Bartending was not something Shatbhi Basu had planned, in fact when she was young she wanted to become a veterinary doctor. “Growing up I wanted to help hurt animals and make them feel better. Now I make social animals happy! Two sides of a coin. You are given an opportunity every now and again. To recognise it, seize it and make something of it and yourself is an instinct you work with. I guess I did that without really planning,” she told Asianet Newsable.
Basu was introduced to the concept of bartending in the late 80s when she was asked to make a dry martini on her first day working at a Chinese restaurant. Though she knew the recipe she had no technique and moreover, there was no dry vermouth in their bar. “So I went back to class in my mind to rewind to the definition of dry vermouth. I then made it with gin, some dry white wine and a stirrer just tipped in Campari. It worked, and I began my learning from that moment on,” she said.
Even then, she was still an amateur when it came to that side of food and beverages, which pushed her into a corner. “I’m naturally a bit of a rebel so it challenged me. That’s how I am where I am today. The rest is about reinventing yourself as you grow,” she said.
From there began her foray into this male dominated vertical. The fact that bartending was mostly looked down upon by most of the people in this country, made it impossible for women to even think about taking up bartending as a profession.
The murder of Jessica Lal, that shocked the nation, brought the whole idea of women working behind the bar counter under question. It was only then that people started questioning the safety of female bartenders. Moreover, the stringent bartending rules in India doesn’t allow women to work post 9 pm.
Surprisingly, Basu has a different story to tell; in fact according to her, people were happy to see an intelligent, well educated, friendly face behind the bar with whom they could have a conversation. The women loved her even more as their comfort level got better with her serving drinks to them.
But even today most of the cities refrain their women from entering the bar. Moreover, the lack of awareness to recognise bartending as a profession, stating safety as an issue continues to annoy her. “Women don’t need extra protection. Everyone deserves it. Honestly, if you as a woman feel safe going to a hotel or club, while you are more in a potentially dangerous zone, how can a female bartender be unsafe, protected by a bar counter and her colleagues? It’s a myth that people like to perpetuate. The bar is the safest place for a woman,” she said.
The plight of women in this industry and her love for the skill inspired her to start an academy exclusively to teach bartending skills to aspiring bartenders in Mumbai called STIR. “It came about 17 years after I began, there was still no academic institution sharing the skills of our profession. I decided it was time for me to give back what I had learnt over the years,” she said.
According to her initially, it was tough to set up an academy exclusively for teaching this skill. The international schools came from a premise that their students already knew the basics as they went out drinking at bars anyway. “We, on the other hand, were at level zero. We had two groups – those who came with a three year hotel management background showcasing little knowledge about the skill; and those who had just completed 12th with absolutely none. It was an uphill task that required serious thought. It took me time, but finally it all worked out great,” she added.
However, when we asked her about the enrolment of female students in her academy, a disappointed Basu told us that a very few of them enrolled on a yearly basis. “My advice to all the women who want to be in my shoes is, don’t try and be one of the boys. You are not. Work just as hard and efficiently and maybe even more. But you are at all times a woman. Never forget it,” she said.
She further said that bartending is a strange mix of art, science and technique. It keeps one young and contemporary with the rest of the world. It gives you a great environment to work and allows you the flexibility of the creative process. “If you have a passion for this kind of stuff, pursue it. As a bartender, you are a person in your right. You need to have the ability to rise above the ordinary and beyond customer expectations,” she said.
