Spijkenisse - Its good to be bad - (yeah rite)

You can imagine my anxiety of going to a ‘dancing club’ in a foreign country which yells prosperity and sophistication at every two steps. And also the anxiety because I was in a borrowed blouse (courtesy - Mrs. RNSG, who is a size smaller!), my new pair of jeans which is a tad too long and hence had to be folded (in a very NOT happening way), and sneakers (cringe!). And I was thinking, ‘hey bhwagwan, was it not enuff to be walking around even in the streets feeling like commoners among the royalty that I now have to go and look the prim-and-propah in the eye and dance in my sneakers to sexy Caribbean beats?’

Nevertheless, a little bit of excitement still existed about the carribean music. And so we left at 11:30 for the Indian dancing club called ‘La Riviera’ (called Laari by the young crowd).

(Gasp! Did I just say ‘young crowd’??? See what Europe has done to me…!)

In a very non-clubby area we reached a place which looked almost like a entrance of a secluded, newly built house.

The entry was ‘gratis’, free. So, CK and I were checked by a lady-bouncer (yep, yep) and led into another dark room.

Now, this place is really hard to explain. I will try still..

Have you been to a ‘banquet hall’(in context of punju shaadi ceremonies)? If yes, let me assure you, you have almost been to a La Riviera. Yep, it was like a banquet hall with a stage and a bar attached. AND..an ‘empty’ banquet hall at that. On the left were some cheap plastic chair and table with cheap ashtrays. And on the right were some cheap plastic chairs and tables too! In the centre was the dancing area, facing a stage-like platform with a live band, which was still warming up and therefore testing the percussions etc. And boy was it LOUD?!

To sum it up in one word - SHADY!

RNSG seemed a little embarrassed but hopeful and said ‘err..ahem..the crowd will come after 12…so hold on.’

So to avoid embarrassment, we walked to the bar and jus didn’t feel like ANY sort of alcohol. So, we had some soft drinks (at which the sluttish looking, gum chewing, lady at the counter smirked and gave some counters).

Coming to the …ahem ‘crowd’….I really don’t have words to describe the people I saw there. (but as you know that ‘that’s exactly what I am here for, so..)

I would say, in comparison to these, the crowd at TC was like the prettiest people on earth (I know they are anyway but still)

From the clothes to make up…everything LOUD and garish! I wish I could post some pictures here. 90% women looked like sluts (and I have a feeling, they were) and the men looked ..umm I don’t have a category for them yet, but like a cross between rickshawallahs and Bappi Lahiri. Are you getting the picture? (ofcourse not! You cannot!)

After a while the place started filling up and suddenly was full of obnoxious looking hags or repulsive teenagers.

So, after all hopes of an enjoyable experience, I was really banking on some good music, which was just not beginning and instead they just played some random tunes and 2 girls began to dance on the dance floor. The rest just looked in a very ‘let-me-check-out-this-babe’s backside' way. RIDICULOUS is an understatement.

When they finally switched to some real songs from random music, it turned out that they were churning out some crap in the name of remixes. And just when there were more people on the floor, the DJ/live band/whatever, started to play ‘slow music’. Puke puke!

Whenever they did that(played slow music), only one really fat couple stood on the floor barely able to hug each other. It was very funny in a pathetic sort of way.

So, just like other shady ppl around us, we too sat in a shady corner and just watched. I was avoiding looking at RNSG, in case he asked us to go and join the weird slutty people on the dance floor. But then he was too Nice to do that and so, we sat there waiting for some good music. But instead all we got were some really trashy Punjabi numbers, and some Aatif Aslam remixed (and battered and bruised) into a slow-dance number.

(more puke puke)

After 1.5 hours of such loud, brash and jarring music, and the worst crowd ever, I was almost glad, I didn’t care to dress up or be excited about it.

So, we left without ‘shaking our legs’ but our heads a bit like ‘tch tch’!

So, indeed it is good to be BAD and they just got better and made it ‘WORST’!