Opinion The party police

Bangalore is hailed as India’s next-gen city. Here,thousands of 20 and 30-somethings work hard at making the city globally competitive. After work hours,they look to party just as hard. But a combination of moral policing,an archaic excise law and domineering politicians has stymied that prospect.

Bangalore was India’s original pub city,and this is where it all started. As far back as the 1980s,when the first pub was yet to make its appearance in the New Delhi,theme pubs,DJs,ladies’ nights and bouncers raised the “cool” quotient of this city.

Women could enjoy a night out without worrying about unwanted male attention or fearing their own safety. Bangalore led other cities in ushering in attitudinal and cultural change towards drinking,pubs or women drinkers.

Today,the fast-growing city has its share of swanky lounge bars,pubs and night spots which offer an excellent diversion to its overworked residents. Many of these spots are as famous for their music and ambience as for the quality of their cocktails and food.But everything closes well before the Cinderella Hour,putting Bangalore’s cosmopolitan tag at stake.

While Mumbai and New Delhi party until 2 am and beyond,tourists and an ever-growing number of expatriate workers are greeted with the shocking news that all pubs,bars and restaurants in the city close at 11.30 pm. Along with the unending traffic jams,the early night deadline is another thing Bangaloreans are embarrassed about.

Workers in Bangalore’s technology industry are sore that the government’s decision means “lights out” for extended merrymaking. Many say that the industry’s late working hours and the city’s early closing time closes the leisure options. Gulping down their drinks or being hounded out of pubs are common features of any night out in town.

The question that many Bangaloreans ask is,does a grown-up city deserve to be policed this way? After all,nightlife is not only about pokey dance bars and smoke-filled gambling dens. In a young city,an evening’s energy could be expended on a host of nightly activities such as shopping,dining,and even browsing in a bookstore besides drinking at a pub.

The greatest cities in the world have a thriving nightlife,whether London or New York. Closer home,even the highly regulated Dubai or the discipline-obsessed Singapore have a vibrant variety of late-evening entertainment options.

A dose of conservatism has crept into a once-lively city,making Bangalore regress. It is surprising that,despite such setbacks,the city remains at the top of a list of India’s best city for expatriates in terms of quality of living as ranked by Mercer study this year. The quality of night-life does not just make a city attractive to foreigners and tourists,it also keeps the economy chugging. But it seems that the extension of nightlife deadline has become one more issue for the politicians to weigh in on.

Members of the Youth Congress opposed the extended deadline and petitioned the city’s police comissioner,saying that any extension would only benefit outsiders and not the people of Bangalore. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party is doing its own bit in appeasing its conservative vote-bank. Home Minister V.S. Acharya says people from the lower middle-class and lower classes are vehemently opposed to the extension. Only a few amongst the upper classes favour a new deadline,he says. “This is a decision based on what the majority wants,so there is no need to extend the deadline,” says Acharya.

So,Bangalore isn’t getting its mojo back anytime soon.

saritha.rai@expressindia.com