Everyone wants to join the conversation about the 17-year-old boy — or is he seventeen-and-a-half — who rammed his Porsche Taycan into two IT professionals on a bike. Now, bars in Pune in particular, and elsewhere have put up posts on Instagram proclaiming ‘responsible drinking’, and asserting that they have rules about not serving alcohol to underage customers. Suddenly, everyone wants to talk about responsible driving, while simultaneously holding their breath to avoid police checks on a Saturday night.
But who are you fooling, really? As soon as the media focus shifts away from the Pune incident, it will be business as usual.
Prominent bars and pubs in Pune like Publiq in Koregaon Park, 2 BHK Diner and Key Club at Bund Garden Road, and Swiggers have shared ‘key’ points of the policy of serving alcohol to its patrons—no admission to those below 21, and no serving hard liquor to those below 25.
Even Bastian, a high-end bar with outlets in Mumbai and Bengaluru, joined the initiative and shared a post.
Let’s get real. We have all been ‘underage’ once, and been served alcohol, after nervously sweating at the entry door to bars and pubs. Very few places actually check ID cards strictly. If you have ‘connections’ or make it to ‘guest lists’ or simply slip in some cash, you’re most definitely in. And post-midnight, nobody cares about 16-year-olds puking in some corner. If you have the moolah, you’ll even get the best table, which has been ‘reserved’.
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Luring the underage crowd
Underage drinking is pretty rampant in India, and so is reckless driving. As is getting away, if one has clout and money. Together they become a deadly cocktail that tells flagrant violation of rules that has come to be symbolic of India. We have the (in)famous example of a certain movie star being invoked in the comments sections of every other social media post about the Pune incident. We are a country of sab chalta hai and no amount of reminding what breaking laws can lead to, we firmly believe in the ‘all is well’ theory.
The Cosie restaurant of Koregaon Park and Blak Club in Marriot Suite—two high-end establishments involved in the accident case—should have been more stringent. Instead, they rolled out a red carpet to welcome the wealthy builder’s underage son. Had the boy not been blinded by alcohol to kill the two unfortunate victims, the clubs would have continued doing exactly the same every night.
After all, he reportedly raked up a bill of Rs 68,000. Which good businessman gives up that kind of money?
A walk in Delhi’s Paharganj and Hauz Khas Village will reveal how people associated with bars beckon youngsters with ‘offers’ of one-plus-one on alcohol. They have ‘ladies’ night’ and happy hours to lure customers. Youngsters playing hooky from school or colleges, who are definitely underage, form a big chunk of the footfall at most of these bars and pubs.
In fact, many ‘affordable’ bars and pubs advertise ‘student friendly menus’. There was a time when restaurants around Delhi University’s north and south campuses were not allowed liquor licenses. Now, every other cafe has one. They are primarily catering to a population that is below the legal age of drinking.
Even Pune has had iconic spots like the High Spirits Café, which is known for being pocket-friendly, and the happening hang-out spot for the city’s many students. Any Punekar will tell you this.
So a PR scramble to show ‘responsibility’ and stringent checking practices really fools no one. Please spare everyone the hypocrisy.
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(Edited by Ratan Priya)