Mumbai youths teach the art of drinking when you are 18

A state ruling in 2011 raised the legal age of drinking to 25 in Maharashtra While beer and wine can be served to 21yearolds and above hard liquor can only be served to those above 25 This essentially means that anyone under the age of 21 cannot be allowed to enter the cityrsquos clubsIts 11 PM on Saturday night and a group of 12 climbs the stairs of a popular Lower Parel mall to head to its favourite weekend haunt for a night of heavy partying There are around 30 youngsters in a queueThe taller boys with shirts hanging out and young stubble head the pack accompanied by impeccably dressed girls complete with makeup and stilettosldquoCan I see IDrdquo inquires the bouncer at the door One of the boys pulls an Aadhaar card establishing that hersquos 23 years old His partner for the night pulls out an ID too while the rest of the gang skulks behind As these two enter the event manager tells the bouncer to stamp the rest of the crew A pimple faced boy with spectacles gets held upldquoCan I see some ID pleaserdquo He looks inquisitively at his friend and then at the event manager ldquoItrsquos all right Danny let him inrdquo says the latter The last of the gang proceed to enter One pulls out his phone and posts a message on a Whatsapp group ldquoSaturday night plansrdquo ldquoHeads upmdashtheyrsquore checking IDs at the gaterdquoThe 12 boys and girls are all teenagers making their presence inside the cityrsquos nightspots illegal But itrsquos a trend that failed to die out even though the state government raised the legal drinking age to 25 in 2011 If a place is serving only beer and wine the minimum age of entry is 21 and its rises to 25 if hard liquor is on the menuYet on weekend nights long queues of college and school students can be seen forming lines outside clubs like the nowshut Bandra club Royalty or even the much popular Lower Parel hang out Tryst eagerly awaiting a night of loud music and strong dancingFinding an inldquoThe toughest part is getting into the clubrdquo asserts Rahul name changed to protect identity an 18yearold firstyear BMM student at a south Mumbai college With a large social circle Rahul has organised events at most of the cityrsquos clubs Events are theme nights mdash Bollywood rsquo90s music mdash which need a manager usually a college student to bring in the crowds They are expected to send out messages to their friends and call them in and therefore turn a blind eye to those below the required age says RahulYoungsters outside bars in Khar Pics Atul KambleAs a rule only bouncers at the gate ask for IDs ldquoMost of us have fake IDs on our phonesrdquo says Rahul who was born in 1998 but whose fake ID shows his birthdate as 1993Prerna 20 may not be a teenager but is still not old enough to be at any of the cityrsquos clubs It barely takes a minute to make a fake ID she adds ldquoYou do it on Photoshop Take someonersquos original ID and either change the photo or the birth date I then take a print out and laminate it so that it looks authentic and valid Bouncers really understand the difference between an original and fake ID All they look at is your birthdate Some places like LIV in Colaba and True Tram Trunk in Juhu donrsquot even bother asking for IDrdquo she addsThe manager at True Tramm Trunk Rohit who didnrsquot want to share his second name says the charge that they rarely check ID cards is wrong ldquoWe always have a manager andor bouncer at the gate who checks the IDs of people There is even a board that says entry will be restricted for only those who are 21 and aboverdquoldquoID cards are checked at the gate by the bouncer only those who are 20 and above are allowed to enterrdquo says Kiran Maik manager at LIV a posh South Mumbai nightclub that sees around 125 people every FridaySaturday night ldquoIt has to be a governmentissued original ID mdash no soft copies or photocopies are acceptable This is because there is a lot of manipulation that happens in soft copiesrdquoBut what happens in cases where the person is above 21 and allowed to enter but orders hard liquor inside ldquoWhen they ask for hard liquor we ID them inside the club itself Otherwise beer and wine is allowedrdquo He also says that a lot of underage party goers mdash who donrsquot drink mdash show up wanting to enter at LIV just to enjoy the music ldquoSince we serve alcohol and cannot distinguish between who is supposed to be drinkingnot drinking inside we do not allow anyone below 20 to enterrdquoSeniors show the wayPrerna who studies BMM at a south Mumbai college got her fake ID made when she turned eighteen something most of those in her group were doing at the time In most cases itrsquos a senior who one day flashes their fake ID and then the juniors learn the tricks of the trade ldquoWe used to do it when we were in high school too This is a trend that has been passed down from generation to generation and remains the main cheatcode to enter a nightclub However in my day we used to use fake college IDs and say we were PhD or postgraduate studentsrdquo says 26yearold Anant name changed a digital marketing professionalFor those who donrsquot have fake IDs confidence is key ldquoWe wear jackets and jeans and walk boldly the girls wear heels and short dresses We make an effort to look olderrdquo says RahulNo cheap thrillsRhea often gets mailers or Whatsapp messages about events and offers Once on receiving a message about an event at The Khar Hoppipola she told the organiser her real age and inquired whether she and her friends would be allowed to enter When given the green signal she asked why age hadnrsquot been an issue ldquoHe told me that on weekend nights a lot of oldies visit the club They usually order more food and limited alcohol lsquoBut you teenagersrsquo he said lsquodonrsquot know when to stop orderinghellipyoursquoll give us more businessrsquordquoIn some cases Rhea says the management inquired before hand as to what their spending limit will be through the night and accordingly allotted them a table For instance if the budget was around R15K for the night theyrsquod get a small table ldquoThey tell us that those who are underage will not be served alcohol but once yoursquore inside no one checks for IDrdquoJimit Rajput manager at Hoppipola which shut for renovation earlier this week says ldquoWe used to accept softcopies earlier but have stopped In such cases we ask them for another copy of a government ID We do not ID people once they are inside We do allow 1920 year olds to come in but thatrsquos only in the daytime till about 6 pm Since the last one month we have been very strict with checking peoplersquos ID cards as it is an order from the management All bookings go through merdquoAsked about the practice of inquiring how much a person would be spending before allotting them a table Jimit says ldquoWe take reservations only for three tables and all three of them are minimum billing tables of R10K15K each The rest of the tables can be booked on a walkin basisrdquoFollow the moneyWith most clubs charging entry mdash couples for Rs 2000 stags around Rs 1500 mdash a night of partying doesnrsquot come cheap A beer costs anywhere between Rs 350400 and eats starts at Rs 500 per dishldquoI usually carry a debit card when I go out over the weekend but am not allowed to exceed a certain limit on it unless itrsquos an emergencyrdquo says 20 yearold Nikhil an arts student at a suburban college Among his favourite haunts are a craft beer outlet at Andheri He says that his weekly pocket money of Rs 10000 gets deposited by his parents in his bank account and every weekend his parents give him another Rs 4000 for a night outNot all parents however are explicitly told that the night out involves partying with alcohol ldquoThere are rich kids who have cool parents who allow them to drink it depends from family to familyrdquo says Rhea ldquoWhen I go out I never say at home that Irsquom going to a lsquoclubrsquo I say Irsquom going to a place that has a DJ and a theme night If we say club then the parents get apprehensive Sometimes they even Google the place to see what itrsquos likerdquo