How late night eateries aid open drinking in Gurugram

It is half an hour past midnight on Friday. A silver-coloured hatchback pulls over near three makeshift food carts adjacent to a liquor vend, with shutters down, near Maharana Pratap Chowk bus stop on Mehrauli Gurugram
(MG) Road.

“Chottu,” calls out a man from the car, rolling down his car windows.

A young man, from the food cart, dressed in a white sleeveless vest and a pair of denims, runs up to the car
and takes a wad of notes from the
man.

In less than five minutes, he returns with three bottles of beer and piping hot paranthas for three men inside the car for their booze party, or what is colloquially called ‘car-o-bar’.

This is a busy time for ‘chottu’, who is pacing back and forth, taking orders from cars, juggling with plates of pickles, paranthas, and booze. People, who do not have cars, are given the option of drinking in a vacant area at the back of the vend.

Drinking in the open is no longer a sporadic activity set off by a desire of overworked men to unwind. It’s a more organised jamboree facilitated by makeshift eateries that mushroom every night to serve quick snacks — eggs, momos, paranthas, chickpeas, cigarettes, bottled water and plastic glasses for a small open air party.

These eatery vendors also keep a vigil on police raids.

Most of the 12 liquor vends Hindustan Times visited had a kiosk-selling cigarettes, potato chips, plastic glasses and a makeshift eatery.

While some eateries offered momos (vegetarian and non-vegetarian) or onion fritters, others offered a larger menu — fried chicken, eggs, chickpeas, kathi rolls and bread.

People drinking in the open, next to the vend, said they did so since the food was cheap.

Dilip, 22, a college student from the city, pouring his beer into a plastic glass with a plate of momos kept next to it, said, “I get momos here for ₹30 and the beer is cheap. For the same, I will have to pay more at a bar. Also, my house is nearby.”

At a liquor vend in Kanhai village, Roshan Singh, 31, and his friend Aman, both hailing from Bihar, said they often indulge in drinking in the open near thekas because of the food.

When asked why they do not drink at ahaatas (open air drinking spaces), where one can consume liquor at retail prices legally, Singh said, “A plate of paneer tikka costs ₹300 at ahaatas. It is alright for people who drink once a week. Hume kal bhi peena hai na (We have to drink tomorrow as well),” Singh, said.

According to the vendors, setting up (or encroaching on) a stall or a cart next to a liquor vend is a process involving lobbying with stakeholders, with vendors competing for prized real estate and ready to cough up a rent as high as Rs 7,000 a day.

“The chakhna stalls (as patrons call them) are not run by a rag tag bunch of migrant street vendors. The process starts when the thekas are auctioned in April each year and the location depends on the business of the respective vend,” said Monu, a food vendor at Sushant Estate, Sector 52.

Ranjan Gupta came to Gurugram from Uttar Pradesh with his brother Monu in October 2017, to find work.

“Initially I thought I could just set up a food cart here for a few hours in the evening and make money selling snacks to people having a drink or two. But the process is more organised,” said Gupta, who squats outside a liquor vend in Sushant Estate, Sector 52, with his brother from 4pm to midnight.

“Jab theke kat te hein, tab rate decide hota hai (When the vends are auctioned, the rent is decided). My brother and I pay Rs 2,000 per day to the liquor store owner for running a kiosk and a food cart. At other vends, the rate can be higher depending on the footfall of the respective vend,” Gupta said.

The vendors said that although they do not have licences, they are protected as they paid rent.

Vendors typically charge a mark-up of Rs 2-3 on cigarettes packs, potato chips, water bottles and soft drink bottles.

“Police hume kuch nahi bolti (Police don’t bother us). They conduct raids and arrest people drinking in the open. I pay rent. Mein pakka hun (I am legit),” said a vendor outside a liquor vend in Sector 47. He said he pays a rent of Rs 3,000 a day to the liquor vend owner.

“I have been setting my cart here for over 10 years. The liquor vend opened around four to five years ago. I pay Rs 1,000 a day to the liquor vend owner and make around Rs 2,500 a day,” said Krishna Yadav, a Bihar native, at Maharana Pratap Chowk.

“If I do not pay, then they (liquor vend owner) will evict me and find someone else to run a thela here,” Yadav said.

Police said action was being taken against eateries which allow people to drink at their stall during police inspections.

Shamsher Singh, assistant commissioner of police (ACP), said, “If eateries are indeed allowing people to drink, we will act against them. Send us locations of such eateries. We will definitely take action against them.”

KK Rao, commissioner of police, Gurugram said it was the priority of the police department to crack down on people found drinking in the open across the city.

“Strict action would be taken if any police personnel is found to be involved in such illegal businesses,” Rao said.

Sneh Lata Yadav, deputy excise and taxation commissioner (East), said, “The excise department gives licences to liquor vends. If the vend owners are sub-letting space to these vendors, we cannot do anything about it,” she said.

It is a little past midnight at the liquor vend near Maharana Pratap Chowk.

Spotting the shutters of the vend closed, a man and woman alight from a car and approach an eatery owner, asking if booze could be arranged.

The owner points to a shaft — a small gap in the shutter — through which money is exchanged and the duo returns elated with beer.