An incomplete history of Delhi’s nightlife

From Mumbai, the publication MoneyControl reports that, in October, 2022, the government “announced that it allow 300 establishments — including hotels, restaurants, bars, pubs, cafés, and pharmacies and shops — to stay open 24 hours.”

Eligible for around-the-clock operations — and for a fee — will be restaurants or eating houses in five- and four-star hotels as well as eateries close to the airport, railway station and inter-state bus terminal (ISBT) stations.

“In three-star hotels,” MoneyControl reports, restaurants “will be allowed to operate till 2 a.m., and in all other categories, they will be able to operate till 1 a.m.”

“If executed properly, with proper safety measures embedded, this could bring a boost in tourism. But, at any rate, this is unprecedented. For decades, the curfew for [food and beverage] spaces has oscillated somewhere between 11 p.m. and 1 a.m. — sometimes with an exception for those housed within 5-star hotels.”

Delhi residents and visitors will soon see the new nighttime normal.

The reporter follows up this news with “an incomplete history of Delhi’s nightlife through the ages.”

It’s worth a read for those curious about cultural and economic shifts underway in India since its days as a British colony.