Every evening, before going to work in a nearby nightclub in Delhi, Mehrunissa Shaukat Ali splashes thick black eyeliner across her lids like war paint. She wanted to be an army officer, but her father objected. 바카라I should have insisted, like I insisted that I will be a bouncer,바카라 she says.
Ali is India바카라s first woman bouncer, holding an India Book of Records award. She considers herself lucky to be able to work in a job she loves, giving credit to her mother who supported her choice to become a bouncer. 바카라Women can do anything they dream about, but it is hard for them to achieve their dreams without parental support, or without the support of even one parent. Their support is important so that you don바카라t feel isolated and alone,바카라 she says.
The 36-year-old was only 15 when she started looking for work. She wanted to join the army or be a police officer. She recalls how even in the blistering July heat she would stand outside on her house바카라s balcony in Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh with her six brothers and sisters. 바카라We would stand out in the heat just to give them a salute,바카라 she says. But when the time came to give the entrance exams for the Indian army, she was told by whomever she asked that 바카라the army doesn바카라t take girls, only boys.바카라 And she rues the fact that she believed them.
바카라I wish I had done my own research and filled out the form. Instead, I listened to the other people바카라it was a mistake,바카라 she says with a hint of regret.
She was visiting Delhi with her family and came across a group of 바카라tall and strong바카라 men in uniforms. 바카라I thought they were police officers or something,바카라 she recalls. After enquiring she found out that they were bouncers. 바카라I didn바카라t know exactly what that was but having lost out on being in the army, I was determined to join the job,바카라 she says.
This time she didn바카라t let anyone deter her. She was sixteen when she joined a security company in Delhi as a female security guard. At that time, there were no women bouncers, and the inequality almost choked the life out of her. Men were called bouncers but women were not. 바카라Often people would say things like, 바카라what바카라s the point of a female bouncer? It바카라s not like she can fight and even if she tried to, one slap from a man and she바카라ll be finished.바카라
Ali remained determined. She remembers one of her first work trips to Jaipur for the IPL where the male bouncers were given chicken and mutton for lunch and dinner and the women were given vegetables and puri. 바카라I didn바카라t eat for two days till my senior came to ask me what happened, and then I replied: why are the women being given different food from the men? Are we less than them?바카라 The senior, to his credit, immediately ordered that catering for both genders should be the same. That was her first victory, she believes.
She attributes her wins at the workplace to her ability to do her job well. 바카라My seniors would laugh at me often like I was crazy. But then they would say that even if she is crazy, she does a good job, so call her a bouncer if that바카라s what makes her happy,바카라 she says.
Eventually, she got all the rights she wanted바카라equal pay, equal titles and equality in the treatment of men and women in her workplace. Now, she owns her security company in which she employs both men and women; it바카라s called the Mardaani Bouncer Company.
But this was a long road, filled with threats and condescension. She recalls getting threats from men in the club and at events. Recently, she says she caught a couple in the washroom of a club she works at. The man asked her: 바카라Is your life precious to you, or not?바카라 Ali says she doesn바카라t fear these threats and replies in kind. 바카라I told him straight that everyone has to die but like you, I cannot die in the washroom,바카라 says Ali.
She points to her hefty arms, muscular legs and solid upper body. 바카라I worked out a lot when I started this line of work. It wasn바카라t to get fit. It was to show people and the world that women are as strong as men,바카라 says Ali.
Avantika Mehta is a senior associate editor based out of New Delhi
This article is a part of Outlook's March 11, 2025 Women's Day special issue 'Women at Work', which explores the experiences of women in roles traditionally occupied by men. It appeared in print as 'The Keeper바카라.
