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| Free Kasol café owner Shashi Devi tells her side of the story – Indians are welcome (video below) |
Staff Correspondent, August 28, 2015, NewsCrunch
Budding reporter Saif Syed has interviewed the owner of the Free Kasol café, which was in news early this month, for its alleged refusal to admit Indians.
Stefan Kaye, a British musician, had complained that the owner of Free Kasol cafe had refused to serve an Indian woman with whom he had gone to eat.
Free Kasol café has an Israeli menu and loyal clientele from that country.
The report of the incident went viral, triggering an outrage and an official probe. Imagine, the nerve of the Free Kasol cafe owner, who discriminates against Indians in favour of Israelis, in their own country!
Shashi Devi, the owner of Free Kasol café walks in for an interview with Saif Syed.
She is a frail Himachali woman in traditional attire, with her head covered. Not your copybook beefy racist surrounded with bouncers.
Speaking in pahadi Hindi and with a charm that comes only to the people of the mountain, Shashi Devi denies that there was any racism involved.
The waiter had given just one menu to the British-Indian couple, who came to eat. That led to an argument and an exchange of heated words. The couple were asked to leave.
Shashi Devi reminds that it is her establishment and she has made people leave in the past as well, those who did not behave to her liking.
She says she has a problem if a boisterous group walks in with beer bottles in hand.
She is also an Indian, Shashi Devi says. “Who else would she feed, if she did not feed Indians,” she adds.
She is a frail Himachali woman in traditional attire, with her head covered. Not your copybook beefy racist surrounded with bouncers.
Speaking in pahadi Hindi and with a charm that comes only to the people of the mountain, Shashi Devi denies that there was any racism involved.
The waiter had given just one menu to the British-Indian couple, who came to eat. That led to an argument and an exchange of heated words. The couple were asked to leave.
Shashi Devi reminds that it is her establishment and she has made people leave in the past as well, those who did not behave to her liking.
She says she has a problem if a boisterous group walks in with beer bottles in hand.
She is also an Indian, Shashi Devi says. “Who else would she feed, if she did not feed Indians,” she adds.