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Alcohol, cigarettes and drugs: Delhi ends 2015 on a high

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Palash Krishna Mehrotra
Palash Krishna MehrotraDec 20, 2015 | 11:27

Alcohol, cigarettes and drugs: Delhi ends 2015 on a high

As the festive season draws to a close, and the countdown to the New Year begins, here are the top trends in the capital's nightlife, some legitimate and some not so legit.

Top of the list is Anurag Jain's Bira beer. Soft launched in May last year, this season Bira reached, in Malcom Gladwell's famous phrase, its tipping point. Available in two variants, white and blonde, this "handcrafted" beer now sells 10,000 cases in Delhi alone.

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At present the beer, which proudly proclaims "Imagined in India", is still not being made here. Production in India is slated for 2016. In snobby Delhi, it's advisable that if you are taking some beers to a party, buy Bira White. It's considered superior to Bira Blonde. Why? It costs Rs 20 more than the Blonde. In a market monopolised by Kingfisher - a manifestation of Kingfisher's below-the -counter distribution muscle rather than consumer preferences, Bira's achievement is even more commendable.

Two, American Spirit Tobacco. This hand-rolling tobacco is the season's favourite. For years, those who rolled their own cigarettes, had to choose from Capstan, which came in a greenish pouch, and the less readily available Wills, which came in a yellow pouch. The smugglers killed that market with Samson, Drum Bright Blue and Golden Virginia. One reason for Spirit's popularity is the claim that it's "additive free". A younger health-conscious demographic wants food and drink that is organic and free of preservatives. Why not tobacco?

And what do you roll the tobacco in? Even cigarette paper is now in step with health fads. For a while now, brown has been considered healthier than white. Brown bread is better than white, brown rice better than white rice and so on. Not to be left behind, brown rolling paper is all the rage now. Smoking Brown, which is currently riding the wave, claims to be "chlorine free" and "unbleached". It's available at your friendly neighbourhood paan shop. Beware of Chinese counterfeits. You have to give it to the Chinese though - they have their finger on every international trend, mainstream or underground.

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Three, cocaine or charlie. Once the drug of choice of film stars, fashion designers, models, politicians and businessmen, cocaine has finally trickled down to the middle class. The paraphernalia associated with it has changed too. Dollar bills, platinum credit cards and Chinese porcelain have made way for the more democratic ten-rupee-note, the humble debit card and the stainless steel thali. One reason for this that prices have dropped. In this, the trend is similar to what happened in the UK in 2001 when student cocaine use, according to the Guardian, rose by almost 400 per cent. The price decreased steadily from 200 pounds a gram in the early 1980s to a more affordable 40 pounds. In Delhi too, while the price for a tola of Manali hashish has risen dizzyingly, cocaine prices have remained stable, bringing both the drugs at par when it comes to pricing.

Cocaine was part of Pemberton's original formula for Coca-Cola till 1903, when it was removed. Coca-Cola once contained an estimated nine milligrams of cocaine per glass. Early advertisements for the beverage sold it as an "intellectual beverage" and a "temperance drink", a cure for "neuralagia, hysteria and melancholy". The legal commercialisation of dried coca leaves - in the form of filtration bags to be used as coca tea - was promoted by the governments of Peru and Bolivia for years as a drink having medicinal powers.

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Over the years, smugglers have used a variety of means to get the drug from Latin America to west Africa, from where it is transported to Europe. Boeings and Cessnas have now given way to powerful speed boats, even submarines. According to a documentary recently telecast on Deutch Welle, a kilogram of coke becomes five by the time it hits the streets of Berlin. You can imagine the profits to be made. That's how much the coke is "cut", with dealers adding baking soda, laxatives, Valium, pretty much anything that is white, to increase the volume.

It was always available in Bombay. If you met a young stockbroker with an overgrown fingernail on a Bombay local, you knew what the fingernail was meant for.

In Delhi, watching its effects on users can be an amusing past time in itself. Delhi men are known to brag, boast and exaggerate. Cocaine fills you with confidence and puts your ego on a pedestal. It's supposed to make you feel like you're the cock of the walk. After a few lines, the young Delhi male's six figure salary becomes an eight figure salary, his Ertiga transforms into a Cooper and the year-end vacation in Goa becomes a year-end bash in Ibiza. All this happens in his head, via his nostrils.

Finally, this was also the season when saying "OK, Google" into your phone or smartwatch started to become a default habit. I still remember the moment I said, "OK, Google open Ola app" into my Moto E and it actually opened the app. I hadn't experienced such a sense of accomplishment since I learnt to tie my shoelaces. And that was a while back. My excitement though was tempered by the fact that there were no cabs available on Ola. I'm waiting for the time when I'll be able to say "OK Google, manufacture cab and send to my address." Hopefully it'll happen by this time next year.

Last updated: December 20, 2015 | 14:46
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