From: surekha@nyx.cs.du.edu (Surekha Reddy Gaddam)
Subject: Hyderabad - Pub Culture and Downing Streets
Followup-To: poster
Organization: Beechwood Data Systems
Date: Tue, 25 Aug 92 22:34:53 GMT


I found the following article quite interesting. Well, it certainly
appears like it is not anyway the Hyderabad where ancient looking Arabs 
go cradle-snatching.

Hope I am not creating any pestilence here.

Regards,

Surekha

Here is the verbatim report from The Week, Dated Aug 21, 1992

----

Mirth bubbles over with the frosted crystal mug, wrapped rounds by
downy young hands. It is time to peel away inhibitions, knock out the
mental blocks. A wiry young Sikh emits an ecstatic shriek. All trying
to make Hyderabad, hide-bound in its hoary history, let its hair
down.
For a city that goes to sleep early and wakes up late, the evenings
have indeed been enlivened by pubs and their make-shift dancing floors
and the discotheques. It is here the teenage hep groups gather in
droves and one can even sport the tinsel glitteral in their midst.  
If a 25-km drive to Medchal or a weekend outing at the nearer Bowenpally
to chomp Tandoori and swill booze was thought of as exciting earlier,
soaking in pub and disco culture is considered trendy and terrifying
by many in the new generation.  
	"There is a dramatic change going about in the city", claims
Gautam Anand, resident manager of Kwality Inn Green Park.
"Particularly evenings are eagerly looked forward to and it is
important to keep one's finger on the pulse.  "Not to be missed out,
Kwality Inn is building a Fun Center, which will have a pub, a
full-fledged discotheque and a fast food joint.  Another pub with a
make-shift disco, the Passage at Gateway Hotel Banjara, is having a
thorough facelift.  The fast coming up Krishna Holiday Inn, too, will
be equipped with a jazzy disco.
	And there is no dearth of exotic ideas to whip up enthusiasm.
Kwality Inn has been orgznising 'events' like Punks Nights and
disguise parties, one of which went by the name Go Incognito.  "Apart
from devising this as a stimulating exercise for our Fun Centre, we
are endorsing the change in the city's lifestyle", says Anad.  For
independence day, Kwality is planning a 'Freedom at Midnight' caper,
while the more prestigious Pyramid has thoughtup a 'theme party' where
the participatns would be attired in ethnic costume.
	The discotheques like the Pyramid, which cost Rs 80 lakh to
build, were what the rich and famous were craving for.
	Believed to be one of the best in the country, the Pyramid has 
a star-studded clientele including the glamarous Hindi film heroine 
Madhuri Dixit, who is a frequent visitor. On an evening at the Pyramid, 
one could spot Telugu star Venkatesh, hot-shot models, lionised 
cricketers and pampered children of film producers and top bureaucrats. 
Says Ayesha Sultana, manager of the Pyramid: "We provide what is essential 
in a discotheque - a safe and secure environment."
	While discotheques are not too many, the choice for the
pub-hoppers is wider.  
	The Parklane area of of Secunderabad across the beautified
Tank Bund, boasting of the largest concentration of bars and
restaurants in the twin cities, has as many as eight draught beer
joints within one kilometer radius.  And when one is crazed for
novelty, pub loyalty becomes a casualty.  Says Sudhakar Nukala, owner
of the Beat Route Pub : "Every one wants to try out a new place and so
loyalties are difficult to sustain."  Adds Capt Ravi Shanker of Cloud
9: "The concept has certainly caught on - it is like having your cup
of tea at your favourite Irani restaurant but the number of patrons
has not grown the way we had expected."  The city is changing surely,
but in slow motion.
	While the owners of the older pubs are not exactly in Cloud
Nine, the newest are brimming over with business. The latest to open,
10 Downing Street in Secunderabad, is now the prime attraction, the
swarm of pub devotees making a beeline for it.  Set up at a cost of Rs
60 Lakh, 10 Downing street is partly owned by the State Chief Minister
Mr.Janardhan Reddy's son Mr.Ram Reddy.  Barrel House street, another
pub in which Ram Reddy has a stake, is located right next to the Chief
Minister's residence.
	The entry of the VIP son into the business has lifted the
spirits of the pub owners even though they hardly savour the
mushrooming of the joints.  They are now hopeful of getting pub
licences, which are cheaper than the bar licence which costs Rs 1 lakh.
And the grapevine has it that the state excise department has
done a survey in Bangalore, where the pub cult took shape and is
nurtured, as a prelude to granting pub licenses.
	But Bangaloreans are a different kettle of fish, says Shekar
Nukala, who had chucked his job in the garden city to start Beat Route
Pub.  "Here in Hyderabad, having in a couple of mugs during lunch and
going back to work is a taboo", he says.  And Hyderabadis have the
habit of putting away their beer and seeking the protective warmth of
hard liquor the moment they suspect a slight drizzle.  Says
B.R.Murthy, who manages the Bier Keller and Oaken Cask pubs of the
Shyam Hotel Group:  "The business in Hyderabad depends heavily on the
weather."  In fact the Beat Route Pub owners carefully  scan the
weather report every morning before placing their beer orders with the
breweries.
	Yet, the number of pubs, swelling like the beer-belly, is
expected to cross 40 by early next year. 
	So too are the discotheques, where the music is played
non-stop and frenzied dancing goes on till four on a weekend morning.

	The mores and tastes and attitudes are changing with the new concept
of night life catching on.   

				* E N D *
Newsgroups: soc.culture.indian