Anyone who successfully challenges gender roles is admirable, but doing so despite difficulties in one's personal life is laudable. This is what Samiksha Kamble has managed to do, and that too at the age of 29.

Samiksha is Thane's first female bouncer. She works at Stained Glass, one of the city's most well-known lounges. Her instructions are simple: keep drunk men away from women, and show drunk customers the exit. Samiksha does this clinically with a no-nonsense attitude, reports DNA.

Samiksha is trained in martial arts and has a gold medal in Kumite, a martial art, at the national level. By day, she is a fitness trainer, but at night, she works as a bouncer.

"I manage to give early morning fitness training to my clients at Thane Gym and by evening I am ready to take care of the women attending the lounge and protect them from rowdies. Often we make sure that they reach home safely when they are tipsy."

Bouncers are generally men, and opportunities in the profession aren't so easy to come by for women. This is why Samiksha grabbed it with both hands when it came her way.

"Mostly, men are hired by pubs and lounges in the cities to do away with the drunk patrons creating nuisance. But when I got the opportunity, I accepted it since it excited me."

Obviously, Samiksha draws some attention when she's at work, but she doesn't let it get in her way.

"Often, men look at me with shock. A man once whistled at me despite my warning him thrice and I had to show him the door when he abused me. The rest is history."

She also has the responsibility of being the sole bread-winner in her house. She lives with her father, who is 75 years old and ailing. Her mother succumbed to cancer five years ago.

"After my dad retired, I had to make sure that I earn to run the household and take care of him. I have to be aggressive in my professional life and a caring daughter in my personal life."

Kudos to Samiksha for being an inspiration to all women whose ambitions take them to male-dominated fields. She has not only challenged the notion that only men can be bouncers, but also that only men have to be bread-winners of the family.

H/T - DNA

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