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The strange fall and rise of Delhi after dark

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Palash Krishna Mehrotra
Palash Krishna MehrotraJan 26, 2015 | 12:39

The strange fall and rise of Delhi after dark

I live in Greater Kailash 1. Next to my house is a yellow-and- black taxi stand; attached to it is a small dhaba, which basically caters to the taxi drivers who also live here. I was there the other night, waiting to get some food packed. It was about eleven. A car full of hungry and drunk men stopped by. The dhaba owner said that he'd run out. All he could offer them was chapattis and dal. The dude at the wheel exploded in typical New Delhi rage: "Ye to kutto ka khana hai, mother, sister etc etc."

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Both parties hurled abuses at each other until they'd neutralised each other out. I walked back clutching my food. I'd been lucky enough to get the last of the keema-kaleji. If the goons had known, they would have mugged me. The city is made up of all kinds of people. There are those who get up at six and head to the park to laugh, walk, do headstands. There are those who are up at night, working, partying or just plain drowning in insomnia. But whatever your lifestyle might be, everyone gets hungry. Those who are awake at night need to eat too. Not everyone lives with parents and servants and well-stocked double door fridges. Especially young people, new to the city, working their first jobs. Delhi by night has always been a problem, whether it is food or transport. Now, for the first time, there's a real change on both fronts. Finding food at night was always a challenge.

There were the paratha places-under the Moolchand flyover, at AIIMS, and one bang in the middle of Okhla Mandi. They were, and I'm sure still are, overcrowded with drunk men. They were erratic too-the police could come and shut them down at will (for 'security reasons'), especially before Republic Day or Independence Day. Comesum at Nizamuddin Station was the only place that'd be packed with tired couples, deep in love. Which was cute. There'd also be a sprinkling of ladies of the night, waiting to be picked up. A touch of city sleaze. That's okay too. The food though - the reason why everyone was there - was godawful railway fare.

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Then came the 24/7s and In & Out outlets at gas stations. The food was stale and overpriced. But still a change. Always welcome. Some attracted a more loutish crowd than the others. The one in GK-II had a lurking undercurrent of violence. I was once standing at a table and eating their legendary hotdog when a bunch of lads came and simply muscled me away. Get off my patch. Welcome to Wasseypur. In the last one year or so, a quiet revolution has taken place. A number of places have mushroomed all over town, which only deliver at night. They start taking orders midnight onwards and go on till four a.m. The food is mostly excellent, hygienic and reasonably priced. The boom in this segment tells you about the demand that existed. You don't expect a single girl living on her own, without a car (or even with one), to go looking for a paratha on a cold winter's night. Enter Midnight Munchies or Delivery Jack or one of many such. Some also deliver cigarettes, Crocin, and, in a sign of how acceptable smoking pot has become among young working professionals, OCB rolling paper.

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The other dramatic change has been in transport. Getting around the city was always a problem at night. The yellow-and-black taxis were always ridiculously expensive. They charged what they felt like. If you've ever been stuck in a South Delhi neighbourhood at night, you'd know that it takes half an hour to walk to the main road. By now, you've reached Ring Road say (if you haven't been eaten by street dogs that is), but are unable to find an autorickshaw. With the entry of companies like Ola and TaxiForSure, this has changed too. You can get a cab of your preference -sedan or mini - and pay accordingly. The prompt door-to-door service now covers autos as well. The charges are astoundingly reasonable. No wonder then that these companies have become the darlings of venture capital firms.

Last October, Japan's Softbank led a $210 million investment in Ola. The company was started by two IIT-pass-outs in their twenties- a clear case of a younger demographic understanding the needs of their own. Both with food delivery at night, as with cabs (Ola is growing at 30 per cent month-on-month), this was a gap waiting to be filled in a market lush with money, but no creative business ideas. Those who did so first are laughing all the way to the bank. The sardarjis at my cab stand seem unperturbed. They spend their days washing their cars, as if they were horses. Or they sit on their string cots all day, chatting, watching the world go by, a most non-taxi driver like thing to do. I'm worried, that at this rate, they'll all soon pack up for lack of demand and go back to their villages. The dhaba that caters to them will shut down. If that happens, where will I get my keema-kaleji? Midnight Munchies? Nah. Doesn't taste the same.

Last updated: January 26, 2015 | 12:39
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