Reportage Business

City in a Bottle

From the streets to the halls of power, Bangalore’s liquor industry has shaped the city’s destiny for more than a century

01 July 2012
AMITH NAG FOR THE CARAVAN
AMITH NAG FOR THE CARAVAN

ONE

"WELCOME TO THE SKY.”

The elevator doors bing open at the 16th floor and the liftman, a pair of furred ears pinned to a sunken chest, mumbles this as you step out. You’re at the Skyye Bar, standing above a shining colossus of shops and clubs and lifts and executive offices and a luxury car wash and escalators and lots more lifts. You’re at the top of the city of Bangalore.

Raghu Karnad  has been a reporter for Outlook and Tehelka, and was the former editor of Time OutDelhi.

Keywords: cantonment Vijay Mallya Kingfisher Bangalore UB City liquor United Breweries Skyye bar globalisation colonial arrack beer IMFL Khoday’s Prestige Group
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