ISSN : 2693 6356 

2020 | Vol 3 | Issue 5 

 
 

What Jayanth Mahapatra Means by "CulturalDestruction" 

in "The Whorehouse in a Calcutta Street" 

 

Ms.G. PAVITHRA 
1
, Mr.T. VIJAYAN

2
 , Ms.K. SARATHI

3 

Assistant Professor 

, K.S.R College of Arts and Science for Women, Namakkal. 
 

 

 

ABSTRACT: 

One of Jayanta Mahapatra's poems is titled "The Whorehouse in a Calcutta Street," and it 

describes a whorehouse seen on a Calcutta street, complete with its own unique brand of street 

light, path, hatched, whispers going around, secret talks, beautiful love, sexual fulfillment, and 

brief lifespan. Our traditions, values, and social structure are as inseparable as the two sides of a 

coin. Although poetry is metaphorical in nature, it always depicts society properly. Poet of 

worldwide renown Jayanta Mahapatra tackles the most pressing challenges facing his home state 

of Odisha in his poems, providing a powerful window into the state's true predicament. 

His poetry is founded on the everyday life of Orissa and the history, myth, and tradition of his 

environment, as well as modern Indian circumstances, life, and existence. 

Key words : Extreme poverty, patriarchy, love, and lust. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

INTRODUCTION: 
The poetry of Mahapatra taps into the 

depths of the human soul. When it 

comes to Indian English poets, 

Mahapatra has one of the most 

haunting and challenging styles. 

Mahapatra's The Whorehouse on a 

Calcutta Street is widely regarded as 

one of his greatest works. Mahapatra 

gives an inside look at a prostitute's 

routine and personality. In this case, 

the prostitute only chooses to engage 

in prostitution due to financial need. 

According to Mahapatra, Calcutta is 

one of India's poorest cities. The city 

of Calcutta was portrayed as a 

"whorehouse in a Calcutta street" in 

his poetry. Despite Mahapatra's 

realistic depiction of women, he is 

also capable of idealizing them, like in 

"The Indian Way." 

Evidence of this may be seen in her 

actions and interactions with clients in 

which she provides sexual services. 

The prostitute rushes the customer in a 

harsh voice, implying that she has no 

feelings for the client and is only 

treating him like a cash register so that 

she may cash in.Mahapatra has 

described the thoughts and feelings of 

the males who frequent the 

whorehouse, and he has not neglected 

to include the concerns of the women 

who frequent the same establishment. 

Prostitution, illegal acts, and adultery 

are all connotations of the term 

"whore."In the poem's opening words, 



 

 

the reader and potential consumers are 

invited to "Walk right in. It belongs to 

you.(1). These lines illustrate the 

patriarchal mindset prevalent in Indian 

society, in which males see women 

primarily as objects to be used and 

consumed. The designer of the 

Whorehouse itself acted as go-

between with each individual 

prostitute. 

 

  

 

Poetically speaking, the room's ability 

to talk would allow it to tell the world 

about the prostitute's plight.The empty 

structure of the whorehouse is proof 

that the clientele had a good time 

there. The poet's words let us see the 

world as it really is, a world where we 

may empathize with one another's 

struggles.Meanwhile, it would take 

pleasure in the sexiness of women. 

The phrase "smiling into the lighted 

street" (2) 

 

The poet isn't trying to convey 

anything about a romantic pairing in 

this poem. However, it aspires to 

reflect the sexual appetites of the 

public at large. As a man, I can relate 

to the need to have sex with someone 

of the opposing sex. The men's gaze 

has always drifted to the obscenity of 

the "Others" as we read the 

newspaper, wall posters, Hoardings, 

magazine, or digital blog. The 

attempts of commerce and other types 

of housing to depict women as sex 

objects are exposed by Mahapatra 

with a tone of mordant sarcasm. As a 

representation of a poet, she is only a 

heartless marketing tool. 

 

 “Think of the women 

 
you wished to know and haven't 

The faces in the posters, the public hoardings And 

who are all there together, 

those who put the house there, for the 

startled eye so fall upon, 

where pasts join, and where they 

part.” 

The whorehouse is a place where the 

customer may hope so see some faces 

resembling those which he had seen in the 

posters and for whom he had burning desire. 

We don’t come to conclusion whether they 

are happier while they are giving the 

physical happiness to others. We should 

know the darker sides of the whore… “The 

secret moonlight of the women left behind 

their false chatter” (3) 

Then the poet tried to expose the 

mixed emotions of the society by the 

feelings of the guilty person who uttered 

the whorehouse first time. They would 

ready to inquire her family, children and 

other things by their intimate talk before 

their act. But she emotionlessly expressed 

her feelings… “Hurry, will you? Let me 

go.” (4). According to him she may be his 

first attempt but not her. She may utter the 

sayings and inquires quite often in her 

routine life. 

Mahapatra describes the activities 

of whore and her customer side by side; 

their activities and mind setup have been 

accurately portrayed with exact 

expressions. Sex trade is very common in 

India, but Mahapatra has brought out it in 

a realistic way in his Hunger and his The 

Whore House in Calcutta . 

Because she was ready to serve her 

customers wish. By the end of her act she 

won`t get an emotional touch with her 

customers. She urges the customer to hurry 

up and let her go. Every prostitute wants to 

get rid of a customer as soon as she can 

because she is hoping that some other 

customer would soon come. She is 

concerned only with the commercial aspect 

of the whole transaction. 

According to me, she received the 

inner feelings and ugliness of the every 

customer (men) by the end of her act. The 

mentality of men won`t change until their 

sexual desires winded up. 



 

 

The poem begins with the 

instruction of the protagonist who does not 

know how to find a whorehouse in the 

streets Calcutta city and ends with the 

woman asking him to leave when she is in a 

hurry to receive new customer. 

 
 

“You fall back against her 

in the dumb light, 

 
While she does what she thinks proper to please 

you, The sweet, the little things, the imagined; 

Until the statute of the man within You‟ve 

believed in throughout the years Comes back to 

you, a disobeying toy… 

her words dose behind: “Hurry, will you? Let me 

go.” “Hurry, will you? Let me go.” 

CONCLUSION: 

 

“The Whorehouse in a Calcutta 

Street” struggled with the daily suffering 

endured by these prostitutes. A client 

approaches the establishment in the poem 

with high expectations of seeing the 

attractive hookers shown on the posters and 

billboards outside. The whore's request that 

he complete his turn quickly so that she 

may leave for another client, however, 

causes him to feel guilty and ashamed and 

teaches him more about the women. In 

today's world, love is a thing of the past. 

She is peddling fleeting pleasure rather 

than love, so don't expect it to stick around 

for long. 

 
WORK CITED: 

 
Asian Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies  

ISSN: 2321-8819 (Online) 2348-7186 

(Print) Impact Factor: 1.498 Vol.4, Issue 6, 

May 2016