Bar Dancers Speak: Testimonies at Public Hearing 5

Duration: 00:09:19; Aspect Ratio: 1.333:1; Hue: 22.366; Saturation: 0.284; Lightness: 0.090; Volume: 0.267; Cuts per Minute: 1.288; Words per Minute: 132.315

Dancing at beer bars started in Maharashtra in the ‘70s. These bars are popularly called Dance Bars. They were recognisable by the heavy door at the entrance and by the uniformed bouncers. In order to increase the revenue from alcohol sale the govt. kept issuing licenses for the dance bars and over the three decades these bars sprouted all over the state and specially in Bombay. In 2005 the Govt. proposed a bill to ban dancing at the bars on the pretext of public morality. But by then around 75,000 women were employed in the unorganized sector of bar dancing. Most of these women were migrants from the other parts of the state, country and the subcontinent. The proposal sparked a huge public debate on the issues of morality, sexuality and livelihood. The home minister in the state govt. R R Patil took it as a mission and persuaded it till the end. The civil society got vertically divided on the issue. While all the right wing outfits supported the ban, some old school women’s organizations too were vocal against bar dancing based on the argument of commodifying women’s body. Some feminist groups and other social movements campaigned against the ban foregrounding issues of right to livelihood, validity of sex based works and against moral policing. Amidst the frenzy of campaign and counter campaign the govt. implemented the bill on 15th August 2005, on the occasion of independence day of India. The act which rendered 70,000 women jobless was passed unanimously in the assembly, where all members including the communist party and women from various political parties cheered and voted for the bill. In the history of Indian democracy there are a very few bills that was passes with such absolute agreement. There were many theories for the Govt.’s motive to ban dance bars. Some says that it was a ploy to decrease the sale of beer and boost the outreach of wine as the wine industry had just started picking up in Maharashtra and many senior politicians were stake holders in wine industry. Some other claim that it was a populist measure to woo the middle class voters. Another theory ascribed the operation as an exercise to evict smaller eateries and pubs to make space for big franchises and multi-purpose eateries. It could also be a simple act of gentrifying the city.
Throughout this period the most active campaign against the ban was from the bar dancers union in collaboration with some feminists groups. Majlis legal centre filed a case challenging the ban in the Bombay high court on behalf of the bar dancers’ union. The Women’s Study dept., SNDT university along with Forum against oppression of women conducted a survey around the bars in the city and published the report in order to inform the general public.
Five days after the ban three city organisations Majlis, Pukar (Gender and Space unit), and Point of View organized a public hearing on the issue at KC College suditorium. Ten eminent citizens from various walks of life were invited to serve in the panel of Jury and hear the live testimonies of the retrenched dancers. The auditorium of around 700 capacity was chock-o-block with 500 bar dancers, members of bar owners association, family members of the bar dancers, concerned citizens and a large media presence. In this event some bar dancers gave testimonies.

Rekha is an active member of the Bar dancers' union. She was one of the first women to speak to the media. She is a migrant from Muradabad. Her family is extremely poor and she came to Bombay at the age of 13 in order to escape from the dire poverty. Hence the social issue of hiding the professional identity from the family does not arise in her case. Her family does not care what she does as long as she can provide the basics for them. (her detail interview in the event 'Bar Dancer on the Ban_An Interview With Rekha' in this site) These facts have made her an outspoken leader, though little rhetorical. While speaking to this gathering she rotates around in order to address everybody present and also facilitate access for the media. Her speech is more of a call to the mass of bar dancers. But the desperation can be detected underneath the flamboyance.
Rekha- Like Varsha Tai said it's our fight. People say bar dancers are bad. No, they are not. Everyone is here because of some or the other compulsion. Everyone has families at home. Please pay attention. We will fight this together. No one should go back to their native places and villages. Stand firm, fight afront, and show them what bar dancers are. Thank you.
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KC College, Bombay
alcohol
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better life
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censorship
compulsion
difficulty at work
dignity
education
exploitation
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future
good family
government
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hardship
livelihood
marriage
mujra
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police atrocities
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women
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young men
youth corrupt

Bar Dancer 6: I am not educated. I have a father, mother, younger brother and sister. We don't have a house, either in the village or in Bombay. There are many girls like me. If the government had to say anything, they should have said when mujras (a commercial dance form associated with courtesan culture) were performed. At that time not so many women were in the profession. There are many women today who can not get married, they have destroyed their lives to take care of their families. If this is closed now, where would all the women go? Has government given any thought to this? Government thinks about itself, about the domestic issues. If there are 40 women in the bar and 30 men come to watch. You think the 30 men give away all their families' money to the bar dancers? No, they don't. If 10 give money, 20 watch, have fun and go away. They say things to us, like what is your name, where do you live, what's your number, would you come out with me at night. This is what they do and go off. You think women earn Rs. 50,000 each night? Or Rs. 10,000 or 5,000? The men come with Rs. 200, 300 or 400. No one comes with 5 / 10 grands. Rent is 2000, 50 goes in eating, 30 in traveling to work. Where would they (bar dancers) get so much money? Some one or the other is ill at home. No one is interested in destroying their lives.
Shot from the back. As the face cannot be seen it is only a sad slight voice from girl in white. But as she speaks she gets animated and sharper. She talks about mujra – a traditional commercial dance form associated with courtesans. The mujra dance survived under feudal patronage. Bar dancing can be called an industrial version of mujra. With increasing urbanization mujra dancing and courtesan culture have become extinct in this metropolis. There were many castes in which women are traditionally commercial dancers and not allowed to marry. Many of the women from this background naturally shifted to bar dancing. Though majority of the bar dancers are simply migrant labours. First time somebody talks about the economics of the practice. One of the allegations against the bar dancers which was widely publicized by the media was that they earn obscene amount of money by exploiting the gullible men. The middle class society immediately got hooked by this. The temerity of the illiterate women to earn more than white colour professionals is an offense which needs to be punished with immediately – was the verdict. This bar dancer tries to respond to that allegation.
alternate employment
earning
good family
government
house
male behaviour
money
mujra
numbers
performance
profession
spending
family
women

For women who are in sex based profession everything turns out to be far more expensive than that for ordinary citizens. Housing, children's schools, siblings' marriages… everywhere they need to pay extra as a price to get access to the norms of the society. Still most of these efforts fail and the vicious circle continues.
My life is destroyed now, I don't want this to happen to my sister and brother. I want them to get educated, I want to get my sister married. There are so many women here, all of them want to educate their sisters and get them married. Do you think we don't get our sisters married? We do. They take dowry from us for our sisters. They are still harassed after marriage, husbands hit them. If they fall ill, they are sent back to parents' house with taunts that the bar dancer sisters would get them treated. We get our sisters treated and send them back. Husbands after two, three children divorce women. How would women take care of the children? They come into this profession. Where would she go? Government should think of all these.
better life
education
marriage
options
sibling

Long speech punctuated with spontaneous bursts of applause. She ends up angry and animated – the distinction between the jury and the govt. blur. She often says 'You' – this you could be the govt. in absentia, the media which was present or the jury who belong to the same class as the govt. and bureaucracy. For her it is only a class issue.
No one gives anyone food. The police men bloat on bribes from us. Unless the bar owners pay them they don't allow us to open the bar.. You think police doesn't hit women? When they raid, they hit indiscriminately. Never consider what is the age of the girl, how would she feel or anything. What should the bar dancers do? Should they get into sex work? You must think about bar dancers. You only think about the family men. They are not being spoiled by us. They sit there, drink alcohol, thumps up and have fun. So many customers have hit bar dancers. Has any bar dancer ever reached your 'home' saying your men have hit them? They don't, they go back to their homes and sleep off. Many dancers fall ill, some get cancer, TB. Does your government come to take care of them? My friend got TB, she didn't have father or mother. She had a four year old son. Did the government come to help her? 'Good families' came? You came? No. we all together helped and supported and took care of her. The bars should reopen. You have not done the right thing by closing down the bars. Think about so many women. Where would they go? Where would they live? So many of them don't have their own houses. Think about us. We are human being with feelings, not animals. We too have heart in our chest. We too are human like you all.
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Pinky Jadav, the charismatic leader of the bar dancers from the Congress House (the settlement of traditional musicians) speaks again. With her usual cunning and street smartness she pin points the issue of morality and censorship – how the question of morality does not come up in cases of more organized entertainment industries such as cinema, television or pornography. She also insinuates that sexual morality can end up in total fascism.
Pinky Jadav: I am Pinky Yadav. You all know that. Hello. I want to say that the same thing is being repeated again and again, that young boys are getting destroyed. Were there no young people around fifteen years back when the bars started? There were many young people then too. If the bars would have been closed then, we would not be in this position today. Why were the bars not closed when they just got started? Now women have made this their livelihood. Why is the government realizing now that the families and homes are getting destroyed? Were the families getting benefits then? How come the government has suddenly woken up? And has the government woken up only to us? Have they woken up onlu to kich at the bar dancers' stomach? They only want to do something about the dancers? They should have realized long time back that this is having negative effect on youngsters. If this hasn't been closed down for fifteen years, why today? Youngsters are getting spoilt also due to alcohol. Atleast this (dance bar) doesn't kill, people are dying because of alcohol. Then why is alcohol being sold? Stop that too. I have heard people saying that youngsters are getting spoilt due to adult films, but you can't ban adult film. Close that down too… such as film viewing. Tell all homes that your children are getting spoilt shut your TVs. What all will you close down? Where is the generation not spoilt today?
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Is sexual assault related to a woman's profession? Pinky Jadhav raises more fundamental issue of sexual abuse in work places. A working woman, irrespective of class, is generally treated as easy target – dancing in bars may only raise the degree. Pinky Jadav's speech is greeted with enthusiastic applause from her collegues.
Women are looked down upon if they are bar dancers. If women work in offices, are secretaries honoured as sisters. And they all want good looking secretaries too. If she is good looking then she gets appointment otherwise it is … yeah… we 'll see… etc. Where are women respected today? She might be working as housemaid, but she is being looked at too from over the newspaper…. How are waist is shaking. Poor thing is just honourably doing her task… but the employer is watching her with greed. So, where is the woman safe? Atleast here, dancers feel safe. And if their work is snatched from them, they'll be on the streets. They'll have no future. Today they are getting their children educated with dignity. You are requested to help them so that theirs and their children's future is not jeopardized. Thank you very much.
dignity
future
harassment
respect
safety
women
work

Bar dancer 7 cannot continue to speak as her voice gets choked with tears. This exercise in articulation has also become cathartic. The next speaker again talks about cabaret dance and adult films. In order to save their livelihood these girls are desperate to find other prays for the moral police – sex workers, adult films etc.Shots of the jury. Some making notes. Shots of attentive audience
Bar dancer 7: Everyone says that men come into the hotels. No one forces them to come, they all come on their own.Bar dancer 8: I want to say that the nude films that the boys watch, what about them? They see all this and then go and sit in the bars. So shut down such films first. Why are such things shown on television? These boys are really young when they start to view such films, some are not even adults. First close such things down and then talk of shutting our dancing down. Close down the cabaret dance happening in five star hotels. No one is getting spoilt because of us. They come and harass us, we don't spoil them.
blame
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