 "That bearish martini")
The thrill of trading is no longer confined to stock exchanges. The newest bar in Delhi's Connaught Place has ditched the regular cocktail menu for a stock exchange-like system that governs the prices of alcoholic beverages.
At the month-old Cafe Dalal Street, a stairway, bathed in pink-and-amber lights, leads to a 150-seater area thumping with the Black Eyed Peas' "I Gotta Feeling". Streaks of yellow and orange lights peep through the dimly lit cafe. The walls are covered in graffiti, stock-market slogans, and a map of Connaught Place. On the one end, a so-called "3D wall" features golden sculptures of suited stockbrokers on the trading floor, surrounded by highlights of stock market indices for "Mumbai" and "New York: Nasdaq". On the other side, heads of bulls tied with chains stick out from the wall. The cafe is divided into two sections that meet at a C-shaped bar with a dance floor, which faces the DJ console.
A bunch of LED screens above the tables display the day's lowest, highest and current prices for the beverages. The current prices on the "CDS Exchange" fluctuate almost every second, while the day's highest and lowest prices are fixed every morning by the founders, Vidit Gupta and Himanshu Gupta. The 24-year-old graduates of Warwick University, say that the higher the demand for a drink at a certain point, the higher the price, and vice versa. The arrangement, they add, helps keep the prices 15-20 per cent lower than what other watering holes in Connaught Place offer. If you want to enjoy drinks at the lowest price, however, it's recommended that "you make a reservation and and show up early," which sounds baffling in a live-pricing setting.
The eardrum-shattering blare of music played by the DJ, who has now switched to Bollywood numbers, forces me to take the corner seat in the relatively quiet smoking section. If you don't want to strain your neck too much by looking at the screen above to keep a check on the prices, you could download the "Dalal Street" app - as I'm suggested by the waitstaff. The app allows you to choose from an array of drinks, including some "signature cocktails" such as "Dutch Investment" (gin, berries and cardamom), "The Wolf Punch" (vodka, apple vinegar, cucumber, strawberry, cloves and orange), "Zombie Street" (rum, orange, pineapple and spice bitters), and "Deal Closer" (tequila, orange, nutmeg and celery salt). The Wi-fi, however, has been down for the past two days, I'm told. I turn to the printed menu only to find myself cringing at a selection named "Cocktails for the Better Half", which includes names such as "Chocolate Martini", "Baby Biscuit" and "Khatti Meethi".
Suddenly, the cafe echoes with the sound of a siren loud enough to drown out the music. The prices have come crashing down; the screen says so, as it does several times during the day whenever the management wishes. If only I had waited a while.
At the month-old Cafe Dalal Street, a stairway, bathed in pink-and-amber lights, leads to a 150-seater area thumping with the Black Eyed Peas' "I Gotta Feeling". Streaks of yellow and orange lights peep through the dimly lit cafe. The walls are covered in graffiti, stock-market slogans, and a map of Connaught Place. On the one end, a so-called "3D wall" features golden sculptures of suited stockbrokers on the trading floor, surrounded by highlights of stock market indices for "Mumbai" and "New York: Nasdaq". On the other side, heads of bulls tied with chains stick out from the wall. The cafe is divided into two sections that meet at a C-shaped bar with a dance floor, which faces the DJ console.
A bunch of LED screens above the tables display the day's lowest, highest and current prices for the beverages. The current prices on the "CDS Exchange" fluctuate almost every second, while the day's highest and lowest prices are fixed every morning by the founders, Vidit Gupta and Himanshu Gupta. The 24-year-old graduates of Warwick University, say that the higher the demand for a drink at a certain point, the higher the price, and vice versa. The arrangement, they add, helps keep the prices 15-20 per cent lower than what other watering holes in Connaught Place offer. If you want to enjoy drinks at the lowest price, however, it's recommended that "you make a reservation and and show up early," which sounds baffling in a live-pricing setting.
The eardrum-shattering blare of music played by the DJ, who has now switched to Bollywood numbers, forces me to take the corner seat in the relatively quiet smoking section. If you don't want to strain your neck too much by looking at the screen above to keep a check on the prices, you could download the "Dalal Street" app - as I'm suggested by the waitstaff. The app allows you to choose from an array of drinks, including some "signature cocktails" such as "Dutch Investment" (gin, berries and cardamom), "The Wolf Punch" (vodka, apple vinegar, cucumber, strawberry, cloves and orange), "Zombie Street" (rum, orange, pineapple and spice bitters), and "Deal Closer" (tequila, orange, nutmeg and celery salt). The Wi-fi, however, has been down for the past two days, I'm told. I turn to the printed menu only to find myself cringing at a selection named "Cocktails for the Better Half", which includes names such as "Chocolate Martini", "Baby Biscuit" and "Khatti Meethi".
Suddenly, the cafe echoes with the sound of a siren loud enough to drown out the music. The prices have come crashing down; the screen says so, as it does several times during the day whenever the management wishes. If only I had waited a while.