A ride on the wild side :-)

(This post is only for adults - Seriously)

Day: Christmas Eve, 2005
Location: Chennai
Cast: Ideamani, Burt, Novich, Seth

So, this cast of kanjupona (dried out) 25 year olds sets out to have a night of fun. After innumerable SMS's and calls to schedule things, three of them (Ideamani, Burt and Novich) get together at Adyar and head out to have some awesome biryani at Apsara Biryani, Santhome for Rs. 18/plate. Lip-smacking good :-)

A nice, country brute-style start to the evening.

Extended to its logical conclusion, the next step should have been Besant Nagar beach, a drink of tender coconut and back home to watch Sun TV. Nothing could be further from the truth ..... Read on, readers ....

Soon after the biryani, Burt-ji drops out of this quest for life's meaning :-)
Then, the other two head out the Platinum (the erstwhile Hell Freezes Over) at Quality Inn Aruna. After a hefty cover charge, the two hang out and watch the action. The women (of all shapes and sizes) are smoking enough cigarettes to rival a steel factory. Half of them are too drunk to see (that could be the only explanation for their dancing with the cast of "Planet of the Apes").

Ideamani and Novich look at each other and shake their heads. The India they had left a few years only existed in their minds, it seems. This was an alien land, populated by teeny-boppers that had come to age in the midst of tech-support and credit card sales. These kids belonged to a new half-generation, unhandicapped by the memory of an India that used to be the perpetual Ambassador car in the world's garage. Anyways, tequila is the best emulsifier and very soon IM and Novich were part of this new world ... But, then at 12:30 AM, despite the best efforts of the management ;-), the place was forced to shut down.

Novich and IM then call Seth, whose night has just begun. Seth is already at the next joint (place, not reefer !) and we are instructed to get there. Its 12:45 when we get there - 75 minutes past the official closing time. However, things are going strong there - A birthday party for a drunk-as-hell Dubai businessman is happening. It turns out that this dude is Seth's good friend. So, we get some champagne and sit down and watch the proceedings.

There is a group of about 10 people, all in their late 20's (All guys). All of them are married, most of them in the last 6-24 months. The conversation however is centred 100% on the following:

1. The best escorts in Chennai
2. Which actresses are "available"
3. Which brothel in Pattaya is the best ?
4. Some 16 year old school girl ...

Quite disgusting. Upstairs, this gang has booked a suite, with one girl from Mumbai hanging out there to provide any required "services".

Each of these guys is obviously filthy rich - Expensive phones, clothes and constant discussions about expensive holidays they had taken.

And then, when it was time to leave, the Dubai-dude was presented with the bill. He glances at it for a second, and then pulls out a wad of 1,000 rupee notes and counts of 75 of them. 75,000 rupees for 10 people, 7,500 per head, just for booze ! Kinda difficult to digest for two guys whose dinner earlier in the night had cost Rs. 55 (tip included !)

If you guys remember, I am a country brute, of Madurai and Raleigh pedigree. So, this was a major Culture Shock - Number I.

And then, we walk out to the lobby - Its about 2:30 AM - And there is a seemingly never-ending stream of actresses and models walking in with guys and taking the lift to the hotel rooms. So, this is why occupancy rates at Chennai hotels is so high !!

We get out of this hotel and we hear about a "private party" on East Coast Road. I quit at that point, but Novich and Seth head out there.

Today, I got Novich to tell me what happened there - Apparently the private party was'nt all that private after all. Apparently, there were close to 300 people there (as crowded as Satyam Theatre was how he described it). A huge number of girls, wearing the most atrocious "come and get me" partywear. This at 3:30 AM. Apparently, there was a cover charge and so these intrepid troopers opted out - But we could not get over the fact that Chennai now has so many girls that can stay out so late and actually choose to go to a party in the middle of nowhere, that could be busted at any time !

What happened at the Park in October seems to be just the tip of the iceberg ! Imagine if this private party place was raided ? Unimaginable. Culture Shock - II

I have nothing against people doing what they want with their lives, body etc ... Pls. have no doubt about that - I am not one to judge them. The purpose of this post was to highlight an aspect of Chennai that I did'nt completely comprehend. Its quite scary to me.

It highlights to me the fact that the rate of change of our attitudes is growing faster than our GDP - Which could give us a situation where we have a bunch of problems that were once perceived as being exclusively Western, without the right tools/support mechanism to handle them. All this free-sex and all is fine, but are any of these kids ready to handle a pregnancy ? Or a drug overdose ? Or rape ...