Sexual harassment at Pune's High Spirits Café: Many women have the same story
Harvey Weinstein’s “improper behaviour”, that includes at least four rape allegations, and over 30 counts of alleged sexual harassment, over the years – most of which he has been able to get away with thanks to an existent culture of rape all across the world – is not one that is limited to the West, so to speak. India has its fair share of powerful men who have used their influence and power to successfully harass and assault women for many years, free of accountability and fear.
Sheena Dabholkar, a Pune resident and lifestyle blogger, broke the silence. Since last week, Dhabolkar has been relentlessly talking about systemic sexual harassment at a high-end café/bar in Pune. The High Spirits Café, a haunt for youths and the upwardly mobile in the city, has for quite some time exhibited problematic behaviour (to say the least).
In a series of tweets, Dabholkar called out the café’s owner, Khodu Irani, and accused him of sexually harassing not just her, but various patrons of High Spirits Café. She alleged on social media that Irani, over the years, has behaved inappropriately with various women, made sexist comments, and the café itself has some disturbingly misogynistic practices like giving out awards for “the best breasts”.
“I have had my nipples, tits, weight commented on. Friends have had [their] bra straps tugged [at] and upskirt photos taken,” Tweeted Dabholkar on October 12. She wasn’t the only one. It took one person to break the silence and soon the floodgates opened to a several women tweeting about similar incidents, only illustrating further how sexually abusive the place has been, and continues to be a hotbed for sexual assault and harassment.
Srishti Sinha, another blogger from Pune/Mumbai corroborated Dabholkar’s claim adding that, Khodu Irani, the owner has a “habit of touching girls with big breasts”. Twitter user “@Baaltipro” added that, “If you are dancing, that owner will come and try to hug you from behind. It doesn't matter if he knows you or not”. Several other users have added more to the conversation.
Unfortunately for High Spirits my apparent lies keep bringing out some real truths pic.twitter.com/OISPgv0JCx
— Sheena (@weeny) October 13, 2017
If you are dancing, that owner will come and try to hug you from behind. It doesn't matter if he knows you or not.
— Baa (@Baaltipro) October 12, 2017
How many more accounts will there be High Spirits!! Thanks Saleena for sharing #byespirits pic.twitter.com/yKwTlcp3Nf
— Sheena (@weeny) October 16, 2017
A friend who’s a regular at #HighSpirits asked me to put a statement out on his behalf wrt @weeny’s thread. A bleak read, but far too real. pic.twitter.com/FjEyheQ8VR
— Harnidh//Peglet (@PedestrianPoet) October 15, 2017
Heartbreaking every time High Spirits #byespirits pic.twitter.com/EKfa7ipjHm
— Sheena (@weeny) October 15, 2017
She worked with him pic.twitter.com/OAt5ifwuhk
— Sheena (@weeny) October 14, 2017
Here's another gem. The owner of High Spirits constantly bullied female patrons who dared to visit ANY other establishment pic.twitter.com/XWtQgLX66F
— Sheena (@weeny) October 12, 2017
Of course, High Spirits Café has denied all of this. In a statement released to BuzzFeed India, a spokesperson claimed that someone "with an agenda" was out to tarnish their reputation.
"We are deeply shocked and saddened by the allegations, and completely deny the same. It appears these lies are emanating from a single person, with an agenda, who appears to be motivated by the desire to tarnish the reputation of a bar that has an unblemished record of not having any issues like this arise in its premises in all 13 years of its existence.
Women’s Safety has always been a top priority of ours, and all our efforts have been channelled to ensure that this is not compromised. Right from the point when any customer, man or woman, enters the premises until they leave the outlet, we have tried to secure every aspect of their experience. We have female bouncers for security, female administration staff to ensure assistance and vigilance for female patrons, and even screened rickshaw drivers for female patrons, to make sure women get home safe."
Others too, mostly men, have accused Dabholkar of lying, claiming that they, as patrons of the club for many years, have not seen behaviour such as this being exhibited. This behaviour is not uncommon at all. Men, often by the virtue of the privileges their gender offers, choose to remain ignorant and/or publicly agnostic of the rape culture that is prevalent all around.
A barrage of social media posts that shake and break notions of "safe spaces", which identify the complicity of all men in this ecosystem and the responsibility they have in putting an end to this leads to a shift in status quo. This shift often results in more aggression from men, forms of which present themselves as slut-shaming, denial, gaslighting and mockery.
"This isn't a vendetta. This is because people who exert power normalise toxic behaviour. And it's far more insidious than the stuff that comes to light occasionally," Dabholkar told BuzzFeed India.
But deniers or not, the silence has been broken and the repercussions are visible. The High Spirits Café, that has for long been a venue for musical acts and stand-up comedy, has seen an enormous amount of backlash from artistes and comics. From Tanmay Bhat to Karunesh Talwar to Kunal Kamra to Neeti Palta to Aditi Mittal, many stand-up comics have vowed to never perform at that venue.
This behaviour can't be defended, has no excuse, khodu needs counciling & reform ASAP. @TheHighSpirits won't be performing with you guys... https://t.co/bmhz4rjdQV
— Kunal Kamra (@kunalkamra88) October 13, 2017
Disgusted by the stories of harrasment and misogyny at High Spirits. I'm never doing a show there again.
— Karunesh Talwar (@karuneshtalwar) October 12, 2017
Sheena Dabholkar’s tweets are perhaps the first step in a long journey that will one day result in the downfall of what Barkha Dutt calls “native Weinsteins”. The time has come for women to break the silence, and men to start behaving like allies in this long struggle to defeat sexism altogether.