Sin City's Soul

Created on the endless stretch of Nevada’s Mojave desert in the United States, stands the glittering city of Las Vegas - popularly known as the ‘Sin City’. And, I had a chance to visit this city during my recent trip to the United States. 

I was awestruck by its grandeur and richness as I entered Vegas on a late evening of December 2017. The buildings were tall and seemed like it was embellished by thousands of jewels. The fanciest of cars were cruising through the Las Vegas Strip, the popular tourist stretch of the city. People were dressed at their best, and signages of casinos were shouting aloud enough to gain everybody’s attention. I heard that this city created in numerous stories of rags to riches and vice versa. I was excited to be in the city. Not because I was good at gambling but because I was curious to watch people gamble, and to witness and experience the various entertainment options that the city was infamous for.  

I was in Vegas for three days during which I also visited the Death Valley. During all the three days, I kept shuttling between the Strip and Fremont Street. I wanted to know  more about the city, and understand it well. Besides, the grandeur and money that was visible to all, it was poverty, struggle and sadness which caught my attention. 

In order to make a decent living, girls and boys, men and women were showing the best of their capabilities and talents. Where on one hand, it was the elite's expensive shows that were showcased in the fancy hotels, on the other, it was the street performers entertaining people with music and dance. What caught my eyes was that the strippers who were ready to catch the passerby’s attention in the hope of earning a few dollars. It was chilling cold with the temperature dropping to around 10 degree Fahrenheit. But, the street performers braised the cold and were standing there with almost nothing on their body, Onlookers were enjoying, clicking photographs and very few even paid them generously. But, I asked to myself, “Do we really need such kind of performances in order to entertain ourselves?” 

I obviously don’t know who the performers were. But it was clearly visible that they were doing it entirely out of necessity. The cold was bothering them visibly. I don’t know why they chose to do this. Maybe because of lack of employment opportunities, education or maybe something which I am completely unaware of. But, as an onlooker, I surely didn't enjoy the sight. The more I saw them, I felt guilty that I am contributing and taking advantage of their misery only to entertain myself for a couple of minutes. Inside some of the casinos, girls were dancing continuously on the tables which were placed in between the gambling tables. To me, they looked nothing more than a commodity. Why I say this because I didn't see any of them dance with interest. They seemed to be just doing their job. What surprised me most was that during the day while it was middle aged men and women manning the casinos, with the evening setting in, they were replaced by young beautiful skimpily clad girls. 

I went to Vegas as a tourist with preconceived notions. But when I left, I had a question for all of us and especially for myself  - “Why do we choose to be entertained at the cost of someone’s necessity?”.