"It was a wonderful experience interacting with you and appreciate the way you have planned and executed the whole publication process within the agreed timelines.”
Subrat SaurabhAuthor of Kuch Woh Pal
"I phoned a friend, Rajendar Menen, a journalist who is also a student of Mumbai. He is also unusually resourceful and has many contacts. He took me to the Kamathipura area, where the brothels were. At that time, he was writing extensively on AIDS research. We entered a brothel. A girl in her early teens came out of an inner room and greeted Rajen with unqualified puppy-like affection. She rubbed her head against Rajen’s hip, speaking in giggles and whispers. “Even so early in the day, they get clients,” Rajen said. “She’s ready for work.” As we left, the girl started to cry, and was pulled away by an older woman. He waved a hand at the girl who, though the older woman was trying to comfort her, was crying in brief, violent bursts, like a child. “Once I gave her a doll,” he confided. “Perhaps I shouldn’t have done that.”
--- Dom Moraes, in Out of God’s Oven
The cast is eclectic: kidnappers, aghoris, tantrics, pimps, hustlers, scammers, mafia dons, drug dealers, sea dogs, whoremasters, maalsihwallahs, tattoo artists, hucksters, traffickers, anarchists, wasters, psychics, spiritualists, honey trappers, chiselers, and simple, God-fearing, hardworking everyday folk trying to eke out their karmas as honestly as their circumstances would allow. The book is raw, pulsating, gripping, provocative and electric. It takes you to a world rarely traversed. Unputdownable!
Rajendar Menen
Rajendar Menen is an award-winning journalist who has been published in several countries. He began his career, which spans over three decades, with The Times of India in Mumbai. He has launched and edited journals, written four books on different aspects of healing, and freelanced for the BBC, UNFPA, France 2, Ray of Hope, Kathmandu, Nepal, Teacher's Training Centre, Tralee, Ireland, and several other international media organizations. He has co-authored books on AIDS and prostitution in South-Asia, been Executive Editor of three journals on the technical and human aspects of HIV/AIDS and written extensively on the subject. The street is his muse. His last book on street life – Karma Sutra: Adventures of a Street Bum – received international acclaim. He lives and works in Mumbai, India.
