Car-o-bars are in vogue

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Delhi shares a very exciting relationship with alcohol. We drink down melancholy and celebrate our happiness with it. We drink at pubs, bachelors pads, cousin’s place or just anywhere. We would also zoom about the city in our flashy cars till the crack of dawn, stopping for a drink at a friend’s, warming up with vodka at a lounge or swigging some more, well, stuff in the car.
The 2 am revellers in the city swear by the concept of mobile bars in their cars i.e. car-o-bar. While some say it is economical and saves money, others declare nothing can beat the feeling of hopping into cars, and pouring themselves shots as they sway to the silence of night.
Deepak Chaudhary will turn 21 this month and is already past many binge nights with friends at various highways around the city. “It is awesome. We all stay with parents, so it is not possible to drink at each other’s place. Since we have not started earning, we can’t afford to splurge at fancy bars,” he quips.
But how do they pay the hefty fine if they are caught? “Cops are very accommodating. We get going after a Rs 200 to 300 ‘loss’ and a warning,” he says.
Tinted windows also come to these night-crawlers’ rescue. Though they are banned, but who cares, avers another compulsive partyholic Manjul Pandey. He says, “Firstly, I usually don’t see many patrol vehicles on the roads especially after 1 am. Secondly, my car’s dark glasses do the needful. I have never been challaned for drunken driving. I guess it is the lax attitude of cops that encourages people to drink and drive.”
The security is generally high around five-star hotels as most of the incidents of accidents, fights, abuse, non-consensual sex among other things are reported against young tipplers coming out of snazzy bars. A valet from a city hotel informs that he wonders how careless some parents can be. “I have seen party drugs and bottles of imported liquor in cars. And I am shocked to see youngsters as young as 17 driving. How can they roam around without a licence is a million-dollar question? Anyhow we alert police personnel to avoid any mishaps,” he says.
There used to be a time when children never drank in front of parents and women hardly drank openly. But times are changing and the taboo is gone. Now even girls don’t shy away from guzzling to glory that too “on the move”. “People go out a lot more, nobody worries about age, sex and status. I am from Ajmer, where there was ‘no booze culture’. It is my fifth year in the city and I am loving every bit of it. When we have fuel in our car, time is never an issue, the cabinet is mostly full and cops are always easy to handle. Delhi rocks,” says Meeta Kher, an advertising professional.
On the other hand, Rajan Bhagat, spokesperson Delhi Police says that it is not feasible to check each and every vehicle plying on the road. That is why people easily get away with it. “But we have deployed special teams to take drunken drivers to task. First people should become responsible citizens before pointing out others faults,” he adds.
Names have been changed on request