Confessions of a Bar Dancer

“RR Patil is a name I will never forget. He forced so many of us to stand on the streets and parade our bodies”

After the state government banned bar dancers, everyone thinks we don’t exist. But that’s not true. We just call it Live Orchestra now. Basically, it is the same thing. We sing and dance while men, flush with alcohol, throw money at us. We still go out with the men we like.

The police know what a Live Orchestra is but keep quiet as they don’t want their hafta to stop. Many policemen frequent the bars. Ek baar chaska laga toh life ke liye laga (once you get the taste of it, you are addicted).

We have to look good because earnings depend on it. A make-up box is a bar dancer’s best friend. We also have to have an ear for music.

I don’t feel sorry for men who ruin their lives by spending all their money on bar girls. My job is to earn money and if someone wants to throw it away, why should we stop him? Too many mouths depend on that money.

Not everyone can become a bar dancer. The owners look for girls who can lure customers. Bar owners, however, never get intimate with us as it is bad for business. But if a girl is popular, the owner will ensure she is well looked after. She gets the owner’s car to drop her home.

Most of our families know what we do. Initially, they are hesitant, but when they see the money flowing in every night, they look the other way.

RR Patil, Maharashtra’s home minister, is a name I will never forget. Nor will I let my children forget it. By banning the profession, he forced so many of us to stand on the streets and parade our bodies. Why doesn’t he go after the tamasha [a folk dance form of Maharashtra akin to mujra] dancers?  It is much more sensuous than bar dancing, but he probably did not ban it because all the tamasha dancers are Marathi women. Policemen and politicians also own tamasha theatres.

Chandni Bar was a good movie but it lacked soul. [Lead actress in the film] Tabu acted well but was not able to portray our true lives. Not all of us suffer. Many of us choose to become bar dancers. When you live in the slums, you will do anything to get out of it and have a pucca roof over your head. Many of us become bar dancers because it is the easy way out. 

(Yogita works in a bar near Mumbai Central and has been a dancer for seven years)

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