Lets GO!

"Yeah sure, heard of it. The punchline of an ad run featuring a young couple with a manic obsession for mo-bike riding". Well, that's the creed of the 20 something, techie, urban youth; denizens of India's cyber corridors who are living the Indian Software Dream. Young, single, well heeled, these yuppies live their lives in gay abandon where each day brings with it new experiences to be gained and new vistas to be explored. And what better a place to practise this belief than Hyderabad, the city of Pearls, the land of the Nizams and more recently India's Cyberabad.


A veteran go getter myself, I too enjoyed the joys the city had to offer to the hilt. After a long day spent at office (10 hours normally), my evenings would begin pretty late. The best way to start the evening would be to catch the 9:45 p.m. movie. The first step in the preparation for the movie would be to call all the like minded junta and inquire about their whereabouts. The next step would be to try and coax as many of them into seeing the movie as possible. The theatre being a stone's throw away from office, the best time to start out for the movie would be 9:30 p.m. Purchase the tickets, park the bikes and file into the theatre just as the last advertisement is being screened. The movie finished by 11:45, the next question that would pop up is "Khana kahan khayen yaar?"."Lets go for a midnight buffet at Central Court". "No yaar!, lets go to Golconda instead". "No way! I want to have the midnight biryani at Aditya Park Inn". Amid the tirade of alternatives, the final venue would be decided with a show of hands."Ok. So we are going to Central Court for the midnight buffet". After a sumptuous meal of biryani, a choice of rotis, chines and a rather heavy dessert, it would be the time to decide what to do next. "Lets go to Hussain Sagar. We can sit for a while, and I can light a cigarette in the meantime [sic]". After a satisfying 30 minutes of 'smoke on the water', banter and some serious reflections on life, it would have been the ideal time to cal it quits when suddenly out of nowhere comes, "Hey what about some late night ice-cream at Famous?". Again there would be a show of hands and the majority would be for it. Its 1:00 a.m., but hey theres a huge crowd at Famous. We too join in and bite into bars of ice-cream sold at throwaway prices. Its 1:30 a.m. and the yawns are getting a bit too frequent. Guess its time to make a move. Drive home at breakneck speeds, manage to rouse the watchman from his slumber, jump into bed and doze off without as much as turning over once in bed.


Narrate this to a parent and a typical reaction would be, "What's come over the youth of today. Never lived so irresponsible a life when I was your age". Wake up call dear parent. Things have changed drastically since you were last in your bell-bottoms. The youth of today work hard and play hard too. Changing lifestyles, work environments and pressures call for a change in the way in which people entertain themselves. Don't call it hedonism, call it adaptation.