The IED blast at The Rameshwaram Cafe in Brookfield did not stop people from visiting the other branches of the restaurant. With increased security, the other branches operated with usual business going on throughout the day.
Although there was a sense of fear among some of the customers, they chose to visit the restaurant as they normally would, and increased security helped ease the fear.
Rakesh Sharma, who regularly visits the restaurant at J.P. Nagar, told The Hindu: “The blast has shocked me and there is a fear in me that it may happen in other places. But there is no point in changing the place just because there was a blast at one of its branches. I came here along with my friends.”
Conversations at the restaurants on Saturday, March 2, were dominated by Friday’s incident. Everyone who visited the place mostly spoke about the same, expressing disbelief. “The restaurant has been serving good food and this incident will go down in memory as a very bad one. The patrons of the hotel will sympathise with the management of the hotel,” said Mr. Sharma.
Ranjit R., another customer, said a few may have fear, but he has confidence that this incident will not be repeated. “The security has been increased for the protection of customers. These blasts will not stop people from coming here to enjoy their food,” he added.
A senior citizen, Nanjudayy, who visits the branch at Rajajinagar, said, “Why should we stop coming just because a blast happened at Brookfield? I come here every day and nothing would stop me from coming.”
A staffer at the restaurant said business was as usual. “But most of the customers who visited enquired about the incident with the staff to know more about the blast,” he added.
Meeting held
The Bruhat Bengaluru Hotel Association on Saturday, March 2, held a closed-door meeting with the members to discuss the safety measures that should be taken at restaurants. P.C. Rao, president of the association, said it was a preliminary meeting and the association will work towards coming up with solutions to implement safety measures to ensure such kind of incidents do not occur again.
