One of the benefits of being part of Her Majesty’s MI6 means that I go to a lot of exotic places(believe that and you really are taking me too seriously) and Pasha was on the list…. The emphasis is on that little three letter word’was’. So what’s my problem with the self-proclaimed premier Nightspot of Chennai, if you are so inclined feel free to read on…
It was one of the first nights I was in Chennai and I approached the ladies on Trident’s reception desk(they love me, they really do, honest!) and asked about where the action was at or I would have to endure the Arcot(what’s wrong with the Arcot? Oh, just go there and find out for yourselves). The suggestion was Pasha at the Park Hotel just off Anna Salai. So off I went and thumbed a lift with an auto.
It was quite an epic journey from the airport hotel strip, about 45 minutes of Chennai’s busy traffic(by my own calculations about most the length of a reasonable Cuban cigar), but I got there. No excitement on the way more than the usual traffic weaving. The Park Hotel seemed to be trying so hard to be modern and once past the Parkhurst Gaol like front doors, I was in a minimalist show room of a reception. Albeit getting a bit dog eared. I mistook the Leather Bar as being Pasha at first(the name itself gave me school boy sniggers!) and avoided the fifty-something western guests all trying to be Andy Warhol cool and headed downstairs where I thought, naturally would be the location of a night club. Nothing but toilets and gaudily carpeted conference rooms down there, so I retraced my step past the trendy grandparents and spotted my first sign of hope….
Aha! In front of me was a’younger’ crowd of girls; dolled-up, very pretty but never as glamorous as me! But I lowered my impeccable standards and followed their general direction. Out into that frosty Chennai night air again(no one has contradicted me so far, so I will keep on mentioning it, until I include snowdrifts!), off to the left from the prison gates and down a little pathway that looked like it should lead to a public toilet. There were a few more of the younger set down that way, some complaining that they’d been refused entrance(to a public loo?) and heading back along the narrow path. And finally I got there.
Three security flunkies would have to be convinced that I was the right kind of person to be let in, so I put my best butter-wouldn’t-melt look on my face and addressed those fine gentlemen with wit and charm. …and that cost 1000 rupees as a cover charge and x-amount of drinks… yippee(forcing enthusiasm now, after feeling ripped-off!), but I was in. A lone’stag’ let into a Chennai night club, ho-ho-ho, what trouble could I get myself into? Absolutely none! Do you believe me?;)
To say the place was very 1980’s is an understatement, it bought back fond memories of theHaçienda(in Manchester or Madchester to those of us who can remember and yes! I was young then but I still do remember) in the days of Rave and Acid House. It was industrial, dark with a few silly psychedelic touches around seating areas(but getting tatty and stained). But fond memories aside, it was a bit dismal! The serving staff were a bit off-ish, snobby and downright rude in some instances. The lighting on workman’s scaffolding was really not up to scratch and one puff of dry ice made the 1 metre square dance floor disappear in an old London fog. Again for those of us who can remember, the Haçienda’s dance floor was huge! There was a mix of a crowd at Pasha but I kinda got the pick-up joint feeling about the place…. And the music was techno vibe after techno vibe after techno vibe. Look, I like techno but this was without any variety and sounded more like a’best of’ CD that had just been left to play, while the DJ got confused about whether his job was chatting up a young girl or laying down some serious tracks for the benefit of party goers.
I’m a night time type of person, I wasn’t expecting the best in Chennai, but I was expecting some kind of’scene’, not somewhere where people felt they had to go because they felt there was no other choice. Nor do I like the idea of being somewhere to be’seen’. In short, I like a party and a good night out! And on that count, Pasha dismally failed but it did manage to make my wallet 1000 bucks lighter!
I got back to the Trident… and caught up with the girls on reception and told them about my’fun’. Then the one who’d suggested it(I’m clear here, she did not’recommend’ it) said, "Oh, I’ve never been but one of my friends has been and she didn’t like it either."