In Delhi, A Woman Was Refused Entry In A Restaurant For Wearing Indian Clothes. Twitter Is Furious, As Are We!

In Delhi, A Woman Was Refused Entry In A Restaurant For Wearing Indian Clothes. Twitter Is Furious, As Are We!

When you’re coming from any part of the country that is not Delhi, chances are that you’re likely to have one major thing in common with every other person in the country and that is a subtle dislike for the capital city. Not just for being unsafe for women. I mean, that is a thing but also for other reasons. It’s not like we are bad people, but the city in general is preceded by its notorious reputation of being all about money, power and your dad’s profession. And it is such superficiality that is widely detested by people, sometimes by Delhiites themselves. Especially recently when we came across a story where a woman was denied entry at a restaurant bar in Delhi, because she wasn’t dressed up to the mark and tried to seek entry in ‘ethnic wear’.

You see, as a city we are in fact guilty of judging one by their appearance and the kind of clothes they wear. So much that if you’re probably trying to enter a bar wearing chappals, you’d be politely asked to step aside and go home. And while that is still understandable, considerable certain bars and restaurants want to maintain a reputation and have a dress code, we were pretty taken a back when the same reaction was directed at a woman who tried to enter the Kylin and Ivy Bar in Ambience Mall in Indian wear.

The incident has been brought to light with tweets and retweets that have taken over the Internet. Sangeeta Nag was told that she won’t be allowed to enter in Indian wear as it was against the restaurant’s policy. And it’s kinda funny and frustrating at the same time, considering a restaurant running on Indian soil has the audacity to not consider Indian wear formal or appropriate.

Also Read : In A Kolkata Theatre, A Woman Was Not Allowed To Use The Washroom Because She Was Menstruating. Women Bleed, So What?

As expected, neither Sangeeta nor twitterati took it well, as they slammed the restaurant for its unreasonable, offensive and borderline anti-nationalist sentiment. The tweet read, “My shocking experience with discrimination at Kylin and Ivy, Ambience Vasant Kunj this evening. Denied entry as ethnic wear is not allowed! A restaurant in India allows ‘smart casuals’ but not Indian wear! Whatever happened to pride in being Indian? Take a stand!”

Meanwhile, as soon as the tweet went viral, Sangeeta was issued an apology by the restaurant and mall’s management, alongside of a separate statement that they released on the matter. The restaurant’s Director Saurabh Khanijo said, “Kylin and Ivy are both homegrown brands and each member of the team, and myself stand tall as proud Indians. I would like to clarify that this untoward incident happened at Ivy, the new bar and not at Kylin. The minute this was brought to my notice, early this morning, I instantly messaged Sangeeta to apologise personally.”

He further wrote, “The gentleman in the video is a new team member and his opinion is his alone and in no way a representation of my or the team’s view on the dress code restrictions. Nowhere in our company policy does it say that we will refuse ethnic wear. Our policy is clearly written at the entry gate – only discourages shorts and slippers.”

“You can be rest assured that the necessary action will be taken. I am deeply embarrassed at this conduct. I have been running Kylin for 15 years, a family restaurant and would like to reinforce that all are welcome always,” he said.

It’s time people realise that being Indian is a matter of pride, and in a country where Indian wear is a choice for many, even in the corporate environment, being denied entry on its basis at a restaurant or a bar is just not acceptable. Congress spokesperson Sharmistha Mukherjee, also shared her two cents on the matter and even demanded a ban on the restaurant’s license. Guess in this digital age, you can’t really get off the hook for being an ass and we are glad.

Also Read : A Woman From The US Got Raped In A Yoga Centre In Our Country. We Treat Our Women Badly, We Treat Tourists Badly. It Gets Worse Everyday

Sadhika Sehgal

Read More From Sadhika
Seen it all?

We’ve got more!