First Time Clubbing
Ohkay. So just a couple of changes in this post, in terms of my writing style.
Firstly, I am gonna refrain from peppering my own expert comments on things (like this one) throughout the entire post. As a well wisher pointed me out it makes me sound too analytical and kills the flow.
Secondly, I am also gonna refrain from self bashing. The same well wisher (and many others) told me that I treat myself too harshly. So taking their advice, I'll stick the original flow of pure thoughts without criticizing myself (or as a matter of fact, anyone)
So, I went clubbing for the first time in my life. I have been to pubs and discs but only for birthdays or college parties, never with friend groups. A new experience I must say :) Its a place called O2, which has a nice entry passage and a polite staff, much more polite than 10 Downing Street or Delhi Grill (both pubs in my city) So we went in and some of the guys ordered drinks. Just for the records, I am a vegetarian teetotaler who doesn't smoke. So for me it was the equivalent of an atheist visiting the Vatican or Banaras.
Extending the analogy, an atheist wont be entirely bored at these places. He can still roam around the place and enjoy himself as a tourist. I was something similar, I hit the dance floor and enjoyed myself to not-so-great tracks.
Not being a frequent visitor of clubs and hence not a dancer, I got tired and hit the sack. As all my friends were either on the dance floor or in the smoking lounge, I was alone. I felt happy in a strange sort of way. It was a different experience to observe life from a totally new perspective. Like a man staring at an aquarium. You feel awed by the pretty girls around you, getting drunk, having kebabs and steaks and shots and what not. And here I am, sitting on a stool, sitting calmly with all the rush around him. It isn't anything surreal but a great state for thinkers, for writers. I was almost compelled to write my diary there. Too bad, I had to wait for a couple of hours to come back home and write this now. I almost felt like all the people there were enjoying themselves, completely oblivious to the harsh life around them. Some of them super rich, others poor friends of the rich guys and a very few like me who do nothing but observe.
The first category needs little mention. They have their fathers/mothers/relatives in top positions and a fat load of bills under their asses. They wont care if they don't get a job or if they get drunk too much or if the petrol price is increased to 100 bucks. The third category like me, well I'll come back to it later. But its the second category that worries me the most- those people who aren't super rich. They come from decent middle class families with little or no contact with the powerful. They accompany the rich just to act as their fawns, yet they are labelled as "friends". That's why I often roll my eyes when people use cliches like "Friends are mah life" and blah blah blah. The people of the second category seem to hangout with the rich just because it gives them a false satisfaction of being in a "high company". And it is not hard to distinguish such people in the crowd. The ones with nervous laughs, ones who imitate others' dance steps, who "try" to look too happy.
Its obvious from their behaviour that they are not their own selves. However, people who have been long enough in this category can fool you with their experience at "hanging out". Both the first and second ones remind me of a bird called Ostrich. Yes, you got it right. They are precisely those creatures who bury their heads in sand and pretend that everything else is alright. Excessive Clubbing, in my view is nothing but a manner of escapism.
And now comes the third category, the ones like me. The ones, who either have no interest in the proceedings or have done these activities so often that they are inured by it. Yet, they are here because of their friends (genuine pals, not the "friends" I mentioned earlier) or just for the sheer sake of observing people. I belong to the former categories. I personally haven't done a lot of clubbing and neither am I too excited about it, based on the few previews I have had. I like observing people. Be it an upmarket coffee shop or a roadside stall. My mood swings often make it hard for me to chronicle all that I observe, but that doesn't stop me from taking a look at life from outside. Almost as if "I" is non existent and I am observing everyone from a step back. Behind a glass wall where I can see everyone but no one can see me.
I have a dream, to be a writer someday. Not the modern day ones who write pulp fiction and college dramas (comprising mostly of insipid romance). But someone for whom writing is a hobby. I wanna reach that stage where I have a 7 figure bank balance and I am free. Free to roam around the world, sitting in a coffee shop observing the couple who are madly in love with each other, on a train station observing the handyman at work and trying to decipher his thoughts based on his facial expressions or in a narrow alley full of people, busy in their own lives. Would love to do this, someday :)
Firstly, I am gonna refrain from peppering my own expert comments on things (like this one) throughout the entire post. As a well wisher pointed me out it makes me sound too analytical and kills the flow.
Secondly, I am also gonna refrain from self bashing. The same well wisher (and many others) told me that I treat myself too harshly. So taking their advice, I'll stick the original flow of pure thoughts without criticizing myself (or as a matter of fact, anyone)
So, I went clubbing for the first time in my life. I have been to pubs and discs but only for birthdays or college parties, never with friend groups. A new experience I must say :) Its a place called O2, which has a nice entry passage and a polite staff, much more polite than 10 Downing Street or Delhi Grill (both pubs in my city) So we went in and some of the guys ordered drinks. Just for the records, I am a vegetarian teetotaler who doesn't smoke. So for me it was the equivalent of an atheist visiting the Vatican or Banaras.
Extending the analogy, an atheist wont be entirely bored at these places. He can still roam around the place and enjoy himself as a tourist. I was something similar, I hit the dance floor and enjoyed myself to not-so-great tracks.
Not being a frequent visitor of clubs and hence not a dancer, I got tired and hit the sack. As all my friends were either on the dance floor or in the smoking lounge, I was alone. I felt happy in a strange sort of way. It was a different experience to observe life from a totally new perspective. Like a man staring at an aquarium. You feel awed by the pretty girls around you, getting drunk, having kebabs and steaks and shots and what not. And here I am, sitting on a stool, sitting calmly with all the rush around him. It isn't anything surreal but a great state for thinkers, for writers. I was almost compelled to write my diary there. Too bad, I had to wait for a couple of hours to come back home and write this now. I almost felt like all the people there were enjoying themselves, completely oblivious to the harsh life around them. Some of them super rich, others poor friends of the rich guys and a very few like me who do nothing but observe.
The first category needs little mention. They have their fathers/mothers/relatives in top positions and a fat load of bills under their asses. They wont care if they don't get a job or if they get drunk too much or if the petrol price is increased to 100 bucks. The third category like me, well I'll come back to it later. But its the second category that worries me the most- those people who aren't super rich. They come from decent middle class families with little or no contact with the powerful. They accompany the rich just to act as their fawns, yet they are labelled as "friends". That's why I often roll my eyes when people use cliches like "Friends are mah life" and blah blah blah. The people of the second category seem to hangout with the rich just because it gives them a false satisfaction of being in a "high company". And it is not hard to distinguish such people in the crowd. The ones with nervous laughs, ones who imitate others' dance steps, who "try" to look too happy.
Its obvious from their behaviour that they are not their own selves. However, people who have been long enough in this category can fool you with their experience at "hanging out". Both the first and second ones remind me of a bird called Ostrich. Yes, you got it right. They are precisely those creatures who bury their heads in sand and pretend that everything else is alright. Excessive Clubbing, in my view is nothing but a manner of escapism.
And now comes the third category, the ones like me. The ones, who either have no interest in the proceedings or have done these activities so often that they are inured by it. Yet, they are here because of their friends (genuine pals, not the "friends" I mentioned earlier) or just for the sheer sake of observing people. I belong to the former categories. I personally haven't done a lot of clubbing and neither am I too excited about it, based on the few previews I have had. I like observing people. Be it an upmarket coffee shop or a roadside stall. My mood swings often make it hard for me to chronicle all that I observe, but that doesn't stop me from taking a look at life from outside. Almost as if "I" is non existent and I am observing everyone from a step back. Behind a glass wall where I can see everyone but no one can see me.
I have a dream, to be a writer someday. Not the modern day ones who write pulp fiction and college dramas (comprising mostly of insipid romance). But someone for whom writing is a hobby. I wanna reach that stage where I have a 7 figure bank balance and I am free. Free to roam around the world, sitting in a coffee shop observing the couple who are madly in love with each other, on a train station observing the handyman at work and trying to decipher his thoughts based on his facial expressions or in a narrow alley full of people, busy in their own lives. Would love to do this, someday :)
Someday. That is THE WORD. Loved this one. :)
ReplyDelete