The English have gone, but….

Remeber the scene in ‘Pretty Woman’ where Julia Roberts goes into the swanky clothes store and gets politely thrown out, because they serve only a certain elite clientele, and she certainly didnt fit that profile. i remebered it too, a few days back….
The city has got itself a new eatery, perfectly located at the most happening mall here… the name of the restaurant is that of the first ‘real’ train that ever ran in India,and they have a theme that matches it, complete with a section that looks like the inside of a railway carriage, and bells which are sounded regularly, followed by announcements.. the music,is of course, instrumental, thankfully old hindi tracks… and thats enough of description..
So, we landed up at the reception, partially wet from the rains which insists on keeping me company these days, where we were met by a very neatly dressed lady… we were given a ‘top to bottom’ appraisal and obviously we werent impressive enough (well, what can a faded jacket, denim, a beard without a moustache for company, and a ‘got wet in the rain’ look muster!!), for she politely said that we would have to wait for at least an hour before she could get us a seat… nice try, ma’am!!
to be fair, there was a crowd there, and i would have been happy if that was the reason.. but the guys have taken the ambience very seriously, and were behaving with us, exactly the way the English used to, with a contempt underlying all words and actions…
once upon a time, we got the British to do it to us, but these days, we do it all to ourselves!!
until next time, i guess its only food… for thought…

35 thoughts on “The English have gone, but….

  1. reminds me of an old hindi doha, which says – dont go where u r not welcome, even if gold rains there!!

    nobody needs to dine in such a snobbish place.

    until next time….dinner by invitation only :))

  2. How one dresses is their choice and u weren’t planning to ask those people for a free meal you were going to pay for it…well agreed that clothes maketh a man but its not necessary that one has to be prim n “propah” to get an entry to a food joint…Snobs and nothing else is what i would call them…btw which place is this and where?

  3. NOW this wont happen in mumbai ever. that is why i have grown to love this town . it doesnt judge you by the way you are dressed.

    vaise did you finally eat there or not ?

  4. That’s bad…maybe you guys can take sweet revenge by turning up every other day..accompanied by rain. 🙂

  5. What is the name of the place “? and yes I got the same feedback on That Italian restaurant in Koramangala… Phioranos I think… Was entertaining the GORA customers and treating the natives like dirt GRRRR

  6. pseudofreud: ah, people have got sued for lesser things they blogged about.. so i have purposely not mentioned anything 🙂

    deez: u r getting damn good at this, maybe i’ll let you fill it from now 🙂

  7. pixie: and i for one, wont fuel it further!!

    anz: xactly my point!! if i am the damn customer, and am paying for it, i dont c why they have to discriminate!!

  8. madan: very much!!

    sanguine: did!! the funny part was we got in after 15 mins… so obviously it was a polite way of saying ‘u aint welcome’

  9. phatichar: next time, i ‘m wearing a tshirt, shorts and chappals..

    pallavi: like i said, angrez to gaye, par….!!

  10. Wierd..I mean obviously, if you came in there you have the money right? Why the hell would any one throw out money?!creeps.

  11. Take all your friends, all wet and drippy and barge in. Then look around, shake your heads and barge out. Do this as often as possible 🙂

  12. Ironically I had an experience of the opposite kind last Saturday. I went to this fancy looking restaurant, where I was to meet a friend. Got totally drenched on the way. As my friend had not yet arrived, I was planning to wait outside. But the people at the restaurant asked me if I wanted to wait inside. :-). But to add to what you were saying, many of the newly opened places have signs like ‘Right to Admission Reserved’ which feels very pre-1947 like. Its quite unfortunate. btw, the restaurant above had that sign too.

  13. power to my gramma! SHE refused herself admission into ANY restaurant! She didnt consider them kosher enough to serve her!haha! She would always have her flattened rice (poha/aval) and eat that. I am slowly getting there too.

  14. arunima: hey, enough clues to let u guess the place 🙂

    sqrl/nt: the perfect balance of snobbishness and greed, thats the idea!!

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