She is tending the makeshift bar at a lavish wedding in the city. The drinks are mocktails, but she is dressed sassily enough: in a shoulderless strappy top and a mini skirt. The thick layer of make-up has brought an immobility to her features that goes with the smoothness of her hair. She hardly speaks. When she does, it is to ask a guest what he wants in a polite whisper.

Meet the new-age “hostess”. She is young, pretty and sassy and will make an “event” out of an “occasion”. She will add that glamour and professional touch with her presence. She will help you to launch your product, your promotions, jazz up your annual general meeting, awards function or a wedding.

But she may want to hide her English accent. And that’s not the only thing they want not on display.

Most of them are models or actresses, in waiting, and would like to hush up the fact that they were hostesses when they get there.

For Jolly Mukherjee (name changed on request), it was modelling first and then hostessing. Now she has got her first break in Tollywood.

After school at Vidya Bharti, she studied English at Vivekananda College and got into modelling. She participated in a well-known beauty contest in 2010 and made it to the city’s first eight. “You can’t proceed much in modelling without compromising on certain things,” sighs the 25-year-old. She requests that her name be changed because her director would not like her past profession of hostessing being mentioned.

Sangita Dutta, 25, belongs to a middle-class Bengali family in Behala. Having studied at Barisha Girls High School, she went to Sarsuna College for her commerce degree. A classical dancer, Sangita is hosting events to help her parents with the expenses. She has been hosting events for six years now — from doctors’ conferences to education fairs.

But others will not even disclose which school they went to. In a “corporate” set-up, a suburban, Bengali-medium background is an additional burden.

“Some girls come into this profession aspiring to switch to modelling,” said Jessica, a model herself who also runs an event management company. “But these are two separate professions. Hosting events, I would say, is a much more lucrative job, with steady work coming one’s way. A hostess cannot switch to modelling though models (particularly the unsuccessful ones) can switch to hosting very easily,” she said.

Hosting remains the inferior choice. Modelling or acting comes with the threat of commodifying the body as well, but hostessing is a service rendered by a woman, the least dignified, pays very little in return. It is something most parents, or neighbours, would not approve of.

“The girls are a little frightened to talk. Many of them do this without the knowledge of their parents,” said Mousumi Roychowdhury of Trizend Communication.

Since the profession is opening up, better educated and “smart” college girls are entering the profession in significant numbers as well.

The 19-year-old student of English literature at a leading college in the city has bunked her classes. She is standing tall among her peers, in a spotless white frilly blouse and a black A-line skirt, flicking off strands of long straight hair back from her face, handing out press kits to attending journalists at a product launch event at a five-star. Her jet black eyeliner matches her skirt and tight pumps.

She is hosting the event on a Monday morning, earning some “pocket money”. “My family doesn’t know I do this. This is purely a stopgap job till I complete my studies. The money comes in useful,” she says.

But she, too, keeps her job a secret. The girls can feel preyed on.

“Often, event management people behave rudely with us. This doesn’t happen in cities like Delhi or Mumbai, where there is more dignity for hostesses,” says Moonmoon Chakrabarti. Jessica agrees.

Hostesses also have to deal with rude guests, who think the girls are available. “We are supposed to be hostesses and the cardinal rule is to be nice to our guests. But if anyone misbehaves, I am firm with them and make myself scarce. I have left an event when I found a guest was misbehaving and the client did not understand my situation,” says Moonmoon.

Sangita has her own way of dealing with such tricky situations. “I don’t mix much at these events. I just do my work and go home. Those who talk a lot and hang out at these places invariably get into trouble,” she says.

It’s the hardest for those who take their professions seriously. Moonmoon is the only girl who doesn’t have any qualms talking about herself. She is serious about her work and enjoys it. “I like doing this. I have travelled to Delhi and other places for a number of events. I do most of the events for a Delhi-based marketing company,” she says. “And I find people in other cities far more professional than those in Calcutta.”

Back from an assignment at a five-star where she hosted an event for a company, in western attire, this petite girl with an unblemished skin and straight long tresses looked fetching and smart. In her modest home in Naktala, she changes into a T-shirt and leggings. She puts on the mosquito repellent to ward off mosquitoes in the small drawing room in her house and switches on the bare bulb overhead before calling her mother.

A student of a professional course in hospitality and event management, Chakrabarti has worked for over five years as a hostess. Her father runs a transport business and her mother is a home-maker who has no problem with her profession.

“Initially we were worried. She explained to us what she did at these events. Then one day her father attended one of her events and came back beaming. He told me ‘your daughter is doing just fine’,” she smiles.

There are many aspects to a corporate event or social function. “There is the front desk that gives the first cut information and takes care of the registration, inside, the emcee conducts the event, there are boys and girls who seat the guests, distribute the kits, hand over mikes during the Q&A sessions, there is a separate set of hands, mostly boys, to set up the stage, more helps to take care of the food and so on,” says Ranadeep Basu, who runs Dreamshow Experience, an event management company based in Calcutta.

But he hires mostly from colleges. “We hire girls and boys to manage each of these during a corporate event. Everything happens at the same time, so we need a lot of manpower to conduct these events smoothly,” says Basu.

He hires these hands mainly from colleges in Calcutta, sometimes he outsources the hiring to a resource management company or at other times he digs into his own database. “They are mainly from colleges, some might be doing their plus 2. It is easy money for them, pocket money and they are willing to do this till they finish their studies,” says Ranadeep.

But compared with Delhi or Mumbai, the scope in this profession is seriously limited. “If they have the gift of the gab they can work as emcees and earn a lot more,” says Ranadeep. “In Calcutta, the emceeing is generally done by celebrities or RJs,” he adds.

Calcutta loses out in other ways. “The girls in Delhi and Mumbai are much better groomed. Besides, the pay is much better compared to here,” says Jessica. While a hostess in Delhi or Mumbai would be paid Rs 4,500 or more for a six-hour event, in Calcutta the figure starts at Rs 2,000 and will barely cross Rs 3,500. “The girls are hired for an entire day stretching from 10 to 16 hours. They are given food and if the event stretches beyond 10 at night they get a drop home,” says Jessica. The measly pay is even less if the girls are hired by and event management company that keeps its cut.

Ranadeep wouldn’t pay more than Rs 1,500 to a hostess and says it starts at a paltry Rs 600 for newcomers. But girls from good colleges are better paid.

Many companies prefer to get in touch with the girls directly. “It works in a very unorganised way. There are certain groups that work with certain companies. If a company gets in touch with one of the girls and tells her that they need so many hostesses, that girl will then get in touch with her friends and acquaintances,” says Moonmoon. Jessica laments the lack of organised manpower. “I wish I could start a registration process where girls interested in hosting events can come and register themselves,” says the model.

Moonmoon is planning to have her event management company soon.