Mumbai Refreshed

Planning an evening out on the town with friends invariably leads to countless arguments about where to go. My friends are a diverse lot, so forming a consensus is always hard.

One group loves going to upscale, mainstream venues like Insomnia. They like meeting the same people every weekend, and get down to ‘Kajra Re’ even if its played seven times a night. The point is simple: “They are tired after work and are looking to unwind, so want to go to a place where they know the people and the music is familiar.” Fair enough.

The other group has different, greater expectations from an evening out. No bar or club in Mumbai satisfies them fully, because the music they love consists of non-commercial music – something unavailable in Mumbai’s nightlife venues. This group loves to explore, want to feel new things, meet new people, and feel constricted by following the same routine every weekend.

Who is right? Or is anyone right? I love “Kajra Re”, but I love new sounds too. I like meeting my old mates but also love meeting new people while partying.

Walter Benjamin (a sociological and cultural critic), in The Arcades Project argues that the masses cannot be moved to a higher art. They can only understand or appreciate the one closest to them. The trouble lies in finding Art that strikes a balance: high, but not too high.

For simple commercial reasons, nightclubs in Mumbai cater to what he calls-the working class (Group A) who by virtue of their numbers crowd out the second, the bourgeoisie (Group B) who are only a niche. Nightclubs employ DJs who cater to the masses, by creating standard music, lifting ideas and sounds from an existing library and repackaging in familiar garb. DJs seem wary of experimenting and creating new, bold sounds.

As exciting as the second path is, Benjamin’s argument is simple: The artist needs to make his/her audience travel the path of “high art”. The artist needs to walk with them at every step.

The current reality in Mumbai has led to stagnation of society, and the second is a dream, which does not look likely to come true.