It’s midnight on Thursday, the 13th of June 2024. I’m standing in the parking lot behind Trincas, smiling stupidly for a short man with a very large camera. There are about 50 people around me who’ve gathered spontaneously for this picture. I know a few, and recognise a few more, but have never seen the majority of this crowd. Yet, here we all are.
We’re the last ones out at the end of the evening (after two-thirds of the people have left) for what’s been a really fun, heartfelt Karaoke Thursday at Tavern-Behind-Trincas. For the 1st anniversary event, I’d pulled in one of Trincas’ bands to perform as the backdrop to this event. People sang along in ones and twos and groups and crowds. Somehow Nil (who helped initiate this event a year ago) and Kolkatapride.org had cobbled together various factions of the LGBTQ community – there were girls, boys and people who identified as neither in the crowd. Haircuts, styles and opinions didn’t match. But this match of people was in the making for a full year of Thursdays.
Taking The First Step With Pride
Trincas is a heritage Kolkata brand that’s almost a century old. As a place that’s attached to the heartstrings of almost every Kolkata-wala, it’s been a cultural institution in its own right for decades. In the 1960s, it started pushing the envelope with performances including a skit with an ape costume and a distressed maiden; an exotic cabaret where the performer was actually a man; and a woman in a saree who sang with a husky, sensual voice that broke all stereotypes (guess who?).
It feels only right that Trincas should push the envelope again.
In December 2022, we associated with the Kolkata Pride Walk as an end-point for their volunteers to meet up. By June 2023, we had decided to hold weekly Karaoke Thursdays for the LGBTQ community at our cosy hideaway bar Tavern-behind-Trincas. That was the same month we, as a grand old establishment, with a brand spanning almost 100 years, started flying the pride flag. This was the first pride flag-up on Kolkata’s Park Street. Every major restaurant followed suit. We, however, kept the flag up throughout the year.
Being An Inclusive Space
Is Trincas LGBTQ-friendly? Yes, we’d say so. We’d also say that for entities to classify themselves as LGBTQ-friendly, they’d need to stay true to their words. It’s worth dipping your toes in the rainbow lake. The rewards in terms of loyalty, recognition and a sense of collective consciousness are extremely satisfying. What worked for us? Top-down instructions and visibility really helped.
As an owner who is not visibly gay, I do have many friends who visibly are. When a restaurant’s staff sees top management behaving a certain way, they tend to pay attention and fall in line. Are managers/owners polite/respectful/friendly? Or are they awkward, unseeing or downright intolerant of LGBTQ folks? Do they make fun of them in private?
Grassroots sensitivity training and familiarisation also help normalise things. When Trincas decided to host its first LGBTQ event, kolkatapride.org offered to help sensitise our staff. We held an awkward briefing with waiters and stewards. The response however was fantastic. My favourite staff response was, “Sir, we know this already, we’ve seen these people (the volunteers who were conducting the talk) so many times as guests.”
And so it’s been a year… a year of being a magnet for what seems like a small group of people; a year of everyone getting accustomed to each other; a year of visibility and mainstreaming; and a year of Karaoke Thursdays where more than just singing along, people come to just be.
