In the history of desi pubs, the post-racist Anglo-Indian institution that revitalized failing drinkers

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The first time David Jesudason walked into a pub, someone shouted taxi. It is a racist stereotype that people from South Asia drive taxis.

It seemed unlikely that the 15-year-old would go on to work behind a bar at university and later become director of the Beer Writers Guild.

But despite the racism he encountered, he still remembers the wonderful taste of his first pint, a Wadworth 6X bitter.

He liked the tradition of pubs not necessarily the clientele. But there was still a feeling of unease when he ventured inside. This feeling persisted until he discovered the Anglo-Indian institution of desi pubs in his twenties.

There is no exact definition of what a desi pub is except that it is run by an owner of Indian descent and serves Indian food, usually Punjabi, alongside beers and ales. As patrons feast on curries and grilled meats, Bhangra music may well be playing in the background.

In Sanskrit, desi means land or country, and is sometimes used as a catch-all term for the Indian subcontinent.

Mr Jesudason remembers coming across the now closed Blue Eyed Maid on Borough High Street in London. I felt really safe there even though it was very late at night.

He felt empowered by the Indian bouncer team and the Indian owner.

The owners were previously aloof characters that I was a bit afraid of: their whiteness and the way they portrayed her. I had to be very deferential and respectful to them. I always felt like I was entering their space. When I went to a desi pub it was like I felt more equal.

I was totally wrong about what an owner should be and look like. It was almost like a euphoric feeling when I realized that pubs weren’t white space.

He is currently compiling a guide, Desi Pubs, which will be published next summer and which he hopes will shed new light on Britain’s publicans and its drinking history.

Desi Pubs by David Jesudason will be released in 2023 (Photo: Tida Bradshaw)

Desi pubs date back to the 1970s in the Midlands, where they served pints of mild, low-concentration beer to factory and foundry workers arriving from India and Pakistan after partition.

Some of the first desi pubs opened after Indian people were blocked from pubs because of the color of their skin. After anti-racism activists reported offending the owners for this racist behavior, they lost their licenses and Indians took over.

Desi pubs still exist today and continue to provide safe spaces for brown people to drink and eat, says Mr Jesudason, who travels across the UK for his guide.

The 44-year-old, who lives in south-east London, ventures: I think [desi pubs are] post-racism. It’s almost like you have two bands [of people] who were hostile before coexisting in each other’s culture.

Despite the disappearance of 50 pubs a month in England and Wales, desi pubs are something to be applauded, according to Mr Jesudason.

One thing that unites them all is every desi owner I talk to is always, the pub was down, the pub wasn’t very welcoming, the pub didn’t do food so we changed it.

They save the pub business. The only success you have in the industry is desi owners taking over the pubs and turning them over, and turning them into cooking really good food.

But rewind three decades and such a situation was unimaginable for Mr Jesudason as he recalls his first time in a pub in his hometown of Bedfordshire.

I walked into the pub and was ridiculed. They called a taxi.

I was really nervous anyway, because anyone would try to have their first drink when they were underage. I was completely humiliated. But I kind of had this attitude of, how dare you think every space is your space?

Over the years, he’s been turned away from pubs for looking like an Asian gang or questioned after ordering a curry alongside his pint.

The owner came and harassed me, that was how, that was good, you must be an expert. It was in front of the whole pub and it was really inconvenient.

I had to tolerate very racist conversations. I was in the North West outside of Manchester. Three men, who were quite old, were saying precisely how these people took charge of everything and this fear they had. They were just really racist and used racist terms in front of me, they didn’t care.

Mr Jesudason said: I agree that pubs are open forums, but I disagree with spouting racist and damaging bile. Then I felt I hated the neighborhood when there were only these three people in the pub.

Of course, many pubs are welcoming and Mr Jesudason says he doesn’t prefer desi establishments, adding that they suit certain moods.

Mr Jesudason said his book will tell the stories behind every [desi] pub, how they often recovered from hostile environments and became vibrant and thriving community establishments.

One such pub is the Blue Gates in Smethwick, Birmingham. Before it became a Desi pub, this is where local anti-racism campaigner Avtar Singh Jouhl took Malcolm X to show him the color bar in action.

Commenting on his book, Mr Jesudason added: It is important that the failure of the owner of the pub, a white man, is challenged head on and that he is finally praised for his efforts.

Molly Davis, communications manager at the British Institute of Innkeeping (BII), said: “Pubs play a central role at the heart of every community across the UK, providing safe spaces for people to connect and come together.

David Jesudason’s articles on desi pubs offer fascinating insight into the cultural significance they play in their communities, as well as a hard-hitting look at the racism faced by Indian migrant workers in 1970s Britain , which led to their creation.

Luckily today most pubs have become places that welcome people from all sorts of different backgrounds, but clearly there is still work to be done to make sure they stay that way.

Families have started embracing desi ads

The Purewal family took over the Red Lion pub in West Bromwich in 1997.

Satnam Purewal, now in charge after his father’s retirement, said his family had transformed the Red Lion from a damp, lifeless pub into a multicultural family favourite. They initially lost customers who were skeptical of the new ownership, but gained a much more diverse crowd over the years.

The pub wasn’t doing so well when we first took it over. The owner at the time had lost a bit of courage. It wasn’t particularly busy. The brewery hoped someone would come in and put some energy and life into it. So we took over and started changing the ethos of the pub, we started bringing desi food, Indian food.

It was still a very masculine place. In 2007, the smoking ban came into force. We thought it was going to really affect us. We had a renovation and all of a sudden we started seeing a lot of families coming in. This smoking ban killed a lot of dank pubs.

When the financial crash happened it really helped desi pubs, it’s a lot less formal than a restaurant and a little cheaper than a restaurant. Families have really started to embrace desi ads.

Mr Purewal says Indian families entered the pub business because they saw a market in supplying foundry and factory workers, like his grandfather, with pints of sweets at lunchtime and after work. When they came from India, they integrated this culture.

They saw an opportunity to open a pub or two because the demand was there. We bought the pub because my father wanted his own business. Every Indian wants to grow and grow their own business.

The Red Lions’ best-selling meal is the mixed grill. When he first started serving food, the chef would tone down the spices depending on who was ordering. Mr. Purewal said: Over the years the Asian palate has gotten milder and the Western palate has gotten a bit spicier.

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