Sticky in Chennai

From a moral and cultural perspective Chennai is a very mixed town. There is a hardcore nugget of cosmopolitan modern free swinging clubbing action - within a very large mass of traditional and quite conservative culture. And at the center of the modern Chennai high-life one place was clearly seen as the modern of the modern: The Park Hotel.

The Park is home to one of the most notorious of all Chennai clubs: the morally depraved Leather Bar. Many of my co-workers have spoken about the Leather Bar in hushed tones, afraid that the gods themselves may strike them down for even mentioning a place that is home to such horrible acts of sin. Strangely, the many times Hana and I have walked past the Leather Bar late at night, it struck us as far tamer than your typical Hoboken Bar. Whatever, I guess these things are quite relative. Basically the Leather Bar consisted of a bunch of people fashionably attired drinking cocktails till the late late hour of 12 midnite, at which point they would close for the night.

Traditional Chennai tolerates these drinking spots, but they have some strict laws governing their operation. These laws include: no drinking after midnight. No overt acts of 'indecency.' And no live performances without a permit. Perhaps a little strict, but the law is the law...unless of course you are the Park Hotel who found these restrictions just a bit too restrictive.

Last week, splashed on the cover of the local daily, The Hindu, was a photo showing a male patron drinking a cockail at a party at the Park, and receiving a kiss from a scantily clad female waitress/performer. In the eyes of the traditional majority of Chennai this was a triple violation: drinking after hours, sexual indecency, with a live performance thrown in!

It was too much. This photo threatened to ruin the careful balance between modern and traditional Chennai, the powers at be could not tolerate the sudden winds of change. Resolution: A court has decided to revoke the Park's license to operate for a full 90 days. As of tomorrow morning all guests of the Hotel need to vacate the premises. (Yes, this is not America.) Understand this is a very large, swanky modern hotel that must employ hundreds of people. Most of the staff look like they are about to burst into tears any moment. Its a real shame.

Farewell to the Park Hotel. Next stop: The RainTree. (It seems kind of swanky! I can't wait!)

Update: We made it into the RainTree. It's a nice place. Much more tame than the Park. The Park People gave us a wonderful send off, they were very nice, but they were also convinced that the court order would be over turned tomorrow in court. Not sure if they really believed what they were saying or merely repeating the official line from the corporate office...

Update II: Strange fan-mail has arrived with stranger photo: