indian bars

Like many people, whilst travelling abroad I like to take the occasional break for a relaxing cold beer and this practice has led me to discover a rather unique Indian institution during the last three months: the provincial Indian bar.

Most provincial Indian bars are down at heel places located on the ground floors, or basements, of small to moderate sized hotels. Typically they are dark and dingy places with no natural light and a depressing air. The bar room itself will either be purposefully windowless or, if there are windows, they will have been boarded up. To add to the effect the lighting will be low and dim. Sometimes ridiculously low. I went into a bar in Bhubaneswar (the Park Inn) and was told I could only sit at the table by the glass entry door because if I sat anywhere else it would be impossible for me to read the drinks menu or see my drink. Air conditioning is compulsory and it is set at temperatures which would make a penguin shiver and a brass monkey cry. The amount of time you can spend in the bar is always limited by concern of catching frostbite. Just visible on the floors, walls, and the table you sit at, will be small cockroaches scurrying up and down, and now and again - inevitably - across your hand. They will be present no matter how clean or modern the bar seems to be.

An Indian bar may or may not be busy. Whatever, the clientele will be male only. The men seem always to congregate in a party of three. They generally have moustaches and look a bit shifty (Roald Dahl said never to trust men with facial hair: 'what are they trying to hide?'). Often the men in the bar will sit opposite one another in silence. The main noise comes from the Hindi film on the television mounted behind the bar, and the drone of the air conditioning unit on full power.

The drink of choice in the bar will be whiskey and water (a plastic bottle of water shared). 'Teachers' and 'Black Label' seem popular whiskey brands. I will be the only person present drinking a beer. There will be a lot of cigarette smoking and the air will be thick with smoke. Snacks like bombay mix and nuts will be distributed amongst the tables free of charge, and if your hand can grope its way blindly to the plate these will be a tasty treat.

You do not really order drinks at the bar. You sit at a table and waiters serve you. There will be about five waiters, even in small bars, and the place will have the feeling of being overstaffed. If you are British, like me, they will probably all want to talk to you about David Beckham or possibly cricket.

The Lonely Planet sums Indian bars up by saying: 'the typical drinking hole is a seedy affair and not the kind of place thirsty female travellers should venture into alone.' Yes this is true, and seedy they may be, but I must confess that I've grown rather attached to them somewhere along the line, due I think to familiarity, and I look forward to drinking a few more dimly lit Kingfisher Light beers before I return to the UK and the brash glare of 'Edwards' or 'Bar 38.'

For the record, probably my favourite bar in India has been The Tavern in Mussoorie.

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NB: you can also drink alcohol in posh five star hotel bars of course, and sometimes also restaurants have alcohol licences. I have generally avoided both as drinking venues in favour of the local bars described above.