Every night, by 11.30 pm, all the pubs and bars in Bangalore shut down. They are required to by law. Everyone agrees it’s a stupid law. Across the world, adults are free to party for as long as they want to. At 3 am, 4 am, 5 am in any progressive city, in any country, you can get a drink. In India, Mumbai, Delhi and Calcutta have a healthy night life, with pubs and bars open up to 3 am or later.
This law is supposed to cut down the crime rate in the city. If it was such an effective method, how come cities known for their high crime rate, like New York, Chicago, etc., haven’t adopted it?
Also, for the short time that the pubs and bars are open no one is allowed to dance. Yes dancing is a crime in Bangalore.
These rules have been in place for quite a few years now. Bangalore is used to having the police enter a pub by 11.15 and kicking you out. It is used to the police carrying away amplifiers (and sometimes DJs) from a pub in case they play music beyond 11.30.
Once Bangalore was like any other modern city. You could party till 2.30, 3 or even 5 am, depending on where you went. It was called the pub city of India. The crime rate wasn’t any higher then than it is now.
It’s been 4 years or so since the new ‘shut down by 11.30 pm’ order has been in place. Oddly no one has ever protested much against it. There have been stray articles in the papers. There was a token protest by partygoers. A TV channel covered the issue once. In 4 years that’s all that has happened. It’s obviously not enough. Why is it so? What are we so busy with that we can’t fight for our rights? Would a city like Mumbai tolerate such a law? Are we in the south too docile, too timid, too accepting? Or do we just not care?
Bangalore’s answer to the 11.30 rule is the after party. It begins once the pubs are shut. People buy their individual liquor, gather in someone’s home, and the party goes on.
The after party is not a real answer. It’s a make-shift solution. The real solution will only come from making the authorities abolish this absurd rule.
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The making of stupid rules and us protesting over it is a full time non-paying job. I can empathize with the party goers who buy liquor and continue the party in someone's home. I really don't think come Monday morning they can afford to waste their time forming unions and protesting... They have high paying jobs and deadlines to meet. And passive methods like writing a mail to "whomever-can-take-action" doesn't really work in nice comfortable and corrupt Bangalore. What then? Strikes? Nobody goes to pubs till they change the rule? I'm sure the authorities would love that one!! After all they sure are worried about the "culture" that's getting "spoilt" in Bangalore right :)
ReplyDeleteBy the way... just curious... how does one protest against a rule? Without a mob and picket fences i mean... in a more sensible and effective manner.
Sony, it takes numbers (and commitment) to protest against anything. There is the famous case of Jessica Lall - a model shot dead by an ex-minister's son in a posh restaurant in Delhi. The accused almost got away scot free until an outraged public used every means possible - letters to media, emails, smses, candle lit rallies, etc - and made the court change its verdict. Her murderer finally got a life sentence. Thats one example of simple and effective protest. I'm sure more methods exist. Greenpeace for instance has a long history of innovative protests. - Joshi
ReplyDeleteThere's a whole business in stamping out fun. They go into law making. Self fulfilling prophecy and usually dull people
ReplyDeleteKeep Bangalore Open
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