When the Joneses Snort Cocaine

Move over Louis, there is a Fat White Lady working your corner on the streets of New Delhi.

The AP reports that “Cocaine May Be the New Status Symbol in India“.

Says Kiran Bedi, good cop extraordinaire:

“Cocaine is expensive. You’ve got to have money for it, and now more people have money. It becomes a matter of keeping up with the Joneses.”

Among all the things that it is, it is another great example to add to the Class Matters series The New York Times did last year of how the material ways once used to define class have both changed and stayed the same.

And though I would argue that the social ripple effects of designer handbags and addictive stimulants are decidedly different, I suppose there is some parallel between Louis Vuitton and Lady Caine. Even though…

Only a tiny percentage of Indians are believed to have tried the drug.

I’m no mathematician but I would argue that small slices of a billion is still a lot of people.

Perhaps the greatest line of the AP Wire comes when a high-flying twenty-something banker at an elite New Delhi country club asks not to be named…

“…for fear of India’s stiff anti-drug laws and “my mother-in-law…”

…illustrating in one more shining example that, even among the wildly successful and jet-set, hell hath no fury like an Indian parent shamed.

26 thoughts on “When the Joneses Snort Cocaine

  1. Wow, where there’s a Louis there’s a rolled up bill.

    There was an article in the Hindustan Times called, “Cocaine Diary” about a model who moved to Delhi from London at 16 and proceeded to get mangled. Her parents were supportive once she tried to clean up (and a bit too supportive about her moving out to model at 16 but nevermind). Though the entire article could be a big piece of fiction as the model never gives up her details. Perhaps her in-laws are not the understanding type either.

  2. Why am I not surprised. It’s not very different in the NY party scene either. The more dough people make the more likely they are to have a casual relationship with coke. Desis are no exception. I wouldn’t believe it if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes. I went out a few times with a guy who was a Sr VP at BMS and pulled out the coke at a party at his place on the upper east side. No one batted an eyelash. This is especially true in the fashion/advertising & wall street world.

  3. Oh, it’s just ridiculous. The number of people I’ve seen doing MOUNTAINS of coke at parties in Karachi is almost unbelievable.

  4. I’d like to know more about parties in Karachi and Lahore…I hear they’re amazing.

  5. I had a friend who was relatively new to the states and he was so surprised that I hadn’t tried cocaine. Apparently all the cool parties in Chandigarh are rolling in the stuff. He was also surprised that I didn’t have any good dealers on speed dial 🙂

  6. Don’t forget. India has had a long tradition of drugs. How many of you have experienced a good, ol’ fashion’ holi in India? Rang Barse….

  7. Rich people everywhere love blow. I was shocked at the amount and quality available at places like Karachi, Mumbai and Chennai when I was hanging out with other college age kids. It’s just a side effect of globalization; you get the good with the bad.

    On the other hand, cocaine is a hell of a drug.

  8. Hash was the most common drug during my days in Delhi University. From student to well earning professional, hash to coke seems the way up (down?)

  9. This is especially true in the fashion/advertising & wall street world.

    Hell, I think it’s a prerequisite! How else would you survive working 150-hour work weeks and still have time to enjoy NYC? 😉

  10. Hell, I think it’s a prerequisite! How else would you survive working 150-hour work weeks and still have time to enjoy NYC? 😉

    I have been working on wall street for a while. I am not even sure if I have met anyone that was on bl0w. There was one lady I thought might have been though…i dont even drink coffee, so clearly not a pre-requisite

  11. I have been working on wall street for a while. I am not even sure if I have met anyone that was on bl0w. There was one lady I thought might have been though…i dont even drink coffee, so clearly not a pre-requisite

    I’ve met plenty. It’s such a cliche: sushi and coke, so happy together.

  12. I have to second Puliogre in da USA’s comments. I’ve been on the Street a long time and I just don’t see it. However, I live on the Upper E. Side of Manhattan and for a short period of time I got involved with the WASP “old Money” crowd. The amount of drinking shocked me. I had a headache once and I asked the host of a party (who was in her 50’s)for an Aspirin and she gave me a Percocet!

    I think one of the great unwritten stories of out time is how drinking and drug abuse has led to the relative decline of WASP culture. This is one of the reason why Jews rule the Street these days…and Indians are up next.

    And don’t get me started on the drinking of British WASP’s. Unbelievable. Maybe that’s who the Indians are taking their cue from.

  13. Manju,

    From the tone of your comments on here, it’s not surprising that you “just don’t see” rampant coke use on Wall Street. That doesn’t mean it’s not there, or limited only to WASP’s. Most people who hold such high paying jobs are at least smart enough (or discreet enough) to not show their behavior in public in front of disapproving colleagues like yourselves. Your other comments are pretty racist, but because they are in this post, I guess you get a pass.

  14. DK:

    Most people who hold such high paying jobs are at least smart enough (or discreet enough) to not show their behavior in public in front of disapproving colleagues like yourselves.

    Who said I disapprove?

    Your other comments are pretty racist, but because they are in this post, I guess you get a pass.

    I’m so sorry you gave me a pass. I would have been in such good company (Amardeep, etc). Oh well, I’ll try harder next time. After all, in your world, this is not the hardest club to get into.

  15. I have to second Puliogre in da USA’s comments. I’ve been on the Street a long time and I just don’t see it.

    During college I interned at Goldman and during late night sessions there was a lot of blow flying around. And after having worked in fashion for over a decade I can truly say binging, purging, coke & alcohol are almost a right of passage. I’ve lost track of how many 7th on Sixth after parties I’ve been to where blow is as omnipresent as Hors D’oeuvres and Champagne and no it’s not just the models doing it. Look out for entourages of wall street boys seeking bottle service. Usually in with half naked model type chicks. 100% of the time coke’s aplenty.

    So you may not see it but oh it’s there.

  16. I interned at Goldman and during late night sessions there was a lot of blow flying around.

    Who said Republicans don’t know how to have good time?

  17. Who said Republicans don’t know how to have good time?

    Well it certainly wasn’t me 🙂 I think Republians like blonds always have more fun.

  18. I think Republians like blonds always have more fun. HELL YES! 😀 (oh relax…i voted for kerry)

    Well, Democrats like loose jawed Brunettes who’s life ambition is to sit on the Presidential Staff.

  19. Very interesting…the demographics of drug users, I mean. As someone who worked most of his life in the Midwest (Chicago), I didn’t see much coke and other stuff associated with high flying careers.

  20. I think Republians like blonds always have more fun.
    HELL YES! 😀

    ANNA, that’s very old news.

    (Or maybe you had in mind that raucous party they had when they occupied visited our city two years ago….)

  21. Well it certainly wasn’t me 🙂 I think Republians like blonds always have more fun. HELL YES! 😀

    Say the two brunettes 😉

  22. Manju writes: >>Democrats like loose jawed Brunettes who’s life ambition is to sit on the Presidential Staff.

    It all depends on what your definition of is, is.

    M. Nam

  23. Oh but Ennis don’t you know that the “fun blond” is a state of mind.

    Really?! I thought it was because people liked talking about b0nking w0men with yellow hair….