Lost in translation

The new liquor licensing policy in Karnataka mandates that the board displaying the excise licence with its unique colour code has to be displayed in Kannada at establishments serving liquor. This stricture about language has unwittingly created some amusing localisation. A bistro bar in Bangalore called Cafe Noir, for instance, has become "Cafe Nair" on the licence board. No doubt, the excise department didn't bother to check how Noir is pronounced.