The DANCE BAR culture is one of the strongest cultural dimensions of Mumbai’s past. On the 15th of August 2005 minister R.R. Patil initiated a ban on Dance Bars citing the demise of dignity as his motivation.Less than a month later, the very girls whose morals so greatly concerned Patil, were newly unemployed, and as the majority continued to be illiterate and have no professional skills, they were also unable to acquire alternative means of sustenance.Despite his initial promise of rehabilitation, Patil retracted, leaving an immigrant population of an estimated 75,000 to choose between returning to their villages and starting from scratch, or turning to prostitution. As a result, Mumbai has another social problem to contend with, that of the dance bargirl-turned-escort and prostitute. He has forced these women out from a once legal profession, into the world’s oldest, illegal profession. If the dance bars did ever function as pick up joints, Patil’s demolition of their physical space certainly hasn’t ended the proclivity to purchase the company of women, but merely given the men involved greater power to abuse the dancers, who no longer enjoy the stringent security under which most bars functioned. - from Amzon