Bangalore City gets high on the sly

Bangalore City gets high on the sly
Deccan Herald

The police claim the rule against selling liquor late in the night has helped reduce traffic violations like rash driving.


The pub city has taken a hit with the 11.30 pm deadline imposed by the Police Department on entertainment joints. While the move was to keep rash driving and indecent behaviour in check, the law seems to be falling short on reach. Police vigil might have ensured prompt closure of bars, pubs and wine shops in Bangalore’s upmarket commercial pockets, but the party is still on elsewhere. On any given week day, this is what you get. The following checks were done on Sept 2.

11.50 pm Madiwala

Hosur Road, with a line of arriving and departing private buses, is still a spot of activity. As passengers wait for their buses, some of them sneak to the sidelines of a wine shop, pay the server boy through a little window and get their pegs. The mesh shutter is closed but there are still about 10 people inside, chatting animatedly under bright lights. They haven’t taken the last order yet.

12.05 am Madiwala

Hardly 100 metres past the Madiwala Police Station towards the Silk Board Flyover, an eager youngster jogs along this reporter’s bike, asking “Beeraa, drinkaa sir?” The wine shop has downed shutters but light comes from within.

Bikes and a couple of cars are parked on the road. The mood is palpably relaxed.

12.15 am. Koramangala

On a bylane opposite the HDFC Bank near Raheja Arcade, a pub shutter is half drawn. It’s dark inside but soon the light’s on, and a couple of men walk out, mount their bikes and speed on. The light goes off again. The shutter’s still half drawn.

12.30 am. Adugodi Road

A drizzle has left a group of smoking, talking men huddle together near an apparently closed wine shop. They ask you whether you need the booze. “But the shop is closed...?” They say, “The boy is lying down behind. Just knock.”

Revellers’ night out

As the question — how late is late? — gets passed around, there are many who sulk over that the answer lies with the policemen. While some sneak around regular joints to get their supply even after the deadline, Bangalore’s true-blue party-hoppers are exploring private parties and long night drives. At way past 12, they set out for round two, picking up liquor from wine-shops in Madiwala or the in-roads of Kammanahalli before hitting the deserted stretches down Sarjapur Road or towards Electronic City.

“We have been 70 to 75 per cent successful in maintaining the restrictions. The major boost we’ve got from the drive is a check on rash driving and other traffic violations by youngsters,” says Mr K V R Tagore, IG of Police and Additional Commissioner - Traffic and Safety.

According to a source in the Central Crime Branch of the Bangalore Police, the restrictions have been very effective but private parties are beyond police purview. “If we have specific complaints, we can act. We are aware that certain dhabas in the city limits sell liquor without license, which is picked up by youngsters driving down to farmhouses and friends’ houses on the outskirts of the city,” he says.

The shift in the scene of action, however, has not made much difference to the alcohol supply if HR consultant Venkatsundaram’s (name changed) take is anything to go by.

“We have cut down on weekday sessions and are saving up for bigger parties at friends’ places on Saturdays or Sundays, where we stack the alcohol in advance,” he says.

The 11.30 hooter has come in as a dampener for the city’s party circuit. However, the regulars are also finding new jaunts. Sadiq, a Mumbaiite who recently moved into Bangalore, is caught up with the idea of weekend fun in distant farmhouses. He prefers the safe confines of an apartment or a farmhouse to the post-drink drives on roads dotted by beat police.