The Night Shift

Written by: The Swaddle
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  • Summary

  • 'The Night Shift' follows four women — a cab driver, a bouncer at a popular club, a bar dancer, and a home guard constable — as they work through the night, breaking boundaries that society has traditionally set on Indian women’s mobility, morality, and sexuality. This podcast is brought to you by TS Studios, a production company that brings The Swaddle’s storytelling and creative point of view to original podcasts and films.
    2018 The Night Shift
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Episodes
  • The Taxi Driver

    The Taxi Driver
    Oct 7 2018
    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 Nisha, a cab driver who gives as good as she gets from the male drivers who outnumber her. NISHA, THE TAXI DRIVER Voice Over Audio Montage 1 English News Anchor speaks Male politician: I believe that if my sister or daughter goes out in the night on New Year’s Eve with men other than her father or husband, then I can’t expect her to be treated with respect by people. Male politician: Every one has a ‘Lakshman Rekha’ drawn around them. If anyone crosses that Rekha, then they are bound to land in danger. Voice Over Nisha: You know people have that fear sometimes. Hence, they keep saying that I should not drive in the night. But, the problem is, I love driving in the night! It is a breeze to drive in the night, no cops to worry about, no traffic lights; you can zip across the city. Voice Over Nisha: I used to work in a security firm earlier. Once, I met a lady cab driver who was dropping a passenger off at my workplace. Till that day, I had no idea that there were women cab drivers. I always felt driving was not for women. I took down the details about the cab agency and went to my supervisor and convinced him to give me only night shifts for two months because I wanted to learn something new. He agreed so I started learning how to drive, without even mentioning this to my mother. Voice Over Nisha: When I finally got my license, I told my mother. But she would not agree to let me drive. She would just not budge. I even got a few lady drivers and friends to come and convince her. We had to work really hard at convincing her. Finally she agreed and allowed me to take up the driver’s job. But then, my mother’s brother started creating problems. He would incessantly criticise my mother for allowing me to drive. He said our family does not allow women to drive. My mother tried reasoning with him, but I felt like I had to step in. I told him that this is my life, this is my problem. I told him I won’t do anything to give my mother a bad name. So there will be no problem. Kunal: But was that just this uncle or did other members of your family oppose your decision as well? Nisha: All the male members of the family. (Laughs) Because I was the only woman in the family to drive. Their daughters and sisters were all wearing the veil, so they wanted me to do the same. Voice Over Nisha: My father used to be driver. He died in a car accident, while driving. From that day, my mother has been so scared of vehicles that she still does not allow my brother to buy a bike. Kunal: So your mother’s objection stemmed from this fear, primarily? Nisha: It was this fear, yes. But now she is not scared. In fact, she rides in my car with me a lot. She has conquered her fear. But she still worries about the night, so she keeps telling me to not drive in the night. But I love driving in the night! Voice Over Ambient conversation with Nisha and her colleagues. Voice Over Nisha and her colleagues: At the counter for prepaid taxis, they ask passengers if they are okay with a woman driver. This has to stop. This must end. They should not be asking such questions. Do they ask people if they are okay with a male driver? Because of such questions when customers come to us, especially men, they look at us in a cheap way and ask what are the extra ‘facilities’ we are giving them? Some passengers also come and question us about why the people at the counter ask such questions. They say, “Are you any different from male drivers?” In fact, many of them even say that world over, things are changing for women, but is India still so regressive that it thinks women can’t drive? They ask us this. Mostly, visitors from other countries ask such questions. In fact, they are shocked at this discrimination. When a solo male passenger is given this choice, he starts having bad thoughts about us. Voice Over Nisha: You know how people would earlier say that women can’t drive and only men can be good drivers? Even now, 99 per cent of the customers feel this way. They get scared, especially the women passengers. When they see that we are going to drive them, they refuse. Just because they can’t drive, they think other women also can’t drive well. Voice Over Kunal: So, you are always waiting in this food court? Nisha: Yes, till we get a fare. Kunal: But ...
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    20 mins
  • The Bar Dancer

    The Bar Dancer
    Oct 9 2018
    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 Rozy, a dancer who knows she’ll earn more in a dance bar than in an office. ROZY, THE BAR DANCER Voice Over (Proceedings from the Maharashtra State Legislature in the background) Rozy: Society should not decide that. Women should know how to carry themselves. And they know it. Just because a girl is wearing a short dress doesn’t mean she’s doing something wrong. Society will not decide what women have to do. Voice Over Rozy: I could not pay my fees. Moreover, I had family issues. My mother was the earning family member and would work as domestic help. But we couldn’t get the amount of money we wanted. That’s why I had to come to this field. I wanted to do Hotel Management, in fact. Voice Over Rozy: I was crying, I did not want to work there. It was a very new experience for me. Guys were there, sitting and smoking. It was normal. They came for their enjoyment. But it was quite weird for me. Initially, it was quite weird, but days passed, years passed, I got used to it. Kunal: What part of this was weird to you? Rozy: Just guys smoking and drinking. Only that. Nothing bad was going on over there. Nothing bad. Later on, I got used to this too. Voice Over Kunal: Did it feel like a very normal thing to do? Rozy: It wasn’t so normal, but the bottom line was, we had to perform and earn money. It was like a stage show, kind of. Many actresses, performers, do stage shows and they get paid for it. I told myself that this wasn’t a bad thing. You are just getting paid for your performance, that’s it. Kunal: But how long did it take for you to digest this part? Rozy: Say, almost 6-7 months to digest the fact that I had to do it. Kunal: So, you kept feeling weird till then? Rozy: Yes. Because, suddenly, like people do it, they perform… You know what our job is? We don’t get the chance to learn the trade. We just have to dance on whatever songs they tell us. This was a bit weird, initially. But now, we can do it. As we girls get used to it, it gets easier. But I must add that this isn’t a bad thing at all; the bar line is not a bad line to be in. It is not at all bad. Voice Over Kunal: Have you had such an experience, ever? Rozy: I have had. There was a guy who was throwing money at me. I didn’t like this. I told the manager that I did not like it, you please ask him to go. Maybe, later on, he would do something wrong. I have had many such experiences. Kunal: But he was just throwing money at you? Rozy: That was just part of it. Kunal: So, there was more to it? Rozy: Ya, I mean, things happen. Many things happen. But, safety is always available for us. Voice Over Ramesh, the customer: I was 35 and she was 18. Back then, I still felt good that I could win a pretty girl’s affection, you know. Voice Over Solanki: I completely stopped going to work. Instead, I invested all my savings in a small flat, so that I could stay with her. Voice Over Solanki: She was doing what was best for her. I should have done what was best for me, you know. Rozy: We are performing. If a guy is coming to the bar, we didn’t call him. They came on their own. They came alone or with their friends. We didn’t tell them to give us money. They can come here and just sit. It’s not a problem. We didn’t ask them to spend money. It’s their wish and they will, if they want to. And they did. It’s not that we ask them to do something. No. It all depends on them. If they want to spend money they will, if they don’t want to, they won’t. Voice Over Rozy: I told them that I was working in this field. They were initially opposed to it; they didn’t agree to it. They said it was not a good thing and even told me that I would be working late at night. But later, I explained it and even showed them how these bars work and showed them nothing ‘wrong’ was happening and it is completely safe. That’s when they agreed to it. Kunal: How important was it for you to have their approval? Rozy: It was important because this was the income that was sustaining my household. So, it was very important for them to understand me and where I am. It was very important for me. Voice Over Rozy: We have fixed drivers, also. Depends. If we have fixed drivers, then it’s cool. If not, they give us designated cars and autos, depending on where we live, and they ...
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    17 mins
  • The Bouncer

    The Bouncer
    Oct 10 2018
    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...
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    19 mins

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