Tamasha: New look same spirit

Hurlingham is Tamasha and Tamasha is Hurlingham. Tamasha has been there since beer has frothed. Then it died for a bit. Urban lore has it that the owners one day had a stormy meeting and hands were thrown in the air and everybody went their way after and the partnership crumbled. But then you know how urban lores are; you never know if they are the truth or just, well, bar talk.

Nonetheless, they touched it up, painted it up, put up a terrace, another bar outside, bought better chairs, gave it a facelift that tried to elevate it up from a local. But the spirit never changed and it’s the spirit that makes people visit bars, not the cushioning of the chairs.

I was there last Saturday and was surprised to find Deejay Dru on the decks early. (It was 5.30pm). Most deejays want to show up at 11pm amidst smoke and trumpets. Deejay Dru was playing old school and really killing it.

The crowd was sparse at that time but the 90s mood filled every space in the bar.

Buoyed by the euphoria of the 90s I requested the song “I’ll take her,” by Il Al Skratch featuring Brian MckNight. Dru was taken aback. He didn’t have it. He said, “I’ve deejayed for 18-years and nobody has ever requested a song I didn’t have.”

Well, I walked back to my table like a peacock.