Editor's Note: The following article is the first in a weekly series profiling different members of the Upper Valley community.
When Bhavnesh Kaushik, owner of India Queen and honorary member of the Tabard co-ed fraternity, offers refreshments to guests at his establishment, a polite refusal is not permitted.
"You have two choices " lassi or chai tea," said Kaushik, who sports long, feathered hair and six gold rings. "The chai tea is freshly made."
Originally from India, where he won the 27th Senior National Boxing Championships and the National Senior Softball Championships, Kaushik lived briefly in New York before moving to West Lebanon to raise his children. Kaushik's aims have remained roughly unchanged for the last 10 years: to provide entertainment for the Upper Valley community.
"I don't think you can find what we do anywhere else in the Upper Valley -- belly-dancing lessons, live dancing, as much as we can do," Kaushik said. "The locals love it here because they've never had anything like this. A hookah bar in Hanover? They love it."
Affectionately placed beneath the restaurant's counter are several leather-bound photo albums with page after page of pictures of Dartmouth students partying at the restaurant. Some of the students caught on camera, long since graduated, wear conspicuously '90s clothing. Others are familiar faces on campus, but all sport large, red-faced smiles. "It feels like a big family," he said. "Most of the time, we know everyone who comes here. You come in here, we make you feel like you're at home. We want to make you think, 'Wow, I want to go back here.'"
Filling the colorful space of the restaurant, or "Club IQ" as Kaushik calls it, are an internet juke-box, game consoles, a disco ball, shelves of hookah, 32 flavors of shisha, 60 flavors of beer, a full bar and a "VIP room" in the back, painted by a Dartmouth student.
"Dr. Kimberly Rose Clark [Adv'04] is the one who painted the VIP room," Kaushik said. "It's beautiful. She was very busy but she worked eight to 10 hours a day."
Resting by the front door is a wooden birthday card as tall as Kaushik's waist. Spray-painted on the front is an image of Kaushik's head, while the inside is covered with countless signatures wishing Kaushik a happy birthday. One note reads, "Happy 23rd birthday!" Although the note was written to celebrate a birthday far greater than 23, Kaushik said the writer had made no error.
"As the girls get older, they hit 21 and they get to know us, relate to us, and have a shot with us," he said as he laughingly divulged the card's private joke. "They say they want me to be closer to their age but a little older, so that's why we decided on 23!"
Receiving cards and baby announcements from former students who have grown up and become successful is one of the most rewarding aspects of his job, Kaushik said.
"A bunch of people, when they are here, they are different people," he said, pointing to a picture of a former student who surprised him by starting her own belly-dancing company in Las Vegas. "I've been here for ten years. A lot of them get married, start a new life."
India Queen is big on belly-dancing, according to Kaushik. Some birthday parties feature a performance by Dunya, a belly-dancing instructor who teaches classes there.
"The birthday girl was a little hesitant to belly-dance once, so we gave her some [shots]," Kaushik said of one such party. "The girl's mother also belly-danced."
Kaushik also promotes Dartmouth performers. Displaying pictures of the Dartmouth musical group Electrocab, he said student bands and a capella groups are welcome to perform and that the restaurant hosts an open mic night every Thursday.
"In fact, sorority girls have been booking karaoke nights for years," he said.
Kaushik said his most frequent challenge is people who try to buy alcohol without valid identification.
"I have nothing against anybody, but I want to save myself and save you, too," he said. "Anybody who turns 21 -- tell them to come to India Queen for a free shot."
