She wrote, “I went to my @raastagurgaon last night with my best friend and his family. It was one of my first outings in such a long time and I wanted to have fun. Bhaiya (my friend’s elder brother) asked for a table for four. The staff at the desk ignored him twice. The third time she asked, the staff replied with “the wheelchair won’t go any more”. wheelchair can’t go inside). We thought it was an accessibility problem, but it was not. We told him that we will manage, just book us a table. What he said after that surprised everyone for a while. He told us “andar guarana harass karte hai” (customers will get upset) pointing at me and denied us entry so easily. It came from the staff of a weirdly fancy place (sic). ,
He further wrote that after much debate he was offered a table outside. “It was ridiculous to sit outside. It was freezing. And I can’t sit outside in the cold for long because my body gets cramped. It’s really unsafe for me? Why even make me sit outside? Different from everyone else ? If we needed a place to sit outside, would we ask? Eventually we were told to leave. Obviously. But am I just creating a nuisance for you? Why do I always have to fight over small things? Me why was rejected entry in a public place? Who are they who deny my entry like this? Should I stop going out then? Because apparently I’m not with the others. Because I am “annoying” to others. Because their mood is apparently “ruined” by seeing me. My heart is broken. Very sad And I feel disgusted. (sic)”
Responding to the tweet, owner of the restaurant, Gautamesh Singh wrote, “I am personally witnessing the incident. First of all, on behalf of the entire team, I apologize for any bad experiences you may have had. Please rest assured if any of our member is found wrong, appropriate action will be taken against them.
The restaurant has been receiving an online response with Srishti sharing several tweets. Commenting on this incident, actress Pooja Bhatt also wrote on Twitter, ‘Very sad to see this happening to you. We as a society suffer from a complete lack of grace. Wheelchair access is one thing but refusing to see a human being who is equal and deserving of respect is quite another.
When we contacted him, Gautamesh told us, “I am trying to get to the bottom of it and we have asked the manager to go on temporary leave. I sincerely apologize for what happened and I am trying to contact Srishti and apologize.
An apology was also issued by the owner of the restaurant, it said, “We are deeply sorry for the incident that happened in Rasta Gurgaon on Friday evening. We are all for inclusivity and would never want anyone to feel alone for any reason. As a part of our efforts, we have already reached out to the aggrieved patron to personally apologize. We are also taking steps internally to increase sensitivity and empathy for our employees to ensure that this does not happen again. ,
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