Bar girls 'dance' with joy over HC order

Mumbai, Apr 12 (UNI) Bar owners and dancers jumped with joy and hugged each other the moment the Bombay High Court today pronounced order lifting ban on bar dancing across the State by Maharashtra Government.

Lakshmi, a eunuch, who also performs at bars, was seen dancing outside the court in sheer joy after the court delivered its order.

Bar dancer Nisha Thakur said, ''Finally our voice has been heard.

These past few months, from the time the ban was imposed, only I know how difficult my life has been.'' ''We have been given our right. The State needs to understand our problems and not create more of them for us,'' quipped another bar dancer Reshma Qureshi.

Shilpa Anjali Singh, who dances to the tunes of film songs at several bars and is famous for the 'Umrao Jaan' style of dancing, gladly recited the lines of the famous song from the movie, ''Is anjuman mein aana hai aapko baar baar (you have to come to this place again and again).'' '' Our only means of bread and butter has been given back to us,'' a jubilant bar dancer said.

Scenes of joy and cheers were also witnessed at Congress House, famous for the traditional 'mujras'. Located near Opera House in upscale South Mumbai, Congress House inmates distributed sweets to express their happiness over the judgement.

Some bar dancers immediately rushed to offer prayers at Haji Ali shrine and Mahalakshmi temple.

The bar dancers residing at Gulshan Mahal, Banarasi Chawl and Bachu Wadi near Foras road, South Central Mumbai held silent prayers. They said had the court passed the order favouring the State, it would have pushed them to suicidal path.

Indian Hotel and Restaurant Association (AHAR) secretary Anil Gaikwad said, ''The order is good...the licensed bar owners will be able to resume their business, while the illegal bars and prostitution racket run through such dance bars will be curtailed.'' UNI XR-ARM GK RP HT1808