Waitresses in an Emerging City of North East India: Status, Challenges and Perceptions
Restaurant business has been an integral part of any urban economy. Like in any other sector, women form a major portion of the workforce in this business also. Although women’s participation in restaurant business is not quite a recent phenomenon, yet the many facets of issues and challenges that women face in their workplaces still remains a problem that demands immediate solution. These issues and challenges however take various forms and may vary depending upon the variability of the place, culture or nature. Using various qualitative techniques, this paper attempts to explore the status and challenges women table servers experience in restaurants that are located in an emerging city. Dibrugarh, in the state of Assam, is an emerging city located in the North East of India. Added to the intricacies of an emerging city, Dibrugarh also has its own uniqueness of nature, culture and society, which adds to the complexities of a city in formation. In such a scenario, it also becomes pertinent to examine the perception of the people of the city on women table servers who are on a mission to be independent and self reliant. This paper finds that women, braving many issues and challenges, are slowly but steadily curving a niche for themselves in restaurant business in this part of the country.