Last night, I was returning from the house of a friend. We were a group of six, and all sober. We realised that a few in our group were hungry, and headed to Paramount in Koramangala for dinner. The time was around midnight, and the cops were at the door ensuring that no
impressionable, upright citizen was enticed into the den of vice.. Oh sorry, they serve only food! The moral indignation of the police was to be seen to be believed.

I understand the concern behind having bars/pubs open late. But I cannot for the life of me understand how a city that is home to so many call-centre and other ‘strange timings’ workers can be callous when it comes to actually helping one eat.

I would also be with the police if they just had a constable or two stationed inside each restaurant to ensure that there is no drinking/drugs/dancing/whatever other depravity they think the youth are up to.

Until now the popular opinion was that hotels that stayed open late, could afford to pay significant bribes, which is why they remained open. Also possibly why the cops are so insistent on having them shut as soon as it is 11.30 PM.

My suggestion: Let them pay a separate fee for a licence to serve food late into the night. Let them also pay a monthly retainer fee to the police to actually have 2 policemen stationed on each floor. If all else fails, let them at least have a counter where people can buy take-aways.

This is just getting miserable, and it is really sad to see Bangalore getting more and more Orwellian each day. ⊕