New Delhi: Nilotpal Mrinal, renowned Hindi author, was in for a surprise when he went to a restaurant in Delhi’s Connaught Place last week. The swanky eating joint refused to let him in. Nilotpal’s fault: he was carrying a gamcha on his shoulder.
The incident took place on 12 November.
Gamcha is a traditional thin cotton towel widely used in India.
Sharing his experience, Nilotpal told ThePrint, “I was just returning after participating in the Delhi government’s Purvanchal Mahotsva programme. As I was making my entry in the Q-Ba restaurant, the manager said, with a smile on his lips, that ‘you cannot enter this restaurant. This is looking bad and is not suitable to the place’s ambience’.”
He said he kept “debating” with the manager citing his rights, democratic values, freedom of movement etc, but the latter didn’t budge. “He kept smiling and blocking my entry into the restaurant. I was shocked by his behavior, but I somehow pushed him aside and entered forcefully. After that, I sat on the first floor.”
While browsing through the menu, Nilotpal said, he found an interesting item called “laharia samosa”. “I told the server that your manager was blocking my entry as I was carrying a gamcha and here you are using a Bhojpuri word in your menu. Why could you not find a suitable English replacement word for this?”
He also shared details of the experience in a Facebook post.
ये हल्के में नहीं लिया जाना चाहिए ।कृपया अनुरोध है।भौंचक्क हूँ!एक कार्यक्रम से लौट रहा था।भूख लगी तो सोचा कि कुछ खाता…
Nilotpal Mrinal यांनी वर पोस्ट केले सोमवार, ११ नोव्हेंबर, २०१९
Nilotpal has authored some bestselling novels of Hindi —Dark Horse and Aughad for example.
Dark Horse is based on the real-life experiences of students who live in Mukherjee Nagar and prepare for UPSC exams, while Aughad is an effort to uncover various intricate layers of panchayat-level rural politics.
Gamcha campaign on social media
Soon after the incident on 12 November, Nilotpal posted a message to the Delhi government on Twitter/Facebook, saying how he had to face such harassment just because he was carrying a gamcha, on a day the government was organising Purvanchal Mahotsva.
गमछा-सुकांड से सम्बंधित एक खबर अभी मिली जिसे साझा कर रहा हूँ ।मैनें जब 12 तारिख की रात गमछा वाले प्रकरण को fb पे लिखा…
Nilotpal Mrinal यांनी वर पोस्ट केले शनिवार, १६ नोव्हेंबर, २०१९
His post created a flutter as a lot of people extended solidarity, and those from UP and Bihar said they were offended on knowing what happened to him. They found it a brazen violation of their regional identity.
What followed was a campaign on social media with people starting to posting images sporting gamchas.
Suddenly, #gamcha started trending on Facebook and Twitter.
On 13 November, AAP leader Dilip Pandey visited the same restaurant carrying a gamcha.
Big Boss celebrity and popular singer Deepak Thakur also shared images with gamchas.
Later, some people also airing a ‘Facebook Live’ from outside the restaurant, wearing gamchas.
Another group of people entered the restaurant carrying gamchas and ate food. The restaurant manager had to finally tender an apology.
To make amends, the restaurant asked its staff members to wear gamchas at work.
On 17 November, some people dressed the manager with a gamcha too and put an end to this series of symbolic protests.
ThePrint visited the restaurant and spoke to the staff. Most of them are from UP and Bihar, and are all too familiar with gamchas.
One of the staff members said, “Whatever happened on that day was not intentional at all, it happened due to a mistake. We are wearing gamcha in solidarity.”
The manager was not present at the restaurant. The staff said he was out of station.
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What an excellent essay to counter something perceived to be wrong and against a culture loved by many not necessarily Suit Boot and tie culture!