Why Clubs In DELHI Do Not Allow STAG Entry?

[Stag: A person who attends a social gathering unaccompanied by a partner, especially a man who is unaccompanied by a woman.]

Ever tried going into a club alone or with your gang of boys? When that lame-looking man at the entry, after having a look, decides not to let you in or ‘politely’ suggests that you hit the lounge area instead? And you go red, with anger or shame, depending on the mood and your nature. But the face at the counter is unrelenting and you have to leave the place. End of story. Huh?

I have been in a similar situation before and I must tell you that it is humiliating at the very least. But then, I had my reasons. I am not a globe-trotter but what I know for sure is that in two cities of United States that I’ve been to, Los Angeles and New York, if you walk into any club, you will not be denied entry just because you’re a lone guy. In fact, more chances are that you’ll find someone to dance with, to talk over a drink, and to have fun. So, when you come back to India and go into a night club with your buddies, only to be denied entry, it sucks real bad!

For example, almost all nightclubs in Delhi have free entry for girls (understandable, though ugly chicks do get through!), charge for couples (ok, I mean I can pay up in this case) and double charge (what the fuck!) or even no-entry for lone guys. How far is this fair? I mean, let girls go in for free, charge guys as much as a couple but let them go in!

But, I was about to tell you why guys don’t get stag entry? The reason is the brute and unruly behavior of guys in Delhi especially when drunk. I really feel ashamed but closer to truth when I say that a sizable chunk of single guys in Delhi are sex starved and frustated, ready to pounce upon any girl they find ‘available’. If you make a video of how these ‘men’ behave, it would make you smile in disgust for long.

I have to drop all my female friends within meters of their houses to ensure their safety. This is after an incident in which my friend got verbally abused by neighborhood goons (in a posh Delhi locality!) I can’t travel comfortably with my partner in Delhi Metro with hoards of males trying to get a piece of ‘action’ by getting close to her. Such is the state of affairs in ‘Dilwalon ki Dilli’!

Well, I think this and I think that. But at the end of it all, I thank god for the policy of not granting a stag entry!

[How did you like the article? Do you feel stag entry should be allowed? Feel free to comment below!]

 

Racism in United States?

Updated!!

Have I been racially discriminated in the United States? Well… I don’t really know but I’ll let you judge!

Well, since I’ve been getting a lot of hits to this post, I thought I should share my experiences in the land of dreams (for most Indians) with you.

As is the case everywhere, people tend to get apprehensive to find someone different than themselves in their own locality. No wonder that you see ‘goras’ and ‘goris’ getting chased around by an Indian crowd in the streets of Jaipur or Chandni Chowk in Delhi. It is very natural for them to get curious, get agitated, or even get annoyed with the ‘foreign’ presence. Keeping this background in mind, consider the events that I describe below.

A brown man stands out in a white and black crowd as much as the opposite. So, it is not surprising to get an occassional comment like ‘Oh! you’re an Indian… yeah… I thought so!’ Now, depending on the way it was said, this simple statement can be ajudged a comment, a complement, a simple observation or a racist remark! Mostly, what you can do is to ignore all of it if said with negative connotation. Avoid brawls to the best possible extent except if you are bigger, stronger and as they say, in a position of might (rare… very rare!) Please understand that this behavior is called discrimination… and if you don’t have an elephant’s memory, must I remind you that it is the same as what you do to other people while you go bossing around in India.

Now, most waiters and waitresses have a notion that Indians don’t tip well. Hence, expect a rough serving at any ordinary restaurant unless you walk in with the attitude suiting riches! Listen to this well… TIP atleast as much as the service tax on your bill or 10-15% of total bill amount. Yes, that would come to be around 2-5$ but it is a good habit. Saves people like me from getting remarks like ‘hey… you’re Indian and still you gave me a 5$ tip! Wow, thanks!’

 

Next Stop: The Times Square!!

We boarded the train to go the the NY Penn Metro Station on our way to New Jersey, Ankit suggested the idea of going for a walk at the Times Square which is in Manhattan, NY. So, it was decided and we got off the train at the nearest station to Times Square. With two large bags (total 60kgs) and a huge back-pack, we climbed two staircases to reach the ground level. We exited and I found myself standing at the Times Square. It was an amazing sight with XXL Billboards and XXXL Buildings and not to mention the fact that every single THING was lit up with endless no. of bulbs. This was the condition at 2:30 in the night. We walked on the 42nd street. I saw what I had been hearing about for years… Broadway theater, Madam Tussad’s (Wax) Museum (With wax statues of Nicholas Cage and Opera Winfrey in the window displays!!!), Ripley’s ‘Believe it or Not!’ building and ofcourse, Mc’Donalds. We had a snack at Mc’D and then walked to the place where America welcomes its New Year (remember those visuals on your TV from NY showing thousands of people gathered for New Year?). We saw Macy’s and Virgin Store and mind you, we had walked for almost a mile to reach the (end?) of Times Square (this square is biiiiggg!). It was really irritating to walk back all that distance to reach the Metro station to New Jersey. But, so we did! I was tired but nevertheless, it was a great feeling to be sitting at the underground metro station at 4:00 in the night, waiting for the train and with the visuals of Times Square in the head! The train came, we boarded and an hour later, we were in Jersey (the garden state). A quick cab ride brought us to the doorstep of Ankit’s house at Mulock Place in Harrison.

We dragged the luggage to the second floor apartment and all I could possible do at that point was to get a good sleep. And so I did.

More on how my time in Jersey and NY was spent in next post…

 

Helllooooo New York!

Finally, the announcement was made. We had been flying over the outskirts of NY when I woke up. All I could see was an endless array of light bulbs glowing as if a billion lightening bugs were neatly stacked in blocks of varying sizes! The expanse of New York City was something that I had neither seen nor imagined. It was 1145PM on 03/Mar NY time. Our flight landed at the John F. Kennedy International Airport 5 mins later. Seeing the JFK made me realize that the Delhi Airport needs another 100 years to even come close to what JFK is today!

Anyways, we walked through the corridor towards the immigration counter, only to find a line for immigration. As I stood there waiting, I could feel my heart race with excitement about how I was finally here in US, my plans for the next two months and a million other things!! The gentleman at the immigration called out for me, asked why I was here and a few questions later, I was stamped for a max. stay of SIX months in US!!

I had to wait for half an hour for my luggage to arrive, the reason for which, as one could imagine, was that my bags would’ve been placed perhaps at the bottom of the whole stack as I was one of the few people on the flight who were flying from New-Delhi to New York. All that time was utilized in thinking and drafting an emergency backup plan in case my bags didn’t arrive at all!!! (hehe!) Guess what… it takes $3 (Rs. 120) for luggage trolley!! (All I could manage for this was… wtf!!)

I then reached the customs counter, which took away a pre-filled form, asked if I was carrying any food (No points for guessing the answer) and then, I was finally in the USA. I took an AIRTRAIN to the Howard Beach Station. It was an awesome experience riding in a train (slightly smaller than Delhi Metro) which runs on an elevated track (almost making you feel as if in air and hence the name). My friend (Ankit) had come to pick me up. It was getting late (around 1:30AM) and we decided to take a train to reach his house in New Jersey.

More in the next post!

 

Delayed by FIFTEEN HOURS!!!

(Continued from the previous post…)

So, we boarded the next flight from Abu Dhabi to JFK, New York. The time was around 2:00AM. Just as the captain gave instructions for the crew to prepare for take-off, the window on my side became fogged up. I could barely see the outside. The camera on the In-flight entertaiment system showed heavy rain and dense fog which had suddenly appeared in a span of a few minutes!

The next announcement was made half an hour later which told all the passengers that there has been an unexpected storm at Abu Dhabi and that no flight could take off till the weather clears. So, we were asked to deboard the airplane and wait at the airport.

When the chart for rescheduled flights was displayed, we were shocked! They had, beyond any reasonable imagination, delayed our flight by FIFTEEN hours! So, now we could only take off at 5:30PM on Mar 03, 2008. I was…. what can I say (in most civilized manner i.e.!)…. aghast! Anyways, this time, the a**h***s from Etihad were least helpful and had NO answers to any of our queries and NO solutions to our problems!! We were told that the accommodation will be arranged at 7:00 in the morning. Meanwhile, we were given an option of having snacks in a 4star restaurant at the airport. So, after the snacks and hours of waiting, I received a room at the AIRPORT HOTEL (which, to my surprise, turned out to be a five-star and a quite luxurious one at that!!). We were offered complimentary lunch (which was okeish!). We boarded the flight at 5:30PM and the captain welcomed us onboard. The plane headed to the taxiway, all set to fly the skies of New York..

More in my next post… STAY TUNED!

::Cheers::