Now you can solve all your drinking problems at Barshala

Barshala is a new chain of cheap pubs which promises to revolutionise the drinking scene in India. It fills a niche in the market for affordable watering holes. The idea is to draw in drinkers who might never have set foot in a pub before.

Their ad campaign features a series of Hinglish limericks that give you a fair sense of their target audience: "Ghar par piya/ Dar kar piya/ Vapas aa gaye Daddy/ Before peg was ready." Or this: "Ghar par piyoon/ Toh biwi ko khed/Finally ja baitha park mein pedo ke saath/Pakadne aa gaye/Kanoon ke lambe haath."

Indians have a complicated relationship with alcohol. As the limericks illustrate it can be a trangressive and taboo act, disapproved of by parents and family. It’s tolerated as long as you don’t drink at home. Barshala gives you a place to do your business. It’s the Air Deccan of bars. Millions of Indians can now fly high without moving an inch.

Delhi has never had a dive culture - cheap places meant for a drink on the go. We had restaurants like Volga, Moets or even the United Coffee House in Connaught Place which served alcohol. Then came the boom in expensive pubs in the markets of south Delhi and areas like Hauz Khas village. Prices are ridiculously high and fuelled mostly by New Delhi’s dirty cash economy.

I went to the outlet near Sapna cinema in East of Kailash. It was packed. With men. After much observation and study I have reached the conclusion that the North Indian Male is a separate category, distinct from other Indian males. He was manifest in all glory here.

The atmosphere in the pub is of people on their first flight. Much confusion, chaos and excitement. Groups of men, standing around, drinking Haywards 5000 strong beer. A man, who looks like a gangster extra in a Hindi film, stands at the bar drinking a quarter bottle of Rockford whisky. He catches every waiter who walks by and makes them feel the curve of his biceps.

The busy waiters oblige hurriedly, rather than rub him the wrong way. I say to him: "How’s it going? He glowers at me, then says: "B--- c--- ye Barshala toh ek haatha hai." The highest selling items on the food menu are boiled eggs and papad.

There is a sprinkling of English-speaking middle-class folk wearing Nehru jackets, trying hard to pretend that this could be their neighbourhood pub. They sip warily on Bira beer and try their best to avoid attention.

A north-eastern couple sits in a corner, backs to the room. They are soon joined by three drunk boys. One slumps forward, head in hand, too drunk to cause any trouble. The other two keep staring at the girl, until the couple finally leaves. The bouncers work overtime defusing situations before anything untoward happens.

There’s loud Punjabi rap music. This proves too tempting for the groups of men who get up and start dancing until the bouncers come and ask them to sit down. North Indian men love dancing with each other, something I’ve observed in afternoon discos in Dehradun too. I think if Barshala were to shut down the music, they might be able to handle the crowds much better.

It’s what pub landlords in Delhi tell you. You lower the prices and the riff-raff comes in. People cannot handle their alcohol. It’s a classist assumption - that those with money are sophisticated and will behave themselves. This is not necessarily true, though the North Indian Male has his problems no doubt.

I have drunk in cheap bars in other Indian cities and overall the experience has been quite civilised. Bangalore liquor stores have small backrooms where class boundaries melt and the software engineer has a drink with the electrician. The same holds true of places like the iconic Janta in Bombay’s Bandra.

Last month I was in Calcutta and walked into a dive off Park Street called On the Rocks. A single screen theatre downstairs was showing Kaabil. Upstairs in the bar, Bengali women in saris were singing Bollywood songs of yearning and desire. Among the crowd were couples and groups of men. But nothing untoward happened.

These places are cheap but not rowdy. It shows that men of lesser means can handle their drink. In fact, in Delhi, it’s the rich and the powerful who pull out their guns and shoot bartenders.

I think Barshala is a great idea. It’s an experiment to watch. They want to open in every town across the nation - the Cafe Coffee Day of booze. The idea is to normalise drinking. It tries to offer a safe and cheerful ambience for a tipple and has enormous potential to grow in smaller towns.

Meanwhile, the Sapna cinema outlet is doing a good job of attracting the first-time pub-goer. I see a man contentedly sipping on his can of Scottish Charger strong beer. He looks familiar. I finally manage to place him. He’s the man under the tree outside I sometimes buy samosas from, the last guy I’d expect to see in a south Delhi pub. He looks at home in his local.

Also read: How to drink alcohol without ruining your health