Tarun Jha
Head, Marketing, Skoda Auto India Pvt Ltd
I do not understand nightlife. In fact, even if I did, my work would not allow me to experience it much. I work late most nights and only occasionally get a chance to see what is popularly defined as ‘nightlife’ in Mumbai.
Usually, it means going to an overhyped pub, nightclub or disco. Spend obscene amounts of money. Stare. Size up people. Ignore the performer, if there’s any, or pay too much attention. Talk loudly. Behave boorishly.
Dance ungainly and spill someone’s drink. Upload embarrassing pictures on Facebook with a cheesy line like ‘Enjoying my third beer with mates. Life is beautiful’. Talk loudly. Listen to the same boring songs. Play air guitar. Get emotional. Crib about work, bosses, competition, roads, traffic or weather. Talk loudly. Make plans to grab a chicken roll on the other side of town. Talk loudly. See, I’m repeating myself. That pretty much sums up my understanding of nightlife in Mumbai.
Allow me to compare this with my experiences in the other city I know as well as Mumbai. Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic. The erstwhile capital of Bohemia. Bohemia is a beautiful word. Prague is a beautiful city. Parisians say it is more beautiful than Paris. I say it is the world’s most beautiful city. And it has a beautiful nightlife.
Do not Google it yet. You get skewed touristy reviews. All of it is true. Except that all of it amounts to very little of what you actually get. For a city to have a nightlife, it has to look good at night. Prague looks wonderful. In the daytime it looks like a massive medieval film set. Picture perfect. At night it acquires a romantic, other-worldly glow. In summers, it is cool and breezy. In winters, it is white, freezing and spooky. But it is beautiful nonetheless. It is a city that will make you fall in love. With itself, with someone or maybe with your own self.
Prague offers variety. You could repeat your Mumbai nightlife experience in toto, albeit with better beer. Or you could experiment.
Ever tried walking five miles in Mumbai? In Prague, you could walk all night without getting either bored or tired. The sights and sounds are magical. Stop for the occasional beer. It tastes best in sub-zero conditions.
You could enter a jazz bar and spend hours listening to wonderful artistes or catch a rock-band give you an almost private performance. Visit the music club Karlovy Lazne. It plays different genres of music on each of the five floors. Don’t like hip-hop? Walk down to Euro-pop. The place is as crowded as most Mumbai discos, so you don’t really miss home. Or if you do, go to Bombay Bar. Satisfaction guaranteed.
If you prefer conversation, there are many quiet and intimate places where you could sit and dissect Kafka over Pilsners. This is possible within 200 metres of where Kafka lived. Or you could go to the National Theatre and listen to Dvorák. Or possibly watch Verdi’s ‘La Traviata’ at prices that would not fetch you two cocktails in Mumbai.
You could sit by the river Vltava and spend the night watching the lit-up castle or if you like edgy stuff, there are numerous cabaret clubs that will entertain you irrespective of whether you’ve ordered two beers or a bottle of Dom Perignon. Of course, if you’ve ordered Dom, it is quite possible that you are in for a private performance as well.
If you have strong legs and a stronger liver, I would also recommend a pub-crawl. The finest beer in the world, coupled with some of the quaintest pubs too. Very refreshing, indeed.
I could dwell more on this topic but I am just drawing a comparison. What separates the two cities is variety, accessibility, affordability and spirit. Maybe someday we will be able to enjoy nightlife in Mumbai. Maybe someday we will also understand what nightlife means.
Feedback: tarun.jha@skoda-auto.co.in
