Why Bengaluru's women bartenders are in low spirits

They routinely face harassment, stalking, and flirtatious behaviour from drunk guests

With more women entering the bartending industry, safety is a growing concern, insiders say. 

Late working hours, handling inebriated guests and inappropriate behaviour from customers are some of the issues they face. 

According to Ananth Narayan, president, National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI) Bengaluru chapter, “There’s no formal national data yet, but from what we see on the ground, women are still a small minority behind the bar in India — likely well under 10% of the total bartending workforce”. 

The success of bartenders like Arati Mestry, Ami Shroff and Shatbhi Basu has made the profession more appealing for women.

Equal treatment? 

Mahak Gupta is the bar executive at an all-women-run bar in Manyata Tech Park. She insists she has never been treated differently for being a woman. She lifts heavy equipment, works long hours, and enjoys the physicality of the job. 

Ancy Thomas Olickel’s experience in Bengaluru has not been as pleasant. She moved to the city after working for five years in the Middle East. “No one ever crossed the line there. Here, men do not seem to care about personal space,” she says.

Tough job

Most bartenders Metrolife spoke to shared that handling intoxicated guests is one of the hardest parts of the job. Anisha B, head bartender at a popular Domlur restaurant, has worked in multiple cities in her four-year career. “I’ve handled plenty of drunk customers. I try to make sure they reach home safely. That’s the best I can do,” she says. If needed, she discreetly involves supervisors or security.

Mahak notes that while dealing with drunk guests is a given in the profession, if boundaries are crossed, security steps in. 

Handling unwanted attention

It is common to see bartenders, no matter the gender, making small talk with their guests. The objective is to keep them engaged or get them to spend more time at the bar. 

“But some customers flirt too aggressively or assume friendliness means interest,” Anisha says. 

Ancy says her experiences have been far worse. “Male guests frequently harass the lone woman bartender with persistent flirting, unwanted messages, and stalking,” she says, adding that despite multiple polite rejections, many guests still try and push their luck or somehow manage to find her on social media and or get her number.

While hospitality norms force her to stay polite, she blocks or ignores persistent men, and managers intervene when the behaviour escalates.

Debdyuti Majumder, a bartender at a pan-Asian restaurant on M G Road, has developed her own coping mechanism. “If professional responses do not work, I joke my way out of the situation. I sometimes tell them I’m interested only in girls — that usually stops them,” she says.

All the bartenders interviewed say they are dropped off at their doorstep after a night shift. Mahak’s employers take it a step further: “The women staff come together and go home together, even if one person is working, the whole team waits for her.”  

Maitreyei Krishnan, an activist with the All India Central Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU), says, “The Prevention of Sexual Harassment (POSH) act mandates that it is the duty of the employer to ensure that the workplace is safe and free from harassment.”

AI for safety

As part of my commitment to the industry, I’ve experimented with over 200 AI, automation and robotics solutions. One of them is an AI-enabled CCTV blackbox that detects and alerts managers in real time if any guest troubles a female employee — allowing intervention even before an issue escalates. 

– Ananth Narayan, president, NRAI Bengaluru chapter