The Cinderella Hour

PARTY POOPER
THE CINDERELLA HOUR
In the first of a three-part series, BT explores the clampdown on the city’s night life, its fall-out and whether there’s a way out
The Times of India

...we’ve been griping about it. Bangalore’s no-dancing rule and 11.30 pm deadline are hot topics internationally. Is that the image we want to project?
BANGALORE’S found itself on Page 1 of the Wall Street Journal, only this time it isn’t a rave write-up on the IT hub. The city has a new image — that of khaki-clad cops beating their lathis on the tables at nightclubs and of harassed club owners and party-goers cribbing about the unfair law. Footloose, then dancingfree, says the headline. The blurb leading to the article on page 28 explains it all: “To Bangalore’s young consumer class, the Indian city’s crackdown on night life is out of step with the times.”

Embarrassing, isn’t it? Because now, the world will be talking about Backward Bangalore. Even other publications within India have turned the focus to Bangalore, calling it ‘Horror city’, and only recently, Sharad Pawar said he didn’t want Pune to go the Bangalore way.

It wasn’t the city New York-based youngster Roshini Thadani expected to see when she came to Bangalore recently. “The city does have some nice restaurants and clubs to visit at night, but the 11.30pm curfew and no-dancing rule limits what you can do,” she told BT. A recent night out in Bangalore ended at midnight for her, very different from her New York way of life, that goes on way past Cinderella’s curfew. “In terms of fashion and malls, it’s on par with any small city in America. But the night life isn’t like anywhere else in the world, not even India, because of the deadline and no-dancing policy,” Roshini adds.

“What, there’s no dancing in Bangalore?” asked a shocked youngster, who just landed in the city for a holiday. Meghana Sanghani had no clue that Bangalore doesn’t have a night life, and was all geared to go dancing on Tuesday night. Until we told her that she couldn’t. “I’m from Mumbai and there, our night starts at midnight. That’s when everyone goes out,” she sulked. Meghana says dancing is a form of relaxation for her. “If you can’t even dance at a nightclub, you’re going to get really frustrated,” she adds. A pub owner says there’s an old India, represented by Delhi and Mumbai, “and there’s Bangalore which was the face of young India; a city that’s happening. But from being a cosmopolitan city, we’ve gone back to being the village we used to be years ago,” he adds. The minute the Wall Street Journal article was out, entertainment professional Bipin Kumar’s friend called him from Chicago. “People abroad are laughing at us. The authorities say that nightclubs propagate prostitution, and if you say that to anyone abroad, they’ll think you’re being ridiculous,” he adds. According to Bipin, any city — be it Kuala Lumpur or Dubai — that promotes itself as a tourism destination, talks about its night life. “In a 30-second promo, there’s mention of food, culture, shopping and, of course, the night life. What will we say we’re offering tourists? A view of the Vidhana Soudha? We used to be called Pub City, and that’s the image we ought to be selling.”

Adds a former tourism official, “Many things make a city attractive and the night life is one of those. If you want people to visit your city and stay on, you have to promote the night life. Los Angeles or Atlantic City thrive on their night life. Their day begins at night. Leisure is an important aspect of any city’s image.”