• Investment World
• eWorld
• Catalyst
• Mentor
• Life
• Canvas
• Praxis
• Urban Pulse
• Brand Quest

Abhrajit Gangopadhyay

BANGALORE, April 17

FAVOURABLE location pays rich dividends to an enterprise. And, by sheer luck, some tend to win. A glaring example could be a small wine shop/bar opposite Palace Grounds in Bangalore, barely 20 yards away from the J.C. Nagar police station.

Waiting for Roger Waters as crowds choked a narrow alley opposite the concert venue, Palace Grounds, liquor gushed out of the sole wine shop in the vicinity. That day, sales soared and even topped 10 times the daily average, the shopkeeper, who did not want to be named, said.

"It's a common scene on big concert days, but this time it surpassed previous occasions,'' he said. "We sold eight crates of pint beers, several Vodkas and Lager beer and lots of rum'', he added. Each crate consists 24 pint size bottles.

Cigarette vendors also did brisk business as regular smokers puffed away vigorously before the entering the venue as smoking was prohibited inside. "It seems like a carnival,'' said Visakhan, a die-hard Roger Waters fan who flew down from Sri Lanka for the concert. Sipping a drink, outside the shop, Visakhan was one of the hundreds who were there "to warm up'' for the show.

Policemen who were a few yards away chose to turn a blind eye to the impromptu street binge.

A few grass peddlers made quick bucks on the roll, as they whispered their offers to whomever they thought could be potential customers. Aslam (not his real name), a peddler from the St. John's road said, `I sold packs at four times the market price and I sold them all in an hour''. A group of foreigners, who came down from Auroville, Pondicherry said, "You just cannot walk in to hear Waters unless you are loaded''. For the uninitiated, "loaded'' means intoxicated.

Pink Floyd, one of the dinosaurs of rock, has often been associated with psychedelic trips. "To get to the bottom of Floydian scores, you need to tank in some grass'', echoed Visakhan.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section
Tanked by Waters

Copyright © 2002, The Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu Business Line