Picture this: It is 11pm on Saturday evening. At one of Jaipur’s clubs, while the crowd is dancing the night away to pulsating music – which is being played by the DJ – a bouncer stationed at the club is booking a cab for a man, who under the influence of liquor, can barely walk while a female bouncer is trying to help a woman regain her consciousness after she passed out in a toilet cubicle. With Jaipur’s nightlife becoming as vibrant and happening as in metropolitan cities, the role of bouncers in handling drunken revellers has become indispensable.
As bouncer Sandeep Singh Shekhawat, who has been in this profession for more than a decade, says, “We have the power to protect people and of course, our profession comes with a few perks. But it is extremely frustrating when we have to handle drunken men and women at city clubs. We are the first ones who come into the picture in such situations. Only if things go out of hand, do owners and senior management people come in. Most of the times, it’s us handling the drunken customers.”
‘It’s most difficult to handle drunk customers who threaten us by citing personal connections’
So how do they deal with drunken revelry? To which Sandeep replies, “If we see that somebody is sloshed and unable to drive back home, we book a cab for him. Sometimes, we have even driven them down to
their places.”
He further adds, “Drunken revellers often forget their mobile phones and wallets. We help them find their belongings. The worst lot of drunken men and women are those who boast of their personal connections. They say things like: ‘Tu jaanta nahi main kaun hoon?’ or ‘Mai uss MLA ko jaanta hoon’, etc. We try to keep calm and handle them accordingly. Our main motive is to make sure that these people return safely to their homes.”
‘If someone is regularly creating nuisance after getting drunk, we ban their entry for a few weeks’
Virendra, another bouncer in the city, says, “It is difficult to get guests to leave the party when they really want to stay. Since they are under the influence of alcohol, they become aggressive not just with us but sometimes, even with their friends who have come along. Petty fights often occur at clubs. If someone is regularly creating such nuisance after getting drunk, we ban their entry for a few weeks; we are given instructions to take such decisions by the club management. This is done to make such people realise that their behaviour after an overdose of liquor is unacceptable.”
‘Many women get drunk on ladies’ night’ Urmila Singh, a 45-year-old female bouncer who has been doing the job for past five years is of the opinion that women get drunk on Thursdays more than Saturdays because the former is the day when there is ladies night at the majority of the clubs in Jaipur. “Women get free drinks on ladies night till 12 night. They get drunk and often go out of control. There are times when I take them to the washrooms so that they can pee and puke. I also give them lemonade sometimes. Then there are a few who pass out in toilet cubicles. Women mostly come in a group and sometimes, the entire group gets sloshed. It becomes quite a task as I don’t have just one woman to handle then,” she says.
‘Women can be quite a handful’
“It’s a common assumption that it is the men who create a ruckus. But trust me, that is not entirely true,” says Urmila. She feels that drunken women are often hard to handle. “They can be difficult. Especially when they are falling down without anyone assisting them. They also get aggressive with us but my job is to be cool-headed that time and maintain peace,” she says, adding, “We take extra care to ensure women’s safety. I always book cabs for them whenever it is required,” she shares.
Anil, a city-based bouncer, points out, “It’s not just men but women too get into a lot of brawls. As male bouncers, we can’t touch them. Even if they are falling down drunk, it is the female security staff who handles them. Though, we do help in booking cabs.”
News Courtesy: Times of India.
