Why Indian holidayers in London are likely to give its nude restaurant a miss

Many Indians head for London in the summer, to shop, eat and make merry. New restaurants are likely on their mustdo lists, but not nude ones. It is rather paradoxical, therefore, that a pioneer in the genre which opened this week —for a bare three months— bears a distinctly subcontinental moniker. Indeed, the eatery's philosophy of enjoying “a night out without any impurities: no chemicals, no artificial colours, no electricity, no gas, no phone and even no clothes, if they wish to” points to why most Indian tourists would probably skip it. A vegan spread without chemicals and synthetic colours is the only part of the restaurant’s au naturel USP that could probably draw desis.

For Indians, lack of electricity and gas is not romantically “paleo” as it is for western hipsters; it’s an uncomfortable reality that those London holidaymakers assiduously strive to avoid back home with the best that money and influence can buy. Why pay London prices for Indian discomfort then? Moreover, mobile phones are now an inseparable part of the Indian anatomy and no one would want it excised even temporarily. And as for the no clothes option, why would well-heeled vacationing desi diners forgo the prime pleasure of socialising with their peer group abroad and at home: showing off their latest branded acquisitions?