GAURI GHARPURE
A popular pub in Sinquerim refused to serve free drinking water on Wednesday night. This happened the second time. The first time, on May 7, I was refused free water at the same place. The manager was defiant at first. "We can't have our staff running around with water, that's not how we do things," he said. After a discussion, I was assured that the establishment would look into the matter. That same night, I had also pointed out the issue to the owner, who claimed he had "no idea" that serving free water is required by Indian law.
On Wednesday night, the bartender refused serving water in a glass and said I would have to buy a mineral water bottle of a popular brand. I reported this to the manager, who very politely said that he had briefed his staff after our last discussion (on May 7) and I was probably refused by a new staff member. He quickly asked the staff to bring me a glass of free-and-filtered water. After 15 minutes, when I asked for another glass, I was refused again - this time by another bartender. This lessened my belief in the manager's staff-briefing assurance. I reported the matter to him again and was again given polite assurances.
Several articles have discussed the denial of consumer rights by refusing to serve water but "Are you being served water?" by Vandana Vasudevan published in for LiveMint on June 24, 2011 discusses the issue exhaustively. The article mentions many popular establishments like Cafe Coffee Day that have been reported for not providing free-drinking water in the past. Under the Indian Serais Act, 1887, it is a punishable offence for inn-keepers not to offer free drinking water even to passers-by. It is an archaic law, but it still stands. And we are talking about customers inside the premises; it is definitely not asking for too much.
Some friends asked me to "chill" and to not spoil my evening. Others said it was just a small thing and got up to buy a bottle. But, they were all missing the point. Water is not a small thing. In an earlier column, titled "Not a drop to drink" I had discussed the connivance of the government in letting bottled-water industry proliferate. Such exploitative no-serve policies only increase the sales and unnecessary dependency on bottled water.
This is a cheap commercial ploy that should not be allowed to pass lightly. Restaurants should take the onus of the quality of water they provide and not bully customers into buying because most of them feel shy to speak up about something as seemingly inane as free water and fear that it will make them look cheap. There are also those who just don't want to waste their evening in argument and give in. But, as a journalist one develops thicker skin after years of being snubbed, refused, undermined and ignored. Call me cheap when I harp on about being served free water if you may, but listen me out.
Every time I raise an issue, people quickly try to make things right to basically to shut me up to stop matters from escalating. Once an eye-wash is done, it is likely they pretty much get back to being their old selves and refuse giving the next customer an option between filtered tap water (which most of us drink at home!) and bottled mineral water. The ethical thing is to ensure that good practices are followed even in the absence of a watchdog.
More than anger, I felt deep disappointment. It is saddening how people who actually have the money and the capacity to take decisions do a shoddy job of following up even on the simplest of things. If this is cost-cutting by way of staff and labour, it is quite shameful. If it is greed, it is the heights. Water is the thumb rule of hospitality. This is still India where our tradition and our culture puts a moral obligation on us to never refuse water to anyone.
Growing up, mother sent us with a tray of water to anyone who showed up on the door. In peak heat, water would be sent out for rickshaw-walas who dropped us home, to plumbers and electricians, to the fruit seller, to just about anyone. I would get furious with these free-water errands as a child and often refused to run out with glasses for strangers. But, that was one thing my mother never compromised. She remained firm, reasoning that giving water was the least we could do. I remember a poem by Jhaverchand Meghani, a Gujarati poet, that exemplifies good hospitality. The lines go thus: "Ene thandu paani paje re, Ae ji ene dheere dheere bolva deje re. Aavkaro meetho aapje" (Offer them cool drinking water and let them speak at ease. Give a warm welcome.)
I don't want to be a spoilsport here. I love going to that place, it is much fun, actually. Keeping the water issue aside, the staff is attentive, courteous and quick. I just want to appeal to the human side of owners to provide an easily implementable requisite. The manager made a promise on Wednesday night that this won't be repeated. Will he keep the promise? Won't he? Entertaining those thoughts is mistrust. Instead of doubting basic humanity and rationale, I would like to believe that he, the owners of this establishment and all others who refuse to serve free drinking water, commit to provide a simple and essential service to their customers. Water. It's not asking for much, is it?
