Please?

Slut.

Whore.

Hooker.

Ho.

Pro.

Harlot.

Trollop.

Hussy.

Streetwalker.

Randi.

From Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman to Kareena Kapoor Khan in Chameli, and again in Talaash, we all have had small glimpses of how prostitution works. The movies have a way of glamorizing the harsh realities of life, those realities that many people take for granted. But whether it's in the movies or in real life, our first impression about a prostitute runs along the negative lines.

Why can't we just stop for a minute and before judging them, put ourselves in their shoes? Or their bejeweled sandals? Why don't we pause from our busy lives and consider what made those beautiful women to choose a career where they earn their living by selling their bodies? Was it because they didn't want to become a doctor or a lawyer or an artist who could have painted their world with beautiful colours instead of colouring it with a dark shade of humiliation?

Can we please, just for a moment, imagine the hardships they go through? The sadness that lingers behind their eyes while their lips smile to persuade someone to spend some time with them for money? Can we please kick the judgement to the side for a moment and accept that they are just like other girls and women, who have dreams and ambitions? Who dreamt of becoming something, instead of laying under someone new every day.

Can we just respect them, no matter what they do to fill their stomachs, despite their profession and for who they are? For being courageous, brave and beautiful for doing whatever it takes to make it into the world?

Can we please?