only recently singer iman chakraborty took to social media to explain a crisis that she was going through a verbatim translation of her post written in bangla would read i am facing a problem while doing shows after two songs people are asking for dance numbers i agree those who come for concerts need entertainment but continuous requests for dance numbers are a problem i sometimes feel like running away debajyoti mishra admitted that it was indeed an issue that iman who has several entertaining songs in her repertoire would face such a problem speaking to us iman explained i was in howrah for a show the audience was enjoying the gig but one of the organisers stood in front of the stage and screamed you must sing something for the young boys i was already singing folk songs and there was not one dull minute yet he kept repeating the words the insinuations were truly very frustratinganupam roy who has launched iman in tollywood said she already sings a lot of dance numbers several women performers face this problem and i have been privy to many such stories i have never had a bad experience while doing a show and i know what male performers face is nothing in comparison to what women go through he said we spoke to several women performers who narrated their horrid experiences over the years over to themchandrani banerjee i admit that as an entertainer its our job to cater to the audiences demands but its a fact that sometimes that gets a bit tough in many countries busking is part of popular culture where street performers entertain with their music in exchange for gratuities money gifts or food items but when it comes to india money is used as an insinuation so if an organiser has paid he must get his moneys worth i have come across such demanding organisers who will stop you to sing numbers they want but these days i make a choice not to be part of such shows you have to learn to say no a woman performer is always considered to be a showgirl even if thats heartbreaking it doesnt hit or hurt you after a point paloma majumdar this problem is deeprooted and is a reflection of the archaic patriarchal mindset it doesnt matter what songs you sing but a woman performer is always thought to be accessible last year i was doing a show where there were no bouncers suddenly a man came in front of the stage and put money at my feet i had to tell him if you have money keep it to yourself i am sure such a thing wouldnt have happened to male performers women in this country are treated in a certain way and even though times are changing and things are looking up a certain section of people will always be there to disrespect arts championed by womenlopamudra mitra i have had bad experience while performing