Sin City

I very rarely write a post within an hour of an event happening (one may argue that I rarely write a post in the first place), but this is something that I have to write about right here, right now. In another fortnight, the year 2006 will dawn upon us. There's nothing intrinsically special about the year itself (it's not even a leap year), but the way in which the students of the National Law School will herald its coming is noteworthy.

As final year students, we bear the costs of the college party, in keeping with tradition. About half an hour ago, the Event Management Gurus of the class (Nitin, Grrrish, Tuffloo) outlined the plan for the New Year "Party". The first phrase which struck me on hearing the same was the title of this post, "Sin City". Why? Read on....

Venue: Some Random Farmhouse about 50-60 km outside Bangalore police limits
Description of venue: In Nitin's words, "Lots of side attractions". In plain English, the place has dance floors at three levels (which makes it convenient for some tipsy person to dance off the floor to join the others at the lower levels, or at least endeavour to), a swimming pool (where some unfortunate drunks will no doubt end up, much to their shock and chargin) and uninterrupted power supply (so much for rural power cuts). The crowning achievement of this place is that it's surrounded by 150 (one hundred and fifty) acres of woodland, with no lighting. Another side attraction is that there are 20 tents available for those who want greater privacy than the darkness could provide.

Look, I mean, without any need for diplomatic language, this "party" sounds like one of those nights of which events could send the newpapers crazy with a million MMS scandals rolled into one night. Get what I mean? No? Then let me put it in plainer English. The cover of the trees and the darkness, combined with the mellowing effects of a quart or so of vodka, would without a shadow of doubt get the testesterone and whatever-it-is-called-for-the-girls-hormone raging through the bloodstreams of erstwhile respectable students of an elite university...

I am a liberal person by philosophy in most matters, but this is something which would shock the collective conscience of liberal minded persons in society. A boozy, smoky, dopey new year blitz (which we have had all these years) is bad enough, but if you give amorous couples ("real" couples as well as one-night-only couples) this much room, we may need a maternity ward on campus, I say!!! Further, it will be impossible to cut out the dope, which has been somewhat possible with a smaller venue over the years.

Apart from the moral issues, there are also issues of safety. Being outside police limits saves the cost of obtaining permits, paying bribes, etc, but let's face it - the police are quite effective as keepers of the peace. They will be around within shouting distance (let's not delve into the reasons why police constables hang around within shouting distance of new year parties) if any trouble arises at a more "normal" party. In fact, there have been incidents where random goonda-looking people have attempted to gatecrash our parties (once the incomparable Vinay Sitapati showed some true Dutch courage in the face of a drunk rowdy), but the cops have been of help in such situations. Fifty kilometres outside police limits is fifty kilometres away from help in an emergency. Even in case of any other emergency (ask Saluja - he found himself in the ICU after some overenthusiastic consumption of the bubbly), this place is out in the boondocks. It may be argued that someone will drive over to Bangalore to fetch help in case of trouble, but the simple counter to it is that how many drivers will be found in a sober enough state to first drive back to Bangalore and secondly to bring back help?

Whatever may be the point of all this raving by me, I have also paid up for it. I am jointly and severally responsible for anything that happens therein. So all I can say now is, "Happy fucking fellas..."