One Mehrunnisha brightened the Mughal court around 450 years ago. And today’s Mehrunnisha brightens New Delhi by providing security to (female) customers at a nightclub.
She is a 30-year-old Indian lady with dark, kohl-rimmed eyes and long hair. She is a familiar face in the Indian capital’s swanky Hauz Khas neighbourhood. However, Mehrunnisha Shokat Ali’s real strength lies in her iron calf muscles, which help her get a bouncer’s job at Social – a bar-cum-nightclub in Delhi.
Growing up in a large Muslim family in Saharanpur (200km from Delhi), Mehrunnisha wanted to join the Police or Army, but her ‘conservative’ father opposed the idea. Only her mother’s insistence allowed Mehrunnisha to further her education beyond primary school level.

She came to Delhi when her father’s stock market losses forced the family to move to the capital. Interestingly, Mehrunnisha became the sole bread earner of her family at the age of 18 when she was still in college.
Her mental strength and physical structure helped Mehrunnisha get a job of a security person. She worked as personal bodyguard for several Indian actors, like Priyanka Chopra, Vidya Balan, Preity Zinta, in the past. Three years ago, she joined Social, where at least 200 people gather every night.

At Social

Mehrunnisha is still single. For the last three years, Delhi’s famous female bouncer has been doing 10-hour night shifts at Social to look after her parents, two sisters and three children of her elder sister. As her brothers have left the family, her aged parents are fully dependent on Mehrunnisha. Her younger sister, Tarannum (27), also works as a bouncer at another bar, and together, they earn INR 30,000 or USD 465 per month.
The two sisters go to work in the evening, return home in the morning and spend at least an hour at a gym each day to build strength.

With sister

A senior Social official has showered praises on Mehrunnisha, saying that she is an efficient bouncer. “Mehrunnisha is pretty kick-ass. She is good at what she does,” he said. Social’s owner Riyaaz Amlani has claimed that Mehrunnisha is expert in breaking up bar fights, frisking female customers and uncovering illegal drugs. “We decided to employ women to make sure that female customers, too, felt safe, and we found a great match in Mehrunnisha,” he stressed.
According to Amlani, Mehrunnisha has helped defuse innumerable alcohol-fuelled quarrels, as she is fierce and determined. Customers, too, are happy with Mehrunnisha’s performance. Nikita Lamba, one regular patron at Social, insisted: “If I come here and I see a female bouncer, I feel a lot safer.”

At gym

Mehrunnisha is well aware of her duties and responsibilities. “I am very proud of what I do. It’s not an easy job. Taking care of people, especially women, in a club is a very big responsibility,” she said. She also thanked her parents for their co-operation. “Nightshift job does not affect me, because my mother and father have faith and confidence in me, and I know I am not doing anything wrong,” she told the media.

Image: Reuters

Boundless Ocean of Politics on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/boundlessoceanofpolitics/

Boundless Ocean of Politics on Google Plus:
https://plus.google.com/+KoushikDasboundless

Boundless Ocean of Politics on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/kousdas?s=09

Contact us: kousdas@gmail.com

Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das