Not for months had Calcutta's drowsy Government Book Depot, which handles the dreariest of official publications, experienced such a brisk burst of activity. No sooner had the first 500 copies of the central government's Act to Suppress Immoral Traffic arrived than a flood of customers snapped them up. The act, designed to outlaw brothels and subject pimps to severe punishments, was passed in 1956; but Parliament delayed enforcement so that India's prostitutes could find other ways to make a living and state governments would have time (though few bothered) to build "rehabilitation homes." Last week, just after the law finally went...
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