Pubs & bars bar blacks in Bangalore

Bangalore (in India) has a sizeable student population from the African continent — 20-somethings from countries as diverse, and far apart, as Cameroon and Nigeria, Ghana and Tanzania. However, at most of the city’s hep clubs, with their liveried staff and haute monde managers, all ebony-skinned people are, well, ‘Nigerians’. And ‘drug peddlers’, ‘scamsters’and ‘trouble makers’ too, though they don’t say it out aloud.

At most of these bars and pubs, blacks are generally frowned upon. Especially when it is a group of black males, unaccompanied by women. The response at these places vary from polite sangfroid — “sorry, prior reservation needed” — to the outright rude “please leave”.

At one of the sports bars, which had the most number of complaints, the head of marketing said it was “security reasons” and not racism that made them discourage blacks from coming. He went on to say that “most people (the bar’s other clients) are just not comfortable with them around.” Now, doesn’t that sound suspiciously like the R word?

To see for ourselves, Bangalore Mirror carried out a sting operation on Friday night - the beginning of a busy weekend. We got together five students from Cameroon and Ivory Coast, hit four major hot spots in the city and recorded what followed.

Xtreme Sports Bar, Indiranagar Time:8 PM

The all-black group of Clovis Taka, Amadi Bethel, Ondimba Bongo, Kibaki Mwai and Zuma Jacob arrived at the fourth floor entrance of the lounge. The lady at the counter visibly stiffened on seeing them. The group tried to walk in casually but the lady requested them to wait. The bouncer meanwhile tried to dissuade the group from entering, claiming that there was a private party going on inside. The lady then returned with the manager, who first asked if the group had a reservation. When the group replied in the negative, but pointed out that a number of people were walking in without reservations, he changed tack and said that stags were not allowed. Now, our male photographer had walked in first alone and nobody had mentioned anything about stags. Neither did the managers see any cause for alarm when he mentioned he was waiting for another male friend. The reception to him was warm and courteous.

The black group tried to argue, but the manager stood his ground and the boys left. When Sassou arrived on the scene, he was also given the same reasons to begin with. But when our photographer (tall, FAIR and handsome, for a change) intervened and said that Sassou was the friend he had been waiting for, then everything changed magically. Sub-text: blacks, whether single or in groups, not welcome.

Athena, The Leela Palace Time: 8.45 PM

Recently, CCB sleuths had laid a trap here for a couple of Nigerian nationals involved in internet fraud. One of the accused made a mad dash and broke a glass door that set the hotel back by Rs 12 lakh. We had heard murmurs of African nationals being turned away since and decided to see if it was true. The exercise was repeated in the same order with a few changes. When Taka and his group approached the entrance desk, there was a certain amount of discomfort among the bouncers. The body language clearly said “Should we or shouldn’t we?” But after a few minutes of pondering, they allowed the group to take the lift to the basement where the party was happening. This reporter and Sassou who walked in as a couple also faced no problems.

Xtreme Sports Bar, Kammanhalli Main Rd Time: 9.40 PM

The same exercise and the same response as with this bar’s Indiranagar branch - “We are sorry sir, there is a private party, you will need a reservation. We do not allow stags”. The all-black group was turned away. But when the reporter, the photographer and Sassou walked into the bar (Sassou could not get in by himself), we found a number of expats AND stags, enjoying a cold beer and enjoying the live telecast of the match between KKR and RCB going on at Chinnaswamy Stadium.

Fusion Lounge, Brigade Road Time: 10.30 pm

The African theme party is the rage at Fusion. The blacks had no problems entering here. But there was another surprise in store for them: they had a separate dance floor. They were not allowed to mingle with the locals. Last we knew, the word for this is, what else, segregation. The explanation from Fusions management beat it all: “These guys are dancing the African way, which is very different. There is no definite segregation. It is just that people who enjoy dancing the African way do it together.” What next — separate sections for those who eat sushi or prefer continental!