Lap of Luxury

For weeks before,I had been witness to the discussions and dissections that Arjun and Mehr Rampal,the hosts of this ultra lavish and generous plane ride,and the fantastic weekend they were delivering us into,had been having. The precision with which they had attended to every detail was quite simply,heroic. From the biggest superstars and socialites,like Gauri and Shah Rukh Khan,and Sussane and Hrithik Roshan,and Parmeshwar Godrej,to the Rampals’ childhood friends and family members were being super-stylishly flown down to Delhi for one night of jet-setting revelry that required immaculate planning. As multiple suites at the Taj Mansingh were booked for the guests and more plane loads of excited private jets screeched into the capital,it became obvious to me,that the opening of Arjun’s (in partnership with AD Singh) much touted and talked about nightclub,Lap,was going to be nothing short of sensational.

Each inch of the 16,000 square feet of Lap was filled,cheek to jowl,by the kind of people Truman Capote called Beautiful. While some of these guests marveled at the spectacular Rohit Bal designed,black-and-white Swarovski table and the others at the table which had a curvy mannequin dipped in silver foil and then laid to rest in a glass coffin,a naughty but eye-catching piece of art on which Rampal collaborated with Vikram Chatwal on,I found myself often gasping at the piece de resistance. The ten-foot wide and six-foot tall Swarovski chandelier that hangs like an overblown piece of extreme jewellery,and deigns to hog all the attention in the room,simply cannot be ignored,or ever forgotten.

But a nightclub amounts to nothing without its music. I have been a club maven in Rio and Rajasthan and Rome,and am seasoned enough to know that music sounds better with the tunes,and not with discordant noise and beats that are apologies for melodies. The venue for a club could be a beat up garage without ventilation or an emperor’s palace,but if the music doesn’t rock,the party never started. With Arjun and his roster of DJs manning the booth,which is more like a heavenly balcony with a bird’s-eye view of the earthlings dancing below,the music kept getting better and tunes more hedonistic,till the last of the revelers left at 7.30 am. Lap is managed by the Pauls of The Park Hotels,and the delicious mini foie gras burgers,their super-attentive staff kept circulating around the room where the little bon mots of fuel that we all needed to keep it going till the wee-est of wee hours. Yes,the night just raged.

(mozezsingh@gmail.com)