There’s hope for some,but journey’s over for others

With bars downing shutters in 2005,she said several girls in Malwani were left with nothing to eat. She got associated with the Sanmitra Trust that provided vocational training for dancers. She is now a volunteer with the trust. “My children know nothing about my past. My elder son works at a mobile firm,the younger one is pursuing MBA and my daughter studies at a Bandra college. I will not go back to the bars. It would embarrass my children,” she said.

At 38,she feels she is past her prime to survive as a bar dancer. She said the job entailed risks like police raids and exposure to sexually transmitted diseases.

A former waitress at a dance bar,who went by the name Reshma (39),started working at Sridevi bar in Goregaon in 1992. She married a rickshaw driver. The couple have a nine-year-old son. “He goes to a private English-medium school. His education costs a lot,” she said.

Her husband’s income was not enough to support their expenses after 2005. Reshma said taking her son out of school was not an option. She,therefore,without telling her husband,kept entertaining her old clients privately. “I got paid at least Rs 3,000 per visit,” she said.

Living in a crammed hutment in Malwani No 7,two sisters in their twenties see an opportunity to rebuild their lives. “We lived in a good flat in a residential building earlier. We were forced to live here as we were at the mercy of my sister’s client of four years. My six-year-old daughter studies at a good school and this place is not suitable to raise her,” said Seema (name changed). The client who supported them is a married man running a gold business. “He gives us Rs 30,000-40,000 a month,” she said.

The sisters are not aware of their exact age,but when they celebrated their birthdays at the bars,clients would shower up to Rs 1.5 lakh in a night. “On New Year’s Eve,we would make over a lakh. For big days we would shop for clothes and jewelry worth Rs 50,000-60,000,” said Seema’s sister Kamini (name changed).

Chairperson of Sanmitra Trust,Prabha Desai,said as the influx of migrant labourers soared in 1980s,a number of these dancers started sharing rooms in Malwani. “They had purchasing power on which Malvani thrived. Businesses like tailoring and grocers flourished. When bars worked in full swing,about 300-350 cars would come every day to pick up and drop them,” she said.

Girish Vaidya,a consultant with the trust,said most of the dancers hailed from Rajasthan,UP,Andra Pradesh,Madhya Pradesh and there are 36 castes that have been dancers for generations.