Sunshine and I partied at this little hole in the wall known as ‘The Living Room’ at Hauz Khas Village in South Delhi.
It has a vintage-boho chic vibe about it; you have an old grandfather’s clock in mint condition standing right next to the bar on one hand. On the other, you have abstract paintings adorning stark walls. The decor does not seem very choreographed and could pass off as the work of creative minds that were low on cash but high on resourcefulness and good taste.
TLR does not play any Bollywood music or rock (thank heavens!), but a convenient mix of all my favourite music genres – jazz, retro and house — with some live trumpet thrown in by a musician who swishes in, does his thing with gay abandon, then makes off to the bar, until he feels the urge to do this thing all over again.
The bartender is a very friendly hippie who possesses a good memory for people and their poison, and surprise, surprise, a personality, too.
An ISB alumnus stood in a corner, nursing his beer, eyeing my very agile dance moves on the floor. Once in a while he would edge closer towards us, not quite knowing how to get my undivided attention.
He had a neat set of dimples, yet, I suspect that beneath the Ivy League (Indian version) trimmings, he’s a simple, non-sophisticate who needs some lessons in the art of talking to a girl. Sunshine had no mercy for the unsuspecting fella’, and was in fact eyeing a very skinny-looking intellectual sporting skinny jeans and a tortured look, who most certainly prided himself on having a dark side.
Before I could scope him out for the sake of sunshine, the skinny intellectual vanished. Sunshine is hopeful of meeting him the following week.
A Punju gang of uncles and aunties, who were celebrating someone’s bday randomly offered us cake, and sunshine obliged by stuffing himself. Then some more random people introduced themselves, and sunshine was very keen that we invite them home for an after party, because one of them took his fancy.
Despite the friendly overtures, when I actually did the inviting, the girl made like a tree, one chap followed her, and the third fellow declined, looking very alarmed. The things I need to do for sunshine, all of 23, and terribly sloshed.
The next morning we returned for brunch, and I had bacon, eggs, sausages, beans, coffee, mixed fruit juice and brown bread with mint-flavoured butter @ Rs 275.
Tags: hauz khas, house, ISB, ivy league, jazz, retro, south delhi, the living room, village
