Autobiography of a Sex Worker, Nalini Jameela -DCB

"There is no difference between a scientist who uses his brains, a teacher who uses his verbal abilities, a labourer who uses his hands and a sex worker who uses her body," Says Nalini.

She goes on to say "How many women in Kerala have to live with men they don't like, suffering insults, torture and even domestic rape, all because of some false concepts about marital life?"

Unlike many young women who have been forced or tricked into prostitution by powerful people, however, Nalini says she joined the profession of her own will. She is determined to carry on as long as her body permits. She was 25-year-old when she initiated into prostitution

A police jeep had taken her and friend Rosa, a veteran in the trade by then, to Ramanilayam - a government guest house and political beehive - to serve a senior police officer and a politician.

Fifty-one-year-old Nalini Jameela's autobiography exposes like never before how deeply politicians and senior officials in the "progressive" state - which tops welfare and literacy charts - are involved in a flourishing sex racket.

A 152-page book by a street sex worker has smashed the sales record in Kerala, till now held by a Marxist scholar.

The first edition of Oru Laingigathozhilazhiyude Atmakatha (Autobiography of a Sex Worker) was sold out in less than 10 days. The publisher, DC Books, which had printed 2,000 copies, is planning a second edition soon, publications manager A.V. Sreekumar said.