[lazybreather]

A bit off-topic, but something unique to India is reverse-racism, if I can call it that. Many a times, me and friends (mostly all male) try to enter a decent restaurant/pub only to be shown away saying its all booked for the evening. We could clearly see that was not the case. Even if stag entry is generally allowed at those places. But they happily welcome foreigners (of all kinds) right after they deny us. We Indians are an amusing bunch!

[konaraddi]

If this was the norm in India then the food service business would collapse because there are far far more Indians than foreigners even in most or all of the touristy areas. There’s likely a more plausible explanation for you and your guy friends being denied (e.g. visiting a restaurant in a touristy area that prefers foreigners to take advantage of the diff in purchasing power by charging more or expecting more in tips).

> We Indians are an amusing bunch!

There’s some irony in ending your comment with a slightly racist remark. Imagine if one said, “Them <insert another race> are an amusing bunch!” A bit racist isn’t it?

I read a quote on HN that stuck with me and articulates why some Indians will say something self-hating (even when it’s off-topic, as you explicitly acknowledged in the first sentence of your comment):

“For many Indians, self-flagellation is a sign of their intellectual arrival.”

Perhaps an artifact of https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonial_mentality

[lazybreather]

I should have mentioned, our appearance had to do something with the situation. Majority of the crowd is Indian in such restaurants, but with clean and 'westernized' attire. Our experience was not unsurprising becasue we had seen/read several such instances all across the country. In fact, there is a law passed in Tamil Nadu mandating all public places to allow folks with Dhotis or face license termination. This is to peotect the interests of natives. Quite a bit of what is mentioned in your comment is loaded. I wouldn't want to get into details and am happy to let your opinions be. Only thing, I am well aware that I am writing on HN, a place which inherently forces you to be reasonable and grounded. Writing here takes 10x more time than usual. So yeah, my intellectual arrival can never really arrive.

[filoleg]

That's basically kind of how it is with a lot of night clubs in the US as well, just with a different demographic criteria (i.e., not race).

If you come as a group of guys (or, most of the time, even as a mixed men/women group), you will be waiting in a long line at the entrance before you get in. Oftentimes, 45+ min wait, if the club is busy that night and popular.

But if you come as a group of attractive women (or, sometimes, a mixed group of attractive women and some guys, but with no more guys than women), clubs will often take you out of the massive line and let you through without almost any wait at all.

Not blaming the clubs for doing this, it kinda makes sense for their business, given the establishment type, so it doesn't feel that wrong (but i understand it is just my personal subjective take, and is very debatable).

Doing it by race (or foreigner/non-foreigner designation) though, like what your comment had described, for some reason to me feels actually awful and wrong to do though.

[edgyquant]

Seems like more of a class thing right? The non-natives are likely travelers and people who travel to other countries frivolously tend to have more money.