Clubbing with James Tran

The Mumbai terrorist attacks had occurred this morning. During the day, people were glued to their TV screens to see what the latest updates were .. I wondered if people were still going to turn up to dance tonight after having their country attacked, in a city only a few hundred km’s north from here… About Titos Nightclub This is the club everyone in India talks about having to go to in Goa – Tito’s nightclub. On the way to the club, there are official government road signs pointing you towards the direction of the club… never seen such treatment for a nightclub. Location: Tito’s Lane, Baga – Calangute Road, Goa, India. Website: http://www.titos.in/ Inside: Two levels of dance. One main DJ plays music to serve the entire place. Three bars on bottom floor. Only the bottom floor was open tonight Music: Tonight was Bollywood. Crowd: Tonight, mostly Indian nationals or expats Dress Code: Casual Cover Charge / Entry Fee: 800 Indian rupees Occurrence: Every night Atmosphere: A sense of disattachment Timeline Arrived around midnight and got in. It was a closed walled club, so you couldnt see what was inside. Went inside, and it was pretty sparse and empty. The place itself was impressive for a club in India. It was custom built for clubbing and not just some random bar during the day. I counted about 40 or so people in the main room. The rest of the club, nobody was there. There was nobody sitting on the lounges, and no more than one person at a time at the bar. Very dead.. No girls.. lots of guys.. only one girl danced with me, she was holding her shopping in one hand, with the other waving in the air bollywood style. “I saw you dance, and had to dance with you!”. She was Indian-British, but had to go.. (I saw her and her shopping friend few days later at Delhi airport but I didn’t say hi) I think that was it, all the guys were dancing bollywood style.. jumping up and down with their fingers pointed in the air. It truly is a sight to see. Left 1.30am, disappointed, but understandably so considering what happened in Mumbai today.

I was in India and my local friend Viddy takes us to Capitol, where he can get us free entry.. A quick web search reveals Capitol to be often rated as the best nightclub in Delhi. It’s also Viddy’s bachelor’s party. About Capitol Nightclub Location: 50-B Chanakyapuri, Diplomatic Enclave , The Ashok Hotel, New Delhi, India Website: http://www.theashok.com Occurence: Every night. Inside: On entry to the danceroom, there is a two-tiered dancefloor. It’s of reasonable size, with bars and lounges on the sides. The upper tier is the VIP area which could hold about 100 people easily, and overlooks the main dance floor, which could hold 200 or so people. Outside the room, there is a canteen area where various Indian dishes are ready for your eatage. Dress Code: Casual. No cameras were allowed inside as part of security screening, but inside people had managed to sneak in cameras and take photos in the VIP area. Entry Fee: Reportedly 1200 Indian rupees, but I don’t know. It’s been set at a price to keep out the beggars and tight asses. Music: Bollywood, House. Crowd: Young and presumably of the rich / high class in India. Fair ratio of men to women. Mostly locals. Timeline What line.. what thongs? I see the same bouncer that Viddy used at his house party. He’s fending off a swarm of people trying to get in. There is no sense trying to ask the locals to line up for anything in India.  Viddy’s wearing thongs and is refused entry. After a few minutes arguing, Viddy tells the bouncer to take off his shoes and to wear his thongs. He complies and Viddy gets in, as well as the rest of us straight in. Vid has the hook ups for sure. (continue reading…)

Mithi invited me and Pat to come to a Bhangra night. Punjab music and RnB – something different. I got him to let me wear his brother’s Indian clothing, just to try something different.

About karma: This was the 3rd iteration of the Karma nights.

Crowd: Entirely indian except for 3 people – me, Pat, and a random white girl I spotted. Music: Bollywood, Punjab and RnB. A short 10 minute house mix featured to break things up. Cover charge: $15 before 11pm on guestlist. Otherwise $25. Website: www.hungama.com.au Experiences:

Getting in There were so many men lining up! Not much eye candy. I could sense everybody looking and talking about our outfits. The bouncers luckily let us in. The frisker however bagged me out for my “Elvis” sunnies, saying he died a long time ago (Of course, jokingly) ! The security measures were more strict than that of the Asian clubs – we had to put all metal objects in a little bowl and do a little twirl as part of the frisk. Indians must be crazier than Asians. Thanks to Mithi’s phone calls to the organiser, we still got a discounted entry even though it was past 11pm.

The music: The DJ would typically play a well known rnb song sans the original vocals, and overlay it with some hindi or Punjabi ones. Most songs were basically in Hindi / Punjab. You might think that it would suck, but the rnb beats still allowed you to find your rhythm and dance. It worked quite well, even though I had absolutely no idea what the lyrics meant, nor what the words where to sing along to.

Dancing bollywood style: This was totally different to dancing to rnb. Rnb involves lots of bending and low arm movemnts. When a punjab song plays, you instantly put one or both arms pointing in the air. You sing along. Then if possible find another person or crowd to dance with. Once your little circle starts, the circle slowly moves in a clockwise direction, as each person pulls off their own bollywood moves.

Some of the basic bollywood moves I learned that night include:

- Hand thrusting with hands open. (the poke)

- Left to right and right to left arm shaking. (the alzheimer)

- Squatting up and down rapidly in a circle (the yoyo)

- Falling on your knees and throwing some open hand thrusts in front. (mini tank poke) Typically done with someone else oppsite you, also on their knees.

- Taking your right leg, and finding another opposite to join your ankle to, who also uses their right ankle. You then hop around in a circle, hands madly pointing and thrusting wherever looks good. (hills hoist a rama) On the podium. I think I was doing the poke.

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