First of all: thank you for the opportunity to blog. I’m so excited!
And now, my post:
The city of Bangalore has banned dancing and live music in places that serve alcohol, according to this Indian Express article here.
And according to this friend of mine here:
one Abhi M., who along with famed playwright Girish Karnad and 100 other people, protested the outmoded rule. Karnad spaketh thus:
“It is tyranny of the police. It is against every artiste. Instead of going after criminals the police are going after musicians.â€
[Note: Karnad’s first two lines rhyme. A true artiste, that one.]
Apparently Bangalore officials have decided to enforce a part of the decades-old Karnataka Excise Law that prohibits live music and dancing in places that sell alcohol. (Used to be, only the section barring women from dancing was enforced, which led critics to hire dancing eunuchs in bars across the city this past February. Too bad that wouldn’t even be clever this time around.)
Abhi tells me,
“it’s an outdated law that’s being dug up by immature and backward-thinking bureaucrats and cops.â€
But those Bs and Cs have their defenses. Says Bangalore’s Police Commissioner in an NDTV article:
“There is no [dance] ban on discos. They have to obtain a license and they can function.â€
The article goes on to say however, that not one such license has been granted in the past four years to the many places that have requested them, according to sources in the police department.
The law is being used to temper progress, and the upshot is that the city is confused. I saw it myself two years ago.
My family is from Bangalore, and we’ve been back many times. Until recently, the visits revolved around seeing old people, the oldest members of our family tree who held the roots in their hands. We ate chakli and listened to talk of the city becoming dustier, the weather apparently degrading to levels higher than balmy, and the comings and goings of cousins I didn’t know.
And then something magical happened. My cousin Vijay – who I did know – nabbed a job at Accenture and headed to its largest hub. That’s right, I know you know it: Bangalore.
Giddy with the shock of being near fellow “engsters,†I trotted wide-eyed alongside Vijay that first night out in the city, my very first night out in all those years of visiting it. We pub-hopped and told stories. I met his many friends, all of whom were smart, funny, attractive and nice. The city seemed made for them and they for it and ne’er the two would not meet. Until….
11:30. That good ol’ excise law again, my friends. At half past 11, Vijay and his friends informed me, all fun stops. The bars close and people are sent home. What had been a normal late-night scene became a sleazy Scar Face-esque run-around where we ducked into the back rooms of bars we knew would serve us past midnight if we slid extra bills their way, while all around us less rupee endowed customers were forced to leave. New Year’s Eve – a week later – would prove to be worse than all the other nights, with the city enforcing an 11 o’clock closing time to make absolutely certain no hooliganry could ensue.
I felt like I was back at my aged relatives’ places, only this time I was partying surreptitiously in their stairwells while they slept.
I love my kin, please don’t mistake me. They make me understand my life. But I don’t think they represent the direction of the city. In fact, I don’t think they want to. It is a place that has experienced almost unmanageable growth, like a boy who shoots up two feet when he’s already 17 (I’ve seen it happen). It’s gangly and awkward and just starting to realize, “Hey! I look good now! And people want to date me!â€
The solution to growing attractive is not to close oneself off, at least not in my opinion. Banning music and dance backpedals against the flow of Bangalore’s greatness, against the idea of why it is good for poor people to make money and have toilets. If one is working, one should also be dancing.
I have no doubt these kinks will work themselves out as Bangalore’s youth gains more control. But for now, a world-famous business center fears the sort of revelry and energy that inevitably comes with progress, and that, I think, is too bad.
Mallika spaketh thus:
Drinking alcohol after midnight? You’re practically Tony Montana!
The solution to growing attractive in your case may be to close yourself off, at least in my opinion. Posts like this backpedal against the flow of Sepia’s greatness. If one is blogging one should also be interesting and somewhat eloquent.
Welcome to SM, you’re the perfect person to cover the GOP convention.
They shut down the bars and we bribed them to stay.
You’re mean.
you’re funny…
… and a good sport.
when you criminalize doing a dance, only criminals will do dancers. er, no…i mean, when you outlaw alcohol, only outlaws become alcoholics. ummm…maybe, when you ban dancing, only banners dance.
never mind.
lol yea sorrry to say this is not upto par.
basically, reading the title is enough to know everything and there isn’t anything in the article body that improves on it..
a news ticker item this is, at least the way its written.
not being mean, but better luck next time.
Have heard of this ban…and have mixed reactions…on the one hand it seems very high handed on the part of the government and police on the other the growing crime scene makes one think that perhaps in the lawless lands of India its not such a bad idea to be home after dark.
5 · patak said
patak yr cmnt iz very coherent kthxbai!
Artiste, You’re a bit silly, Mallika posted on a new municipal regulation and then talked about its broader implications. Her post was hardly self-aggrandizing. Maybe you need a stiff drink to chill out. I don’t know how strictly the authorities in Bangalore are enforcing this regulation but all other things being equal, these types of laws just end up creating backdoors and backalleys for a black market. See Prohibition. Welcome Mallika and don’t let the turkeys get you down as a famous Republican once said to his successor.
Back on topic, people. Discuss the post, not the comments.
bangalore was heading south right when they changed the name to bengaluru. I left that city in 1998 and in the last 10 years, all I’ve heard are complaints about how bad its gotten there.
Never been to Bangalore, and probably am not going any time soon, but I liked the post and thought it had a nice flow in parts. Just sayin’…
What is this comment thread, Above the Law or American Idol?
Mallika, was it more Scar-face or Speakeasy? Do you think the regulation will be flipped as folks begin to move things into more “private” spaces (e.g., house parties, underground clubs, etc.)?
It’s an interesting puzzle why most legal systems haven’t been able to come up with a principle that “sunsets” old statutes after a time, unless the current legislature (at least cursorily renews them). I.e., it’s odd that the current legislature prefers to (effectively) give discretion to police, etc. over whether to enforce such laws or not, w/out at least seizing the power for themselves to look them over and “weed” some out. See Guido Calabresi, A Common Law for the Age of Statutes (1982).
I was about to point to the BJP and then recalled the various AIDMK/DMK parties in TN are also against fun.
You’re right, Camille – much more speakeasy than Scar Face. I actually don’t think a sort of black market party scene can do too much to overturn things. The fact is, that happens fairly widely already. The issue is more about the disconnect between the city officials and the city’s identity – one that’s much larger than in most parts of the US (I am from Texas, where “sodomy laws” still exist, but are rarely, if ever, used. And if they are, it is a BIG deal). And that may simply require time and fresh blood before it can change.
Now I’m going to bed.
I love everyone who’s been nice to me.
sodomy laws have been unenforceable in the us (except maybe in the military) since lawrence v. texas (s. ct. 2003)
ahem. from the wiki:
“It is not clear whether or how sodomy laws that apply to both homosexual and heterosexual sex are affected by Lawrence.”
ok, really i have to go.
OMG, I’m having wikipedia cited against me!! 😉
Thanks for the post, Mallika, I’m sorry people are being mean to you in really petty and obnoxious ways.
Or how about groups of teenagers driving around with beer and other alcohol? Sound good? That’s what they do in Baroda, which is allegedly dry. Also, I would guess, based on what I know of Indian politics and how corruption works there, it’s highly unlikely that the “growing crime scene” is going to be affected as much as the ordinary people who go to less criminal bars. The police might want a place to drink, after all 😉
Yeah, I had the same problem. I noticed in an article that the Congress had tried to do the same thing three years earlier (it had a funny name that I can’t remember now…something like the Talibanization of Bangalore). Anyway, it still clearly can be tied to the assumption of power by the BJP in Karnataka, though what it means and what the other factors are are a little less clear to me. Seems mainly like a stupid and heavyhanded reaction, but I’d like to know the political purpose it serves.
Anyway, this is a really interesting story from a national perspective because of the role that Bangalore plays as India’s St. Petersburg – it’s shining gateway to the West where there are many, many transients from the West who I would guess are not all that thrilled with this state of affairs any more than Bangalore’s natives are. One might think that the police and government would have better things to do – like fixing the traffic situation – but then one would, as always, be wrong about the straightforwardness of India’s politics. I wonder what it is that motivates this. Makes me want to do research 🙂
I think I read in an article that there’s also a three-year-old law that was being used to regulate the bars, which followed the abandoned attempt by the Congress governnment to do what the BJP is doing. So clearly it’s not just a matter of laws being outdated, but contemporary social circumstances that are causing the government to dredge up these laws (similar to Section 377).
I think the Blore tech professionals’ parents are very much in favor of this. Many of them criticize tech companies/call centers for not preventing office hookups. As if Wipro is somehow responsible for preserving the virginity of their 20 something adult children.
20 · louiecypher said
Call centre influence on Indian sexuality is really interesting though 🙂 Also, I think the appropriate phrase would be “illusion of virginity” 🙂
17 · mallika said
Officer, I promise the back seat of my car was across state lines when the act occurred!
No!!! What happens to all the underground metal shows? What’s a live metal show without a little beer??
No!!! What happens to all the underground metal shows? What’s a live metal show without a little beer??
So does this mean that for another year Slayer will not play live in India.
The scene might seem rather trivial to folks outside of Bangalore. But it is really medieval. You cannot have live bands play in any club. Neither are DJs allowed to touch their consoles. 11:30 deadline was bad enough. Now that seems heavenly.
It’s very interesting. Especially since this particular law has had its limbs manipulated over the years to suit whatever aim seems important at the time. I believe back in 2003 it was eased up to help illegal distributors of alcohol so as to increase revenue coming into the city. (I wanted to include that in the post, but could find no legit articles on it). The law clearly needs to be overhauled in a big way.
Great post, reminds me of visiting my family in Bangalore. But I kind of got hung up on this:
Pardon my ignorance, but … seriously? There are still eunuchs in the world today? I’m flabbergasted.
Anyway, I think you (and various comments) hit the nail on the head with the whole “speakeasy” thing. Legislating morality never ends well.
A nice window into one corner of Bangalore. Playing music is legal and serving alcohol is legal so doing the two should be rendered legal. The original law was probably borne of a focus on flesh trade and all the crime that can lead to. Police must find better ways to tackle that independently. Oh, progress is not the word I would use for wanting to drink and dance, just different taste and free to choose, may be.
This is one cause that not many in India would give a toss about, unfortunately. The culture guardians will continue to protect us from evil influences. Our babus and police are masters at coming up with this sort of stuff, because these are easy targets.
29 · Ramji said
Do you use the same logic for drinking and driving?
Bangalore has had a long history with this law (atleast dating back to the 70s). The cops start enforcing it, people grumble, then quiet down, the cops start to forget about it, things go back to normal.
All this, of course, doesn’t prevent most Bangaloreans from getting their parties on. The action shifts to the thousands of farmhouses/retreats outside the city – which only spikes drunk driving accidents on the highways leading back in.
The cops put the ban in bangalore. And ruling with an iron fist puts the ore in bangalore.
Although all the drunk oversexed kids keep trying to put the bang in bangalore. I guess what I am saying is you can’t take the gal out of bangalore…
Most Indians dance so poorly (especially with alcohol) that this is no big loss, and probably long overdue.
Dancing doesn’t kill people. Jalebis do.
@Atool Speak for yourself. I can dance better than any American. I can drink them under the table too. Hic!
As always, the morality brigade goes after the middle and lower middle classes. they will practise this law to the effect that 5 star hotels can have drinking, dancing, merry making, and what not so that western (read white) businessmen/women and rich indian kids including the sunshine folks can have their jollies while they admire the “progress” that India is making, but your poor rikshaw-driver who may like to see some fat chick dance while getting his drink on, can’t do so anymore.
well done. and of course, the hailed middle class of india (most of your parents and their peers in india) will be happy that their kids are not pubbing and drinking and dating anymore, and becoming corrupted by western influence. Progress, my left fucking nut. Not that drinking and dancing = progress. That just equals the Macarena.
I am from Texas, where “sodomy laws” still exist, but are rarely, if ever, used. And if they are, it is a BIG deal
Not anymore.
well done. and of course, the hailed middle class of india (most of your parents and their peers in india)
What are you talking about? We were rich bitch.
It’s interesting to see this pop up on SM — I just flew to India to deal with a family emergency — and this story’s all over the “youf” culture news here, at least according to the Bangalore Mirror, one of the local English language tabloids that seems to cater to that market. From what I’m hearing, yes, this law is suddenly being enforced in a manner it hasn’t been in many years. What’s also interesting is that it seems to be part of a broader crackdown by the morality police: here’s a link to another article that the Mirror carried on hotels refusing to rent rooms to couples (het, I assume!) who can’t prove that they’re married to each other. http://www.bangaloremirror.com/index.aspx?page=article§id=1&contentid=20080811200808112200177058379ebc7§xslt= Apparently this is because the police are using the general fear caused in the population by the recent bomb blasts in the city to raid hotel registers at will and haul in consenting — but unmarried — couples! I’m still shaking my head a little at this — I didn’t realize that it is illegal in India to cohabit with someone you’re not married to…. in fact, I’m trying to figure out if this is actually the case or if this is another overzealous application of a law meant to deal with something altogether different. I traveled around India for months a few years ago with my partner and only ran into this problem once (in Bhopal, and dismissed it as typical of a certain kind of small town conservatism and paternalism which would never happen in the relatively cosmopolitan city such as Bangalore, where I was born). So the combination of the two types of moral policing going on in B’lore now — against partying and that awful, nation-destroying, culture-crumbling thing it allegedly leads to, consensual sex between adults — is suggestive indeed. This New India that we keep hearing about and that Bangalore supposedly embodies seems to me to be built on pretty shaky ground.
It seems so unreal as people have always said that Bangalore is the place to be if you have a rock band and stuff. I’m thankful that I never had to live in that city.
I’ve got mixed feelings about the ban, but as far as non-married couples co-habitating in India, as far as I am aware, it is not illegal. However, due to the fact that it is not common in India and is considered a sin and a crime against culture, the hotels who refuse couples on those grounds are assuming they will be able to shame the couple into backing away, eyes duly lowered, without a peep about legalities and a threat to sue.
That’s just how India is.
Now if a couple were to stand their ground, hotel owners/managers would be shocked and deem them “alajjit”, shameless.
I’m not a drinker or a bar rat so it’s neither here nor there for me, however, isn’t 11:30 late enough? Indians are generally early risers anyway…
I understand the need to unwind and party, but how long can one hang out in a smoky bar? Isn’t 3 or 4 hours enough?
India is by and large a very conservative and orthodox country. I am extremely conservative by western standards but in India I am considered an ultra “modern” radical feminist.
Even compared to those kids who drink, party, have sex before marriage, etc, I bet most of my views and general attitude towards life is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay more free and progressive than their’s in many ways, sans the drinking, sexing, meat-eating and partying which appearantly = “progress” in their eyes.
It’s all relative.
Go figure. Go raw.
Malli..great start to SM!…..Bangalore does not really have a big tradition of live western music..as long as discos are allowed without any bias…it should be alright…we might just see a lot more clubs prop up…unless of course the whole thing is politicized
So off-topic, but I’m hardcore craving chakli now. 🙂 Welcome, Mallika!
Typical of liberals (who are the mirror image of conservatives): Protest vehemently any threat to freedom of expression (of which music is a part), but turn a blind eye when the means to deliver the expression is taxed heavily. Is there a blog on SM protesting Obama’s proposed windfall tax on oil?
I have an idea: Keep the music and bars open all around. But introduce progressive taxation after 10PM. A beer will cost 50 rupees at 10PM, 100 rupees at 10:30, 700 rupees at 11PM, 2000 rupees at 11:30…. and so on. That’s kill the market, and neither liberals or conservatives will be able to whine at it.
M. Nam
The Taj in Bangalore had no such restrictions. We were up until well past midnight drinking and dancing into the wee hours. Plenty of expensive alcohol was readily served. Bangalore was wonderful and the food in the Taj was simply unbelievable. The dinner buffets are 5 restaurants under one roof.
Hooking up with Bangalore girls in the malls was quite an experience… are there similar malls in the big cities across India? Being a blonde & blue-eyed guy in my 30’s I got stared at quite a bit, but it was a great 4-weeks. It was so hot, but people rarely wear shorts.
46 · MoorNam said
Moornam, you do realize that expressing yourself with oil doesn’t really mean relying on crude, right?
I hear you about your complaints on windfall tax “killing the market”, and eagerly look forward to your follow-up post complaining about how the giant subsidies given to oil companies are distorting the market.
This sounds like the plot to a Kevin Bacon movie.
Until two weeks ago, it was illegal to dance in bars in New York City. People did so sometimes, but they did so illegally, and if you’re over 30, you remember when Rudy Giuliani came and started enforcing that law out of the blue in the 90s. Despite all the bitching about it, it probably did work to close some very shady spots.