Random alphabets 'W' for woman

Here’s what happens as a nightbird of advancing age in Delhi- It means that at some point you realise that the mean age of people at night clubs drops by about five years every six months. So in this incredibly evolving nocturnal landscape, where do you fit in? An evening out encompasses time travel of another kind, as you move from one venue to another—partake in conversations as diverse as crumbling urban infrastructure to the latest high-fashion entrant. A conversational dexterity is a must, no matter where you find yourself and in whose midst.That brings me to another factor in nocturnal Delhi endeavours, traffic, the party killer.

In my more exuberant nightlife years, party hopping was de rigueur; everyone had more than one place to be. Needless to mention, many evenings were spent bickering over failed directions in the car than at parties. Hence another quality finds me out of place with Delhi nightlife; I like to be on time.It’s not a bad habit. In most parts of the world it’s even appreciated as a social grace. . But as a wise partywary friend in Delhi advised me on my return to the city, it’s a complete IMAGE BUSTER. Being on time somewhere is as good as gate crashing, when it comes to the Party Rule Book. Always be late, at least by 45 minutes, so that when you enter people converge on you and ask, where you were. If you’re smart enough, you say you were on your way from some place else, as opposed to cooling your heels in the car park, waiting for the right mahurat!I have had friends making the move from more socially accessible cities like Bangalore to Delhi, who agonise over how to crack the social code.

For in Delhi as you grow older, you realise that your social life is not a mosh pit of casual run-ins, but rather a well arranged concentric of fraternal exchange.As a single woman in Delhi, your role evolves constantly, from the friend who was the stand-in so that all her male friends—read ‘stags’— could enter the night club, to the third in couple evenings of dinner and a movie. The city is still not woman-friendly to the extent it needs to be, social and nocturnal freedom is a privilege for the privileged.However most establishments are protective of their female patrons (dare I say more so than in other parts of the world?). But outside and away from the psychedelic lights and the jostling crowds, the ride home can be a lonely, if not a dangerous.