Attn. VM: Halloween to give heebie-jeebies to Delhiites

Donning horns, smeared with "zombie" make-up and wearing Dracula capes, party-loving Delhiites, at their "creepiest-best", are all geared up for Halloween night on Saturday.

Although the culture of celebrating Halloween party is "too western to succeed in Delhi", as many restauranteurs and party organisers feel people, especially children and college-going youth, are leaving nothing to chase away the 'ghosts' of fear this Saturday.

The festival owes its origination to the the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, when people would light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off roaming ghosts.

The Celts worshipped nature and believed in the spirit world. Their chief deity was the Sun and they celebrated two festivals revolving around it.

IANS took a sneak-peak into the preparations going on at some restaurants and pubs readying to host the Halloween this year.

According to Sana Chopra, executive director of the Carl's Jr India, party lovers this year would get free beer at her outlet. "This Halloween, we are aiming to give our fans a treat by offering a free beer with an order of either two Super Star or Double Tandoori Paneer burgers. This offer has no tricks, and is just a treat in response to their overwhelming love and support to us."

Asked why Halloween parties were not being able to make their mark on the majority of Indians, Akash Vaid, director of the Crazy Zone Events, said: "Halloween is a western culture and is coming to India slowly and gradually. It will take some time to get involved in the Indian culture fully. But with the wide reach of social media, people have become aware of parties like this.

"We are providing ample facilities and ambience to Delhiites to get mixed with the western culture and crowd in the national capital."

Vaid's group is organising the party at The Pink Room, in south Delhi's Hauz Khas village, a joint famous for among party lovers in the capital. He has invited the contestants of MTV's famous show Splitsvilla for the party.

Excited about the party, Nimita Singhal, a marketing professional told IANS: "I just wait for this event every year. I get do dress up differently. I love to dress myself af spookiest as I can and look scary-yet-stunning,"

Singhal, 24, who said has taken a day off from her work to get herself ready for the party, said she "loves to dress up as a cat and scare the hell out of people".

Subhashish Bhattacharjee, 28, a journalist hailing from Assam's Guwahati, said he loves the party because of its "spooky" theme.

"I just love these parties because of the spooky theme they have on the offer. You get to meet a lot of new people. Although its sad that these parties are not so famous in India, I must thank all the event organisers and bars that ensure a good Halloween party for people like us," he said, adding "I hope in the coming years India gets to have a full-fledged Halloween night".

According to 22-year-old Debjit Kar, these parties are "all about family and friends". "Halloween parties are fun and entertaining. I love to hangout with my friends and having those special candies on the occasion," he said.

Halloween is celebrated on the evening of October 31st, which is the evening before the Christian feast of All Saint's Day. Halloween's history goes back to 500 B.C.

Various party organisers who IANS spoke with said that the foreigners comprise a major chunk of their crowd.

Dinesh Arora, manging director of the Elf Cafe & Bar, in south Delhi's Hauz Khas village said: "We are organising a Halloween crawl this year. We have been doing this for a long time now."

"This year's food menu includes Bloody Mary, Scary Meat Balls, Real finger sticks, RIP almond souffle. Since, guests love to click pictures with scary-looking things, we add a lot of spooky punk to the interiors, converting our lounge bar into a dark room," he added.

The cost of the party here ranges from Rs.700 to Rs.15,000 per person.

(Prashant Kumar can be contacted at prashant.k@ians.in)