Flicking for fun

Last weekend, Arvind Kumar*, a copywriter with an advertising firm, decided to hit a popular club in the city to catch a few drinks after a hectic week. At this club, he meets a few youngsters — men and women who were professionals as he, and seemingly well off. After a few rounds, a slightly tipsy Arvind realizes that his wallet is missing.
“I was shocked when I realized I’d been robbed by one of the women I met that night,” he recalls.“By then, this ‘new’ set of friends I’d made had left and I was in a situation where I’d lost all my money and my cards ... I couldn’t even track down and confront any of them because I had no clue who they were!” In a similar situation, a Pune-based entrepreneur who was out partying also found out that her credit card was swiped to pay for a hefty bill at another club, two hours before she even realized it was missing.
While in both cases, the authorities were informed and the culprits tracked down in less than a day with the aid of CCTV footage at the clubs and records of the cards being swiped, it still remains that party animals in the city need to take care of their belongings. “These are usually kids from well-off families, who don’t really face a crash crunch,” says Arvind. “When the girl who took my wallet was actually traced down and brought to task by the authorities, she reveals that though she stole my wallet, she split the cash, which was easily around Rs 4000, among the rest of her ‘accomplices’! What was it for? To pay for the drinks!”
An employee at a popular pub in the city, on conditions of anonymity, reveals that such cases have started increasing. “In one embarrassing case, it ended up being the victim’s friends themselves who robbed him,” he says, adding, “The security systems in all the clubs in the city are quite efficient. So, we’ve never had any fingers pointed at us for any lapse in security. When we aid the authorities and track the person(s) responsible, they’d usually end up being from rich or influential families. Parents get involved and pull the kids out without any regret or remorse. These kids just a kick out of this,” he reasons.
Hotels and clubs in the city are on their toes when it comes to security and safety. Of course, while these troublesome youngsters engage in such amateurish acts out of sheer boredom, we need to question our value systems once again and the nature of our urban life, which is driving youngsters to spend more than they can afford.
(name changed on request)