuppance!

The driver from Xylo got out and began checking his tyre.

Now we are hardly 15 metres away from the two pretty-girls-on-the-road.

One of the trucks halted in response to their “mating call” perhaps.

In a typical Hindi film style, the sari-clad CSW remained silent; her shoulder-length free flowing hair was covering her left bosom. She was coy and demure; but the come-hither-look was unmistakeable.

The salwar kameez wali and the second driver or assistant were engaged in deep conversation. We were so close I could easily see her biting her lower lips in a seductive manner while the guy in the truck was mouthing something. Exploring business proposition!

But for the cacophony created by traffic that has built up behind us and in front made hearing impossible, I would have heard ‘juicy’ dialogue! Alas.

Pandeyji, Pervez and I were curiously watching the drama unfolding in front of us.

“Will the business materialise?” I asked no one in particular.

“Hmmm.”

The driver of Xylo, in front of our truck, managed to sort out his mess and vroomed away.

We had no option but to move on.

Again, we missed the full scene.

Do they stop on the roadside if the transaction fructifies so that the partners in passion move into the back seat for business compliance?

“Anything possible,” was Pandeyji’s quick repartee.

A few months ago, I had a close encounter with a CSW in Hubli – but that was past midnight. (http://myroadiary.blogspot.com/2010/11/sex-hubli.html).

Daytime solicitation was something I never anticipated.

I could not resist asking Pandeyji about his take on highway prostitution.

How was able to spot the CSWs whereas I could not?

“Sadhus recognise sadhus. Criminals recognise criminals,” he opened up. Single focus.
If one is looking for female company, he knows the signs and symptoms. No rocket science.

In fact, there are many roadside dhabas we noticed with female servants serving truckers while crossing Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

“It’s just a camouflage,” explained my friendly driver. Everyone needs a pretext or setting to transact business. The dhabas or food stalls are used for negotiations.

Even if there were police raids while the verbal transaction is in full swing, the cover of serving tea or food is helpful. If the verbal negotiations mature, they move into back rooms behind curtains or the paddy fields.

It is a flourishing business.

Pandeyji had an interesting question. He had many friends in the driving community who had died of AIDS. But he never heard of any CSW dying of AIDS. How come? “One of my colleagues, I saw with my own eyes, shedding weight: from 75 kilos to 30 kilos.

Pathetic,” he recollected. At the same time, Pandeyji says with a straight face that he had seen many CSWs over years who continue to do business even today. “They are still alive. They have not changed profession,” remarks he. My argument that maybe these CSWs go for medical check up and subsequent remedial treatment at regular intervals. On the other hand, men just carry on as if nothing has happened and pay a heavy price: death. Pity.

**

Post Rampur, the sun is setting. Gentle breeze. I notice two ladies on the left side of the road walking towards us. They are beautiful. Come hither look, too. I pick up my camera to click a few images. Pandeyji restrains me. Why? “Sir, they are not CSWs. Family girls,” explains the road warrior. I quickly duck down in the truck cabin and dump the camera into the dashboard. Ohmigod! Mistaking rope for a snake!

The fallacy of malobservation!. Dunno. I have forgotten the nomenclature I had learnt 35 years ago as a student of logic in college. Never mind. Few more highway trips and I would be as good as Pandeyji.

NOTE: This trip – Jamshedpur to Ludhiana (1650 km over 6 days and 6 nights) was sponsored by Credence Logistics, Bombay. Www.credencelogistics.com