Gangubai Kothewali
Gangubai Harjeevandas (1907 – 8 September 1977), better known as Gangubai Kothewali or Gangubai Kathiawadi, was an Indian social activist, prostitute and madam of a brothel in the Kamathipura area of Mumbai during the 1960s. Gangubai worked for the rights of sex-workers and for the well-being of orphans. She gradually ended up operating her own brothel and is known to also have lobbied for the rights of commercial sex workers. Life She was sold into prostitution at an early age by her suitor, Ramnik Lal, after running away from home to Bombay. She came to be known as the Madam of Kamathipura for being an influential pimp in the city with underworld connections, peddling drugs. Later in life (presumably around 1964), she met Jawaharlal Nehru to discuss the plight of sex workers and improve their living conditions. But we have no solid proof for the story, as the journalist Pamban Mu Prasanth wrote in his article in BBC Tamil. Mafia Queens of Mumbai (2011) by Hussain Zaidi contains information on the lives of thirteen women who influenced Mumbai. In it, Zaidi also gives information about Gangubai. According to this, Gangubai was from a highly educated family and was obsessed with