For women, leaving home after dusk implies an automatic invitation to danger and societal censure. Some people have even justified sexual assault and rape on the premise that women out late at night should expect aggression. Amidst this, four women — a cab driver, a bouncer at a popular club, a bar dancer, and a home guard constable guarding the women’s compartment in the local trains — have been defying societal constraints and patriarchal mindsets each night when they go to work. These four Mumbai women work through the night, breaking boundaries that society has traditionally set on women’s mobility, morality, and sexuality. Here are their stories. This episode follows Ranjana, a bouncer who earns more than her husband by throwing people out of pubs. RANJANA, THE BOUNCER Voice Over Ranjana: If I beat someone up and call [my husband] from a police station, asking him to come, he will surely know that I have assaulted that person and not the other way round! My husband knows I am not the one to take a beating. If someone slaps me once, I will slap them back at least twice. Kunal: Has this happened? Ranjana: “Yes!” (Laughs) Voice Over Ranjana: I have been in the security and bouncer industry for 18 years. It is only after 2010 that I became a bouncer. Before that, I was in the Home Guard and worked at private security firms. Voice Over Ranjana: As soon as the customer walks in from the gate, Govind and I immediately have an understanding on whether to allow that person in or not. We ask them if they are ready to pay a cover charge or not. If not, then we don’t allow them in. If their ‘profile’ is not good, then we decline entry, even if they pay us a cover charge. Often, some men just don’t understand and they insist on entering the club. We waste so much time every weekend just arguing with such customers, but they refuse to understand. Voice Over Ranjana: Everyone sees me as being ‘Khadoos’ (rude/snobbish). No one dares to speak to me in the wrong way. When I refuse entry, they call the manager. Even if the manager agrees and tells me to let them in, I let them go but I warn them anyway, that if I don’t like them, I’ll throw them out. I just need permission from my manager to throw them out, and that’s it. Voice Over Ranjana: When I started doing night shifts, I, of course, liked the work, colleagues, the working conditions… Everything. But when I’d finish work and left for home at 3:30 am, I felt a bit scared. What if someone tried to do something? What will I do in that case? That same night, I went home and woke my husband up. He’s like a friend to me, so I had a discussion with my husband right away. I asked him, should I do this job? My husband asked me, what do you feel like? I said, I feel I will be able to do it. Voice Over Ranjana: I now go home, on my own, at 3:30 am. I don’t wait for anyone anymore. Earlier, I used to ask my male colleagues to accompany me. But, now, I go on my own. In fact, there is a slum next to this pub. My male colleagues don’t dare to go there. But I don’t care. I go on my own, crossing that slum area every night. My manager also tells me to not go there but I keep going. He asks me if I go alone and I lie and say ‘no’ (laughs), but I go nonetheless. Voice Over Ranjana: This walk is easy; I feel like there are always some eyes on the streets. But the walk in Diva is very dangerous for me, even though it’s just a 10-minute walk. Anyone could easily kill me and dump my body in the woods and no one would ever know because I have to walk through the woods alone. But now, even that walk doesn’t feel very difficult. It feels very familiar. It almost feels like the woods recognise me and are waiting for me to wake them up, each morning. Voice Over Ranjana: I was sitting there, waiting for my train. One man walked up to me and sat down in the seat beside mine. Bandra station is, in any case, a very dangerous station. I didn’t really pay attention to him when he came over. Suddenly, he asked me, do you want to go? I gently asked him, “Where will you take me?” He named some hotel, I don’t remember. I said, yes, sure, let’s go. That’s when he asked me how much I would charge. As soon as he said that, I hit him! Then, all my night staff came and beat him up too. He ran away before we could turn him over to the cops. (Laughs) Voice Over Ranjana: No one knows about my job. So, when I would leave for work in the night, people would look at me and say that I must have a bad character. When they realised what the work was, they slowly started respecting me. As soon as I would get a night shift, my mum’s face would drop. She would ask me, why is it that only you get night shifts? But my father supported me completely and would tell my mom that they shouldn’t stop me since I was just doing my duty. Even when I was in the Home Guard, my mother wasn’t happy. She would keep telling me that there was no point going to work...
