Hyderabad needs a night life. We can’t have rules of a city-that-was in a happening hotspot.
About 50 people are huddled in a small room that opens through a dark alley. The main door is closed shut. Jostling for space, the hungry people devour every little morsel on their plates. It’s midnight and food is all that is on their minds and what their exhausted bodies want. We are not describing a scene from a famine relief centre in Kalahandi or some remote part. This is a restaurant in Abids at midnight. Welcome to Hyderabad at night.
A city that is changing, but not changing fast enough. So even though you have IT companies and call centres that work 24/7, international and national flights that land late in the night, you don’t have the relative comforts to match that kind of growth. So what is missing and what can be done about it? Hunger pangs et al “Dynamics of the city,” says Raymond Peter, managing director, Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation, “have changed over the past few years and the rules need to change as well.” The change, he says, must come in fast. “We are not saying we need permission for night cruises or casinos, but let’s at least have some basic facilities in place. There should be restaurants marked in every area that should be open in rotation at night. Convenience stores are needed. The present timings are far too restricted.”
People in the city agree. Take for example Alok Sharma who works in a call centre in the city. “There’s a canteen in the office but what if you just want to eat out? You have to drive kilometres to get something as basic as bread and omelette. It’s frustrating,’’ he says. There’s little that restaurants can do when they have cops standing at their doors as closure time nears. Agrees Jamal Dervesh who runs a few Irani cafes and a bakery shop Metropolis in Banjara Hills.
“There are times when young professionals are here at the restaurants, almost begging for food. You know they need food and you know you can provide it, but cops don’t seem to care. Sometimes they insist that we close before the designated time, just because they want to get their share of challans that day. There needs to be some kind of regulation.” It’s not just sitting and eating in a restaurant that is being checked, something as basic as carry-aways, that has almost been a custom in Hyderabad, are not allowed.
“Getting a biryani takeaway at 11 pm is not asking for the moon. You have to literally beg for food even when you are willing to pay. That’s not how things should be in a city that boasts of becoming a metropolis,” says Ram Reddy, a technical writer. Even though there are star hotels and a couple of restaurants open till 2.30 am, not all have that kind of money to spend everyday.
There are dhabas on the outskirts but an office-goer who finishes work late may be too tired to drive that far, or worse still, not a have vehicle. The non-existent public transport at these hours makes the night life option more dim. Where’s the buzz? If basics are missing then asking for more is almost sacrilege. Something that city pubs and discs have been facing the music for. The owner of a popular pub (who didn’t want to be identified) in the city explains: “Authorities need to understand that having a night life is not a bad thing. The crowds have been pouring in regularly which clearly means there is a market. Today people are working hard and they want to party hard, something that seems difficult for the authorities to comprehend.”
Vinod Reddy, partner, 10 Downing Street, a popular pub in the city echoes the same emotion. “People today have odd working hours. While some people work at night, there are others who wind up by 10 pm. By the time they freshen up and reach a pub it’s 11 pm, and an hour is all they have there. The authorities need to become a little more relaxed. We are not asking for something like four in the morning. But at least an hour’s extension is needed.”
The bag of worry We’d all want the city to stay up as late as we do, but is it really that simple? Not really, says Balwinder Singh, commissioner of police. “We must look at the law and order angle. Drunken driving is a huge worry. There needs to be proper security in place. I’m working on it,” Singh says.
Take Bangalore’s example. The city famous for its pubs had late hours but went back to 11.30 pm deadline because of spiralling crime rate. It’s another thing that the deadline is in place only in theory and crime hasn’t come down. What we need right now is a thorough look at how Hyderabad is different from other cities and what is the kind of night life the city needs and what is it that is really feasible. Especially in the context of developments that are afoot. A night bazar for example is under construction at Shilparamam. Plans are afoot to make the Charminar area totally pedestrianised. Other changes are in the pipeline.
Last year, a team of experts from various fields which included people from tourism department, hotel and restaurant association, pubs and excise department visited various metros to study the night life there. The group is expected to submit its report soon. The fine balance What is missing in the city right now is a balance between the citythat-was and the city-that-is, say experts. Explains Rajiv Narayan, president, Hotel and Restaurant Association of Andhra Pradesh: “Over the last two years, the city has gone through a metamorphosis of sorts. There is huge migration. BPOs, IT companies and MNCs have set up shop here. As such, the city has to change accordingly. We have to have a night life. Restaurants and pubs need to be open for a little longer. We need to have night bazars. The two cities need to balance.”
And like a Peter puts it, “We need to match with the market forces.”
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