“We always preferred open air parties”

ABHIJIT PATIL

If you decided to go partying in the late 90s, you could count the bars and nightclubs that you could go to on your fingertips. Shops would down shutters between 1 and 4 for an afternoon siesta; there were no malls, not even half the number of boutiques and restaurants. But that has changed. We have some of the best clubs, restaurants and stores today. But the one thing about Pune that remains unchanged is Koregaon Park. Since Osho Rajneesh set up his Ashram, Koregaon Park has been Pune’s nightlife capital. Sanyasis brought in variety and western influences to food, music and the non-existent nightlife. German bakery was born. ABC Farms was set up. Prems was born. And Pyramids, where Hard Rock Café now stands, came up. During my

“DURING OUR COLLEGE DAYS THERE WERE ONLY A HANDFUL OF BARS THAT WE COULD GO TO”

college days there were only a handful of bars that we could go to—10 Downing Street, Totem Pole, Club Polaris, Bullocks. But we had special nights of outdoor open air parties organised at farmhouses. Pune has amazing winters and the local crowd has always preferred partying in open air locations. Alcohol was cheap and it was more for making sure ‘The Scene’ continued even after the bars shut by 1230 am. We didn’t have big budgets in college. From buying Old Monk from the canteen to six guys chipping in 200 bucks each to buy a bottle of vodka and pre drink at home, we did it all.

Pune’s nightlife has grown organically. We have the best five star hotels, international coffee chains, restaurants and night clubs. The city’s boundaries have expanded but people from all across still come to KP to let their hair down and party. The expat working class that has come due to the ever expanding automobile industry loves partying in KP. Pune’s always been a University city so students have always been an integral part of our nightlife.

Our industry has great potential and our city can definitely be amongst the best in India. Longer open hours will help push us to the number 1 spot, which I, as a die-hard Punekar and as one of the feathers in the Nightlife hat would love to experience sooner than later.

Sandy Singh is a restaurateur and a party regular.