Women waiters, bar singers, pin hopes on extended nightlife
Hospitality industry says a vibrant nightlife means better pay for 5 lakh-strong workforce dependent on them.
An orchestra bar in the city. (Source: Express photo by Prashant Nadkar)
Bindiya (28), a part-time “lady waiter and singer” at an orchestra bar in Byculla, works from 7:30 pm to 1:30 am and manages to earn Rs 300 or so per day as tips. On some rare occasions, it stretches to Rs 1,000, besides her salary of Rs 1,000 per night on days she sings.
She doesn’t complain, but it’s a far cry from the Rs 2,000 to Rs 5,000 she earned daily as a bar dancer just as tips. The ban on dance bars, she says, alongside the restrictions on women who wait tables in Mumbai cost her a more comfortable rental home and a family life.
With talk of all-night pubs and bars in some parts of Mumbai, she sees a second chance at earning more. “If my timings are extended, I’ll get more tips,” says Bindiya, who has been in this field for 11 years and is the sole earning member of her family of 20 back home in Jaipur.
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Bindiya is one of the 35,000-odd former performers at dance bars for whom implementation of the proposed plans for a real nightlife in Mumbai could mean better employment. In fact, the police commissioner’s nod last month for permitting all-night bars in non-residential areas, has excited orchestra performers, DJs, party drivers, bouncers and myriad other service providers.
Anil Gaikwad, owner of Vicky Restaurant in Byculla which has an in-house orchestra, says the 9.30 pm restriction for lady waiters hampers business and is discriminatory. “Patrons come only after 9 pm, so these women get paid less than their male counterparts who work longer,” he says.
Among the list of demands that orchestra bar owners have are allowing more than four women singers and extension of deadline for women waiters.
The hospitality industry says there is a five lakh-strong workforce dependent on them, which is set to get better opportunities and better salaries if a vibrant nightlife policy is implemented. “More than night-time entertainment, this policy would mean a night economy.
When we take about going global, we should be just as flexible as Dubai and New York, which have a 3 am deadline which could extend to 5 am on special days, and not just on New Year’s eve as is the case in Mumbai,” says Adarsh Shetty, president of AHAR-Indian Hotel and Restaurant Association.
For Sanket Arjunwade alias DJ SA, more time at night means “more time to communicate with the audience”. Considering that residential areas could be a problematic given noise levels from parties, Arjunwade suggests more pubs and restaurants with DJs in non-residential but high footfall areas such as Bandra Kurla Complex.
Filmmaker and musician Ankit Tewari says that by the time the crowd starts to pour in for his performances, he is left with merely an hour or so. “Usual office hours are such that they rush home to freshen up and rush to the venues, it’s already late and they do not get to sit for ling,” he said.
But the Mumbai Police’s rider that the 24X7 establishments should not be located in residential areas and plans to convert non-residential areas like Kala Ghoda, Nariman Point, BKC, malls into special entertainment zones at night could be biased, feels the hospitality industry.
“These areas are high-end with high realty rates so hotel, restaurants won’t be able to price their products for the common man and the “entertainment” or “night life experience” will again exclude the middle class or the lower middle class. Areas like, say Dadar station, should also be allowed with strict rules in place so that it is a win-win for the government, us and citizens,” Shetty adds.
Anticipating a 30 per cent increase in people availing the party driver services, Saurab Shah, CEO of Party Hard Drivers, says longer hours mean more money for drivers. The company, at present, lets people hire chauffeur drivers for six hours, from 10 pm to 4 am. “With longer hours to be out, people would be more responsible after drinking longer. On weekends, all our 250 drivers are hired and employment would increase for sure,” Saurab says.
Currently, taking 60 per cent of their earnings, the drivers could get a better share once more people start hiring them, he adds.
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