A restaurant in the Delhi-NCR has recently stirred controversies after it allegedly refused entry to a woman with physical disability. The woman, named Shrishti Pandey, claimed that the restaurant denied her entry as it would ‘disturb other customers’. She took to Twitter to describe the incident.
According to her Twitter thread, she visited the popular restaurant Raasta, located in Gurugram’s DLF Cyberhub, with her friend and family on Friday. There she was stopped at the entry and a staff at the front desk said, ‘Wheelchair andar nahi jaygi (the wheelchair will not go inside)’.
The third time he asked, the staff replied with "wheelchair andar nahi jaygi" (The wheelchair can't go inside).
We thought it was an accessibility issue, but it wasn't. We told him that we'd manage, just book us a table. What he said next left all of shocked for a while. 2/n— Srishti (she/her???) (@Srishhhh_tea) February 12, 2022
Further describing the incident, she said, ‘We thought it was an accessibility issue, but it wasn’t’. In fact, the staff denied them entry and pointed towards her, saying, ‘andar customers disturb hojaynge’ (The customers will get disturbed).
He told us pointing towards me that "andar customers disturb hojaynge" (The customers will get disturbed) and denied us entry, with so much of ease. This came from the staff of a freaking fancy place. 3/n
— Srishti (she/her???) (@Srishhhh_tea) February 12, 2022
Later, after a lot of arguement, they were allegedly made to sit outside, which was ‘unsafe’ for Ms. Pandey as she can’t sit out in cold for long as her ‘body gets spastic’. ‘I am heartbroken. Awfully sad. And I feel disgusted’, she wrote.
2) Why should I be made to sit outside anyway? segregated from everyone else? If we wanted an outside seating we would have asked for it?
Eventually we were asked to leave. Obviously. 5/n
— Srishti (she/her???) (@Srishhhh_tea) February 12, 2022
Should I stop going out at all only then? Because apparently I don't belong with others. Because I'm a "disturbance" for others. Because their moods apparently get "ruined" after looking at me.
I am heartbroken. Awfully sad. And I feel disgusted. 7/n— Srishti (she/her???) (@Srishhhh_tea) February 12, 2022
She also shared a video of the incident, where we could see an argument between the restaurant staff and a guest who accompanied Ms. Pandey.
— Srishti (she/her???) (@Srishhhh_tea) February 12, 2022
The tweet went viral in no time with hundreds and thousands of people retweeting and condemning the incident. The Gurugram Police responded to her tweet seeking her contact details for further action. Filmmaker and actor Pooja Bhatt too commented on the tweet saying that she was ‘terribly saddened’ by the incident.
However, the restaurant management at Raasta was also prompt enough to respond to the incident. They apologized for the incident and said that they are taking necessary steps internally to heighten sensitivity and empathy for their staff. ‘As a part of our efforts we have already reached out to the aggrieved patron to personally apologise to them’, Goumtesh Singh, Founder Partner at Raasta, said in a post.
@Srishhhh_tea pic.twitter.com/eQZxqigPNF
— goumtesh Singh (@goumtesh) February 13, 2022
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