Pooja arrives at the bar premises.

A dance fanatic during her childhood years, Pooja Gurung, 22, is now a bar dancer by profession. She took up the job after her father, an Indian army officer, retired. She had to discontinue her education at ninth standard to handle her family’s frail economic situation. Her family of five solely relied on her. So her hobby of dancing to become an actress someday became the very medium to support her family.

She was only 16 when she stepped on the stages of different dance bars in Kathmandu. With a pretty face and great figure, Pooja has a lot of fan following in the bar she is currently working at. She even gets a lot of marriage proposals once the customers start getting inebriated.

“Dancing as a profession isn’t a respected one. I can only see raw sexual hunger in the eyes of the many men who frequent the bar,” she says.

In the six years she’s been doing this, Pooja has faced a lot of hassles. Customers unabashedly approach her for sex. Even state security personnel, who are supposed to protect citizens, harass her if they come to know that she’s a bar dancer. This usually happens while she’s heading home at midnight.

“Please don’t ask,” Puja says. “I don’t even want to remember. They treat me so inhumanely, and the way they speak is even crueler. It has depressed me at times.”

Sleeping till noon after returning home tired and exhausted past midnight has become her daily routine. At two in the afternoon, she has her ‘breakfast,’ if one can call it that. Then after spending a few hours with her family, she gets ready to leave for work. Like all other staffs, it’s compulsorily that she be present at the dance bar by five in the evening.

It takes about an hour to fix her makeup and match the dress according to the songs playing for the night. And apart from that, she also manages to call her regular patrons to remind them of the show. Then at six, the dazzling lights in the dance bar come on, accompanied by loud music, and the show begins. No matter if there are customers or not, dancers like her have to take the stage.

Like many girls of her age, Pooja also dreams of having her own family one day. But she hasn’t yet gathered confidence due to the social stigma attached to her profession.

“I don’t know what’ll happen after marriage. I need a guy who can understand my profession as well as my problems,” she says.

She has traveled to Singapore, Malaysia and Dubai in the course of her bar dancing career. She earns more than an average woman of her age. However, she’s troubled by one thing: Will she ever get the guy of her dreams?

Calling her regular patrons before the show begins: the more, the merrier!

A dance fanatic during her childhood years, Pooja Gurung, 22, is now a bar dancer by profession. She took up the job after her father, an Indian army officer, retired. She had to discontinue her education at ninth standard to handle her family’s frail economic situation. Her family of five solely relied on her. So her hobby of dancing to become an actress someday became the very medium to support her family.

She was only 16 when she stepped on the stages of different dance bars in Kathmandu. With a pretty face and great figure, Pooja has a lot of fan following in the bar she is currently working at. She even gets a lot of marriage proposals once the customers start getting inebriated.

“Dancing as a profession isn’t a respected one. I can only see raw sexual hunger in the eyes of the many men who frequent the bar,” she says.

In the six years she’s been doing this, Pooja has faced a lot of hassles. Customers unabashedly approach her for sex. Even state security personnel, who are supposed to protect citizens, harass her if they come to know that she’s a bar dancer. This usually happens while she’s heading home at midnight.

“Please don’t ask,” Puja says. “I don’t even want to remember. They treat me so inhumanely, and the way they speak is even crueler. It has depressed me at times.”

Sleeping till noon after returning home tired and exhausted past midnight has become her daily routine. At two in the afternoon, she has her ‘breakfast,’ if one can call it that. Then after spending a few hours with her family, she gets ready to leave for work. Like all other staffs, it’s compulsorily that she be present at the dance bar by five in the evening.

It takes about an hour to fix her makeup and match the dress according to the songs playing for the night. And apart from that, she also manages to call her regular patrons to remind them of the show. Then at six, the dazzling lights in the dance bar come on, accompanied by loud music, and the show begins. No matter if there are customers or not, dancers like her have to take the stage.

Like many girls of her age, Pooja also dreams of having her own family one day. But she hasn’t yet gathered confidence due to the social stigma attached to her profession.

“I don’t know what’ll happen after marriage. I need a guy who can understand my profession as well as my problems,” she says.

She has traveled to Singapore, Malaysia and Dubai in the course of her bar dancing career. She earns more than an average woman of her age. However, she’s troubled by one thing: Will she ever get the guy of her dreams?

A priest worships before the bar opens.

A dance fanatic during her childhood years, Pooja Gurung, 22, is now a bar dancer by profession. She took up the job after her father, an Indian army officer, retired. She had to discontinue her education at ninth standard to handle her family’s frail economic situation. Her family of five solely relied on her. So her hobby of dancing to become an actress someday became the very medium to support her family.

She was only 16 when she stepped on the stages of different dance bars in Kathmandu. With a pretty face and great figure, Pooja has a lot of fan following in the bar she is currently working at. She even gets a lot of marriage proposals once the customers start getting inebriated.

“Dancing as a profession isn’t a respected one. I can only see raw sexual hunger in the eyes of the many men who frequent the bar,” she says.

In the six years she’s been doing this, Pooja has faced a lot of hassles. Customers unabashedly approach her for sex. Even state security personnel, who are supposed to protect citizens, harass her if they come to know that she’s a bar dancer. This usually happens while she’s heading home at midnight.

“Please don’t ask,” Puja says. “I don’t even want to remember. They treat me so inhumanely, and the way they speak is even crueler. It has depressed me at times.”

Sleeping till noon after returning home tired and exhausted past midnight has become her daily routine. At two in the afternoon, she has her ‘breakfast,’ if one can call it that. Then after spending a few hours with her family, she gets ready to leave for work. Like all other staffs, it’s compulsorily that she be present at the dance bar by five in the evening.

It takes about an hour to fix her makeup and match the dress according to the songs playing for the night. And apart from that, she also manages to call her regular patrons to remind them of the show. Then at six, the dazzling lights in the dance bar come on, accompanied by loud music, and the show begins. No matter if there are customers or not, dancers like her have to take the stage.

Like many girls of her age, Pooja also dreams of having her own family one day. But she hasn’t yet gathered confidence due to the social stigma attached to her profession.

“I don’t know what’ll happen after marriage. I need a guy who can understand my profession as well as my problems,” she says.

She has traveled to Singapore, Malaysia and Dubai in the course of her bar dancing career. She earns more than an average woman of her age. However, she’s troubled by one thing: Will she ever get the guy of her dreams?

Pooja applying makeup for the show. It’s important to look good to keep the customers coming.

A dance fanatic during her childhood years, Pooja Gurung, 22, is now a bar dancer by profession. She took up the job after her father, an Indian army officer, retired. She had to discontinue her education at ninth standard to handle her family’s frail economic situation. Her family of five solely relied on her. So her hobby of dancing to become an actress someday became the very medium to support her family.

She was only 16 when she stepped on the stages of different dance bars in Kathmandu. With a pretty face and great figure, Pooja has a lot of fan following in the bar she is currently working at. She even gets a lot of marriage proposals once the customers start getting inebriated.

“Dancing as a profession isn’t a respected one. I can only see raw sexual hunger in the eyes of the many men who frequent the bar,” she says.

In the six years she’s been doing this, Pooja has faced a lot of hassles. Customers unabashedly approach her for sex. Even state security personnel, who are supposed to protect citizens, harass her if they come to know that she’s a bar dancer. This usually happens while she’s heading home at midnight.

“Please don’t ask,” Puja says. “I don’t even want to remember. They treat me so inhumanely, and the way they speak is even crueler. It has depressed me at times.”

Sleeping till noon after returning home tired and exhausted past midnight has become her daily routine. At two in the afternoon, she has her ‘breakfast,’ if one can call it that. Then after spending a few hours with her family, she gets ready to leave for work. Like all other staffs, it’s compulsorily that she be present at the dance bar by five in the evening.

It takes about an hour to fix her makeup and match the dress according to the songs playing for the night. And apart from that, she also manages to call her regular patrons to remind them of the show. Then at six, the dazzling lights in the dance bar come on, accompanied by loud music, and the show begins. No matter if there are customers or not, dancers like her have to take the stage.

Like many girls of her age, Pooja also dreams of having her own family one day. But she hasn’t yet gathered confidence due to the social stigma attached to her profession.

“I don’t know what’ll happen after marriage. I need a guy who can understand my profession as well as my problems,” she says.

She has traveled to Singapore, Malaysia and Dubai in the course of her bar dancing career. She earns more than an average woman of her age. However, she’s troubled by one thing: Will she ever get the guy of her dreams?

A good show is necessary to lure more customers. It’s a show that caters to their wishes.

A dance fanatic during her childhood years, Pooja Gurung, 22, is now a bar dancer by profession. She took up the job after her father, an Indian army officer, retired. She had to discontinue her education at ninth standard to handle her family’s frail economic situation. Her family of five solely relied on her. So her hobby of dancing to become an actress someday became the very medium to support her family.

She was only 16 when she stepped on the stages of different dance bars in Kathmandu. With a pretty face and great figure, Pooja has a lot of fan following in the bar she is currently working at. She even gets a lot of marriage proposals once the customers start getting inebriated.

“Dancing as a profession isn’t a respected one. I can only see raw sexual hunger in the eyes of the many men who frequent the bar,” she says.

In the six years she’s been doing this, Pooja has faced a lot of hassles. Customers unabashedly approach her for sex. Even state security personnel, who are supposed to protect citizens, harass her if they come to know that she’s a bar dancer. This usually happens while she’s heading home at midnight.

“Please don’t ask,” Puja says. “I don’t even want to remember. They treat me so inhumanely, and the way they speak is even crueler. It has depressed me at times.”

Sleeping till noon after returning home tired and exhausted past midnight has become her daily routine. At two in the afternoon, she has her ‘breakfast,’ if one can call it that. Then after spending a few hours with her family, she gets ready to leave for work. Like all other staffs, it’s compulsorily that she be present at the dance bar by five in the evening.

It takes about an hour to fix her makeup and match the dress according to the songs playing for the night. And apart from that, she also manages to call her regular patrons to remind them of the show. Then at six, the dazzling lights in the dance bar come on, accompanied by loud music, and the show begins. No matter if there are customers or not, dancers like her have to take the stage.

Like many girls of her age, Pooja also dreams of having her own family one day. But she hasn’t yet gathered confidence due to the social stigma attached to her profession.

“I don’t know what’ll happen after marriage. I need a guy who can understand my profession as well as my problems,” she says.

She has traveled to Singapore, Malaysia and Dubai in the course of her bar dancing career. She earns more than an average woman of her age. However, she’s troubled by one thing: Will she ever get the guy of her dreams?

Costumers getting drinks at the bar.

A dance fanatic during her childhood years, Pooja Gurung, 22, is now a bar dancer by profession. She took up the job after her father, an Indian army officer, retired. She had to discontinue her education at ninth standard to handle her family’s frail economic situation. Her family of five solely relied on her. So her hobby of dancing to become an actress someday became the very medium to support her family.

She was only 16 when she stepped on the stages of different dance bars in Kathmandu. With a pretty face and great figure, Pooja has a lot of fan following in the bar she is currently working at. She even gets a lot of marriage proposals once the customers start getting inebriated.

“Dancing as a profession isn’t a respected one. I can only see raw sexual hunger in the eyes of the many men who frequent the bar,” she says.

In the six years she’s been doing this, Pooja has faced a lot of hassles. Customers unabashedly approach her for sex. Even state security personnel, who are supposed to protect citizens, harass her if they come to know that she’s a bar dancer. This usually happens while she’s heading home at midnight.

“Please don’t ask,” Puja says. “I don’t even want to remember. They treat me so inhumanely, and the way they speak is even crueler. It has depressed me at times.”

Sleeping till noon after returning home tired and exhausted past midnight has become her daily routine. At two in the afternoon, she has her ‘breakfast,’ if one can call it that. Then after spending a few hours with her family, she gets ready to leave for work. Like all other staffs, it’s compulsorily that she be present at the dance bar by five in the evening.

It takes about an hour to fix her makeup and match the dress according to the songs playing for the night. And apart from that, she also manages to call her regular patrons to remind them of the show. Then at six, the dazzling lights in the dance bar come on, accompanied by loud music, and the show begins. No matter if there are customers or not, dancers like her have to take the stage.

Like many girls of her age, Pooja also dreams of having her own family one day. But she hasn’t yet gathered confidence due to the social stigma attached to her profession.

“I don’t know what’ll happen after marriage. I need a guy who can understand my profession as well as my problems,” she says.

She has traveled to Singapore, Malaysia and Dubai in the course of her bar dancing career. She earns more than an average woman of her age. However, she’s troubled by one thing: Will she ever get the guy of her dreams?

All the staffs are required to enter the bar premises by 5 pm. Pooja also makes her entrance.

A dance fanatic during her childhood years, Pooja Gurung, 22, is now a bar dancer by profession. She took up the job after her father, an Indian army officer, retired. She had to discontinue her education at ninth standard to handle her family’s frail economic situation. Her family of five solely relied on her. So her hobby of dancing to become an actress someday became the very medium to support her family.

She was only 16 when she stepped on the stages of different dance bars in Kathmandu. With a pretty face and great figure, Pooja has a lot of fan following in the bar she is currently working at. She even gets a lot of marriage proposals once the customers start getting inebriated.

“Dancing as a profession isn’t a respected one. I can only see raw sexual hunger in the eyes of the many men who frequent the bar,” she says.

In the six years she’s been doing this, Pooja has faced a lot of hassles. Customers unabashedly approach her for sex. Even state security personnel, who are supposed to protect citizens, harass her if they come to know that she’s a bar dancer. This usually happens while she’s heading home at midnight.

“Please don’t ask,” Puja says. “I don’t even want to remember. They treat me so inhumanely, and the way they speak is even crueler. It has depressed me at times.”

Sleeping till noon after returning home tired and exhausted past midnight has become her daily routine. At two in the afternoon, she has her ‘breakfast,’ if one can call it that. Then after spending a few hours with her family, she gets ready to leave for work. Like all other staffs, it’s compulsorily that she be present at the dance bar by five in the evening.

It takes about an hour to fix her makeup and match the dress according to the songs playing for the night. And apart from that, she also manages to call her regular patrons to remind them of the show. Then at six, the dazzling lights in the dance bar come on, accompanied by loud music, and the show begins. No matter if there are customers or not, dancers like her have to take the stage.

Like many girls of her age, Pooja also dreams of having her own family one day. But she hasn’t yet gathered confidence due to the social stigma attached to her profession.

“I don’t know what’ll happen after marriage. I need a guy who can understand my profession as well as my problems,” she says.

She has traveled to Singapore, Malaysia and Dubai in the course of her bar dancing career. She earns more than an average woman of her age. However, she’s troubled by one thing: Will she ever get the guy of her dreams?

Owning some split seconds during the load shedding break before the stage lights up again.

A dance fanatic during her childhood years, Pooja Gurung, 22, is now a bar dancer by profession. She took up the job after her father, an Indian army officer, retired. She had to discontinue her education at ninth standard to handle her family’s frail economic situation. Her family of five solely relied on her. So her hobby of dancing to become an actress someday became the very medium to support her family.

She was only 16 when she stepped on the stages of different dance bars in Kathmandu. With a pretty face and great figure, Pooja has a lot of fan following in the bar she is currently working at. She even gets a lot of marriage proposals once the customers start getting inebriated.

“Dancing as a profession isn’t a respected one. I can only see raw sexual hunger in the eyes of the many men who frequent the bar,” she says.

In the six years she’s been doing this, Pooja has faced a lot of hassles. Customers unabashedly approach her for sex. Even state security personnel, who are supposed to protect citizens, harass her if they come to know that she’s a bar dancer. This usually happens while she’s heading home at midnight.

“Please don’t ask,” Puja says. “I don’t even want to remember. They treat me so inhumanely, and the way they speak is even crueler. It has depressed me at times.”

Sleeping till noon after returning home tired and exhausted past midnight has become her daily routine. At two in the afternoon, she has her ‘breakfast,’ if one can call it that. Then after spending a few hours with her family, she gets ready to leave for work. Like all other staffs, it’s compulsorily that she be present at the dance bar by five in the evening.

It takes about an hour to fix her makeup and match the dress according to the songs playing for the night. And apart from that, she also manages to call her regular patrons to remind them of the show. Then at six, the dazzling lights in the dance bar come on, accompanied by loud music, and the show begins. No matter if there are customers or not, dancers like her have to take the stage.

Like many girls of her age, Pooja also dreams of having her own family one day. But she hasn’t yet gathered confidence due to the social stigma attached to her profession.

“I don’t know what’ll happen after marriage. I need a guy who can understand my profession as well as my problems,” she says.

She has traveled to Singapore, Malaysia and Dubai in the course of her bar dancing career. She earns more than an average woman of her age. However, she’s troubled by one thing: Will she ever get the guy of her dreams?