Bouncer, matter of mind not body

Following the rape of the 23-year old girl who worked at a pub in Gurgaon, the local police issued a directive prohibiting pubs, nightclubs and discotheques from employing bouncers. According to police most bouncers are not only “ill-trained to control any ruckus but also indulge in brawls with the guests”.

That is like adding insult to injury because if for nothing else, then bouncers are meant to serve as deterrents for unscruplous elements. Unlike security guards who are allowed to carry licenced guns and wield more clout, bouncers are expected to only act as peacemakers - and not use force unless the situation goes out of control. 

But this, according to the police seldom happens. Worse, since there is no clear distinction between a guard / bodyguard and bouncer, they are being hired albeit under different names. Avers Sujit Sen, general manager of The Guvment Discotheque in Gurgaon’s Hotel Bristol, “We don’t have bouncers, we have ‘security boys’ hired through a government approved security agency.”

But irrespective of nomenclature, almost everyone seems to agree that bouncers are ill-equipped to handle chaos and rowdy situations. “I totally agree with the police that most bouncers are ill-trained. What mosts pubs and nightclubs in malls do, is hire village boys who have built their bodies in gyms but have no etiquette required for the job. When it comes to dealing with ruckus, they don’t know the basics,” Sen tells Metrolife.

A bouncer sourcing agency in Lado Sarai, Alpha Facility Services’s director Shivraj Singh seconds him, “There is an act that regulates the matter but most of these places don’t go by the guidelines. Boys start applying for the job of a bouncer after gymming for a few months.”

According to Gurgaon-based bouncer 29-year old Vishal Sharma, the job does not require muscle power as much as it requires mindwork. “A bouncer’s work is not to enter into fights but to see that guests are not creating trouble for other guests. In that case, the person has to be warned thrice verbally and even after that if the guest continues to be a problem, the bouncer has to hold him without hurting him and take him out,” he says.

“But what most pubs and nightclubs prefer are less paid boys with beefed up bodies but who no know nothing about their job,” continues Vishal, who has been in this field for seven years and now provides bouncers to Delhi and Bombay’s organisations and individuals through his security firm.

Hiring ill-trained personnel is not a solution, but neither is the Police directive which is banning them completely. On the flipside, the directive could add to negative incidents in bars, pubs and nightclubs as the security guards are not trained either, to deal with the kind of brawls that occur here. Bouncers, if trained well, do have a role to perform. They could be utilised correctly and the situation could be controlled to partially. The responsibility to ensure a safe environment lies as much with the police as it does with the pub-owners.

But is anyone listening?