Over a cup of evening tea
By Dr. K. Javeed Nayeem, MD
Very recently, even as the preparations for our Dasara celebrations were about to begin, representatives of The Mysuru Hotels Owners’ Association in a press note, appealed to the appropriate government agencies to allow hotels, restaurants and other eateries to remain open till 1 am, during our Dasara, so that visitors to our city, especially the ones who happen to reach here late, would not be put to any difficulty in finding food, before retiring for the night.
This is something they have done on many occasions in the past too, without anything progressive coming out of it. They have further reiterated that the Mysuru City Police Commissioner has already submitted a report to the State Police Headquarters, that night-time commercial activities could be permitted within the city limits till 1 am.
Although we all know that this change has not yet occurred, I’m unable to say if this request was granted or not, at least during our Dasara, because as I went around the city on many occasions, I saw some eateries operating a little beyond their stipulated curfew time, but I found that a good many of them were closed, well before 11 pm itself. In a very similar representation, The Mysore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI), seeking parity with Bengaluru, made an appeal that shops and commercial establishments be allowed to operate till 1 am. It has claimed that commercial establishments there, that employ ten or more workers, have even been allowed to operate round the clock. This plea had been made to the State Government as far back as 13th August 2024, on the grounds that doing so would greatly benefit residents, tourists, traders and entrepreneurs, besides generating greater employment opportunities for all those who were willing to work a little overtime, to make both ends meet.
The representation further pointed out that with the present greatly improved road and rail connectivity, the traffic between the two cities has now increased manifold, resulting in a growing number of people arriving into our city round-the-clock, including during late night hours, making extended business hours a necessity. These people are now facing great difficulty in accessing food and other essential items like groceries and vegetables, upon arrival.
Even as early as 11 pm, I find many people who arrive at our Railway Station, accompanied by families and little children, hurriedly scurrying hither and thither, trying to find something to eat. Their sad plight in not being able to find a cup of coffee or tea or even a packet of biscuits or a humble banana, can be well imagined. Not all such hapless travellers will have the foresight to know the poor state of affairs at their destination and thus they would have come without carrying any eatables to tide over the night.
As a doctor I find that every time accident victims and other seriously ill patients are rushed to the many hospitals across our city at odd hours, they are necessarily accompanied by a few relatives or friends. While the food needs of the patients themselves are looked after by the admitting hospitals, round-the-clock, only a bare handful of the hospitals in our city have pantry facilities, where some kind of basic food, is available to the accompanying persons to sate their hunger.
At emergent situations like these, they would not have had the time to eat at home or pack any food that they can eat later. This leaves them hungry and starving all through the night, until they are able to find food, which can happen only the next morning. I don’t understand what the difficulty is in having strict curfew hours only for establishments that sell or serve liquor and allow all other kinds of eateries to remain open, not only till late in the night but even round-the-clock.
It will certainly not cause any kind of law-and-order problems either for the citizens or the Police and on the contrary, the activity of more citizens across the city late into the night, is very likely to have the advantage of deterring crimes and anti-social activities. This is why perhaps the Police Authorities themselves have reportedly said that they can allow the relaxation of the present norms. As things stand now, eating out at the humblest roadside eatery or even dining at the best and most exclusive restaurants in our city, a little late in the night, is a complete impossibility.
Even if you happen to go there quite early, right in the middle of your leisurely meal, for which you pay through your nose, the waiter suddenly pokes his nose into your conversation, to inform you that the kitchen is closing. This is even as you are still wondering what to order next, with your belly only half full and your plans for dessert still far away!
This ignominy seems nothing short of ridiculous, because a great many of the people who go to restaurants for dinner, do so only after they have worked through some very odd and unearthly hours, as is the norm these days, in our highly globalised workplace, that is driven by time zones from across the other side of the globe. While those time zones decide when we stay awake and work, our own time zones do not let us decide when we prefer to rest or relax. I think it is time for us to stand up and prevail upon the powers that be, for a much better, completely harmless & dignified night life in our city too, like how it is in most other large cities. We certainly cannot let Mysuru remain a village in this respect, long after we have allowed it to leave its ‘sleepy-city’ image far behind, in every other respect, both good and bad.
What is the charm of living in a so-called beautiful city, if you cannot on a sudden impulse, do something as harmless as driving to a coffee shop to bite into a burger or sip a mugful of hot coffee or tea, late in the night, to unwind a little, after a hard-working day? Don’t we all deserve a much better deal? Do think about it and do ask for it. Only then, will you get it!
e-mail: kjnmysore@rediffmail.com
This post was published on November 8, 2026 7:30 pm