Brawn and brain to keep troublemakers at bay

Delhi restaurant administrators feel bouncers rely entirely on guidelines from their clubs; they maintain social order within the club

When foot-tapping music and booze at nightclubs sway leg-shakers; big, burly men stand guard to ward off troublemakers. However, they are perceived as killjoys who cast out merry party poppers; as hard men who love a fight.u00a0 Delhi restaurants' administrators feel, all the recent brawls that involved bouncers, including the incident in which an Italian tourist and his friends were roughed up at a Gurgaon pub, may just be incidental.

Kashif Farooq, owner, Urban Pind says, "No bouncer goes on the floor without training. We have a set of dos and don't, which are meant to be followed by them under any circumstances. The bouncers are not allowed to hit or manhandle patrons."u00a0

Nikhil Mirakhur, assistant unit manager, The Sports Bar, Gurgaon Central, echoed the same voice.u00a0 "We have well-trained bouncers who know their lessons well. We have directed them to keep bothersome customers at bay without violence," says Mirakhur.

The motive behind hiring them is to assure that everyone has a good time, but within established limits. Their presence will remind the patrons that their conduct is being scrutinized to maintain the rules and regulations of club.

Generally, they are not very educated and instead of etiquettes of hospitality, are expert in handling dumbbells.
"Most of them do it as a part time job. If you abuse them once they might listen to it but if you continue with the offensive language they would retaliate because that's the way they are," adds Kashif Farooq.