Indian Hangover

My american friend who is visiting chennai for a month is leaving on Monday. He got here before I did and gets to leave before I do. However, we decided we should go out and celebrate his last friday in Chennai for a while (maybe/hopefully ever). To make a long story short, the end result is a hangover for me and no money. Almost authentic!

To make a long story long, it bears mention that nothing in India which resembles to American analog is quite right. My "hangover" kept me in bed a whole extra half hour on a saturday morning. My "headache" from drinking too much has already disappeared within two hours and I haven't had any water or food. The "beer" we drank was priced like american beer, but just wasn't good.

Kingfisher, I'm sorry, but your beer lacks anything resembling flavor. Why don't you make an IPA? This IS india afterall. I'll complain more once I travel to other places and get to drink beer with flavor again.

So back to how things in India which resemble American things, do ONLY that, they resemble them...

Last night began with a trip to see a play. This play called "Tunnel Vision" is adapted from a book with the same name. It's about a woman who is 31 living in Karachi, Pakistan and is unwed. She proposes to her boyfriend. Such a rebel! The point really is that this woman is acting "western." The play was actually decent, but the chronology of it was a little confusing. I was nice in the fact that the stage was nice and minimalist in a very western style. But in the end, when my Indian friends were talking about how this play is very western in comparison to others they usually see, it wasn't quite right. After the play I went with my American friend and two Indian friends to a "pub." Here again I am in a bar with a DJ and ONLY MEN. Not a single woman to be found anywhere. (I promise to write a blog entry about my take on gender studies, on India's implications on that, but later)

We are given a menu that contains something like TEN BEERS! We subsequently ask for each one until we are told that the only beers in stock are kingfisher and kingfisher strong. Why bring us a menu? I'm still thinking over that one...
One thing I actually like about pubs here is that they bring lots of snacks with the drinks. Well, most of them, not the expat bars. Little plates full of cucumbers, papaya, roasted chickpeas, deep friend veg fritters, other things that are unusual, but tasty. I really do like that. They just keep coming as well.
We leave and discover that we've missed the last train (at 10PM!!) so we decide to head over to the expat bar. One of my Indian friends says he'd like to see it. It's the same bar where the guy tried to steal my credit card earlier. Luckily, I was only charged for what I actually spent. This time, cash only!

I got decimated (literally my money is one tenth what it was before the bar). The beer was double the price of the other bar. In fact I paid 210 Rs for a skunky kingfisher on tap (10 oz). That's truly more than it costs in America.

Also, I should mention the name of this bar is "Leather Bar." In america, I hope they realize, and in the rest of the english speaking world, this is a true sign for a gay bar. Either way, Leather Bar failed to impress me again.

My Indian friend decided after a few drinks that he should talk to women. He was brave and bold, but goodness me the women at that bar are a tough crowd. Basically, the women bold enough to go out in Chennai have their pick of men. The ratio certainly leans in their favor. Well, my Indian friend got some really rude blowoffs. They just weren't having anything to do with a man from India. So, we left, dejected, but at least with SOME beer in our bellies. I'm going to attempt traveling on the weekends a lot more from now on.