{"id":671,"date":"2016-03-15T11:48:50","date_gmt":"2016-03-15T11:48:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=671"},"modified":"2016-03-15T11:48:50","modified_gmt":"2016-03-15T11:48:50","slug":"new-years-eve-party-delhi-india-alcohol-christmas-diwali-eid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=671","title":{"rendered":"The Unsung Hero of the New Year\u2019s Eve Party"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A<\/span><\/p><\/div>

s the world braces itself for the end of 2016, Delhi is getting ready to partaaaay during its biggest festival: New Year\u2019s Eve. It is the Diwali + Christmas + Eid of the capital\u2019s major religion i.e. Delhiness, a faith whose primary duties involve indulging oneself in alcohol, Punjabi music, and revelling in class distinction.<\/span>\n\nAs Dilliwalas prepare to get \u201cAlcohol = No Ragrets\u201d tattooed on their hearts and make new-year resolutions about keeping the glass half-full of whisky, vodka, or rum, one of its tribes prepares for New Year\u2019s Eve by acquiring bulletproof jackets. No, not the cops who will be featured in the paper the following day for working through the night, controlling this religious congregation of drunk drivers. We mean the unsung hero of the NYE party, the bartender. That poor sod, all-seeing giver-of-advice, maker of endless shots, holder of puke buckets.<\/span>\n\nOn New Year\u2019s Eve, these brave warriors call in all their reserves of courage and face the line of fire (we mean that literally.) This is the night they tell themselves that the only true act of bravery in this world is saying no to a Punjabi businessman post-last call<\/span>. <\/span><\/i>Even the most bright-eyed and bushy-tailed bartender knows that in Delhi, darr ke aage jeet hai nahi, gun hoti hai. <\/span>\n\nI spoke to a couple of folks preparing to serve on NYE. Nilesh*, who tends a bar in Gurugram, broke down while narrating a story from his early years on the graveyard gig. It was only his second year tending and it was about 3 am. There was only one customer remaining at the bar, who had been sitting quietly and ordering double blacks all night. \u201cHe would occasionally speak about cricket but hadn\u2019t tried to make extra conversation,\u201d Nilesh told me. <\/span>\n\nWhen Nilesh told him it was time to go, he resisted. \u201cCan you stay open for another half hour?\u201d the customer asked, but Nilesh had orders to shut at 3. \u201cAlright,\u201d said the customer, and started rummaging through his jacket, almost as if he were looking for a pen. From his jacket, he fished out a gun, casually placed it next to him on the counter, and went back to his drink. \u201cI knew he wanted a parting shot, but I definitely didn\u2019t want one,\u201d said Nilesh. \u201cI quietly served him two more in the next fifteen minutes after which he stood up and left.\u201d<\/span>\n\nThat was six years ago. Since then, Nilesh only tends bars which provide bouncers for bartenders. (Yes, this too is Delhi.)<\/span>\n\nA gun is only one choice for drunken violence. In the absence of weaponry, drunk Dilliwalas have historically shown great presence of mind and turned any handy object into a weapon of mass destruction. Bharat*, who works a bar in Rajouri Garden, can vouch for this. <\/span>\n\n

A great man once said that every war in the world is fought over jar, joru, or jameen (wealth, woman, and territory).<\/p><\/blockquote> \n\nTwo years ago, he worked a party where he would be paid only \u20b94,500, but the crowd wasn\u2019t bad. The lounge killed the music at about 12.30 am and decided to serve for another 10-20 minutes. Just before closing a group of men in their mid-20s came in and ordered four Jack Daniel\u2019s doubles. \u201cThey were pretty drunk and wanted a repeat,\u201d said Bharat, who eventually declined to serve them. That\u2019s when an argument started. It had gone on for about two minutes when one of the guys stood up, walked to the vacant side of the bar, took out an empty bottle and hurled it at Bharat. \u201cI was lucky to get out of the way but it hit the other bartender square in the arm and it instantly started bleeding,\u201d he said. Bharat quit the next day. <\/span>\n\nA great man once said that every war in the world is fought over jar, joru, or jameen (wealth, woman, and territory). In Delhi, however, the causes of a bar war couldn\u2019t be more random if they were picked out of a hat. Ramesh*, who tends a bar in Punjabi Bagh, experienced this first-hand, when a brawl was created out of thin air. \u201cI was tending this posh party last year when two guys showed up around 2 am,\u201d Ramesh said. One was around 40 years old, while the other, Ramesh thinks, was close to 50.<\/span>\n\nThe two were hammered. \u201cI slipped them a couple of dummy drinks, and we figured they would finish up and be on their way as we had already announced last call,\u201d Ramesh told me. Little did he know. One of the guys, without any provocation, hurled his glass across the bar.<\/span>\n\nThe manager and Ramesh confronted the drunk men and asked them to leave. As the younger fella let loose a barrage of abuse, and told the manager that he would kill them, the 50-year-old stumbled sideways, knocked over two tables, and cracked his head on the floor. The police were called in even as the younger man kept lumbering around, running his mouth, while his friend was bleeding on the floor. Finally, after a two-hour-long drama, the man was arrested, and Ramesh had to take the unconscious guy to the hospital.<\/span>\n\nFor Delhi\u2019s bartenders, it takes little for <\/span>New Year’s Eve<\/span><\/a> to turn into <\/span>Die Another Day<\/span><\/i>. They are the heroes <\/span>Delhi doesn\u2019t deserve, but the ones it needs. Here\u2019s wishing them a <\/span>happy no-gun New Year.<\/span>\n\n* Names have been changed on request<\/span><\/i>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Spare a thought for the Delhi bartender, that poor sod in charge of making your shots. This is the guy in the line of fire, when trigger-happy Dilliwalas set out to party.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":82,"featured_media":672,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[1236,334,186,512,19,1237,1238],"class_list":["post-671","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-people","tag-christmas","tag-delhi","tag-diwali","tag-eid","tag-india","tag-jack-daniels","tag-new-years-eve"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Unsung Hero of the New Year\u2019s Eve Party<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Spare a thought for the Delhi bartender, that poor sod in charge of making your shots. 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