Bengaluru restaurant denied entry to Ather's Swapnil Jain and Frido CEO for 'wearing slippers'

Ather Energy co-founder Swapnil Jain and (right) Frido founder and CEO Ganesh Sonawane (Image credit: LinkedIn, X)

After a Bengaluru mall recently apologised for refusing entry to a farmer wearing a dhoti, Frido founder and CEO Ganesh Sonawane revealed that he and Ather Energy's co-founder Swapnil Jain were also denied entry to an eatery in the city because they were wearing slippers.

"True story: Swapnil, Ather co-founder, and I had once gone to a restaurant in Bengaluru and denied entry because of wearing slippers instead of shoes," Sonawane wrote on X. He, however, did not mention when it had happened.

True story: Swapnil, Ather Cofounder and I had once gone to a restaurant in Bengaluru and denied entry because of wearing slippers instead of shoes https://t.co/1abpg8NBsh

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— Ganesh Sonawane (@ganeshunwired) July 17, 2024

But unlike the farmer's experience, Sonawane refused to term the Bengaluru incident discriminatory. He acknowledged that the restaurant might have had a dress code and opted for a different eatery instead.

"We respected that and went to another place. Didn’t call it discrimination, just shared an incident," he wrote in a separate post, adding that he "felt stupid that day".

'They asked me to come wearing pants': Elderly farmer in dhoti denied entry at mall 

A farmer in his seventies who had gone to watch a movie with his son at GT Mall in Bengaluru was denied entry because he was wearing a dhoti. The security personnel allegedly told Fakeerappa that they could not let him in unless he wore trousers. The incident occurred on July 16.

In a now-viral video, his son said, "We had come to GT Mall to watch a movie. We came here at 6 pm, but the security guards said they won't let us in because my father is wearing a dhoti. If they don't allow people wearing dhotis to enter, how will I take him inside? The guards said they have to abide by the rules and asked me to contact senior officials. We requested them a lot, but they still did not let us in."

After the video went viral, activists from Kannada organisations--all dressed in dhotis--staged a protest in front of the mall on Wednesday. Following this, representatives of the mall’s management apologised to Fakeerappa publicly and felicitated him. The security guard who did not allow him to enter, also apologised, The Hindu reported.