Epic tale of a Mumbai bar dancer booked

Without Prejudice: Epic Tale of a Mumbai Bar Dancer, written by Devasis and published by Niyogi Books was officially launched at Mumbai. A novel on the life sketch of a fictional Mumbai Bar Dancer, the book delves deep into the roots of their evolution as dancers and attempts to answer how the sudden decision of closure of the dance bars ran the danger of depriving a section of the populace of a dignified (albeit not being seen so by some sections of society) way of earning their living.

The book was launched in the presence of Alyque Padamsee (theatre personality & advertising professional), Kiran Khalap (brand consultant, author and advertising professional) & Varsha Kale (women leader & activist). The session was moderated by Manasi Sontakke.

Alyque Padamsee noted that the book throws light on the dance bars which the society pervades as vulgar, dirty and cheap, though it is not and also that it is right time for the society to break such shackles of prejudice against a few.

Activist Varsha Kale added that it is the right of women to earn her livelihood if it necessarily means to flaunt her body. Ultimately it is the person’s choices which matters rather than the society dictating terms.

Kiran Khalap and the author, Devasis discussed about the book in detail and gave a structure to the whole discussion about the dance-bar industry.

Trisha De Niyogi, the publisher, said “Without Prejudice is the fine line between fiction and nonfiction. What starts out as a story of a young girl beautifully unwraps or rather blossoms into a story of the bigger scheme of things, a much bigger cause: women empowerment.”