Apparently, 10 Downing Street is off limits. Not just the Prime Ministers residence, but even the namesake in Boat Club road in Pune doesn't admit ordinary folk like me. Reason for disqualification? I'm a single guy who didn't bring a date. Ha!

 

After close to a week of being jetlagged and doing lots of work, I decided that I needed to chill . So off I went looking for a hangout with music and some crowd. After some google-searching, it seemed like TDS, as it is called around here, is the hippest joint around. Being the egomaniac that I am, I figured I'm really hip and trotted off to Boat Club road all dressed up dandy. I did show some foresight though. I called 'em up and asked what they had going on in the night. They had special DJ's coming in from Timbuktoo or wherever to entertain us all, so please come by and enjoy the show. I bet the guy on the other end of the phone was some kind of a moron, or maybe he was too busy eyeing all the chicas he completely forgot that there is this small thing called being actually helpful!

 

So I show up there and the door is blocked by almost 8-10 bouncers!! Wow!! The guy who spoke with me was polite, but there was this air of brusqueness about him it made me cringe. Then he tells me that only 'copules' are allowed inside. What the hell!!! It's a goddamned pub, and only couples are allowed? Okay, fine -- its a private place, and they can make up any rules they want. They own the rule book, but what a completely lousy job of making known the rules they've done! The guy on the phone doesn't say anything, and their website has no info about it. It's not a cheap place either, or inexpensive. Without lots of moolah, no one can even get close to that place. And for all this posh nonsense, they can't get their fucking act together! It's not like guys staying over at Sun'n'Sand know the local customs or anything. What a lousy way to start the weekend.

 

I was talking with a friend about this, and she told me that 'couples only' really means 'no single guys' and everybody else was actually welcome. She is more experienced than I in these matters. I should have asked her for sage advice first. My bad! And leaving aside all this BS, I just got reminded of why the rules are the way they are around this part of the world. As always, I'm only left with a bit of bad taste in my mouth. Usually, it would have left a lot of bad taste, but it seems I'm getting more and more desentized to it. Not having to see this stuff everyday also helps, of course!