The day of the Gay

The biggest victory for gay rights in India has arrived at our doorstep with Delhi High Court’s landmark decision of decriminalizing homosexuality today. A 149-year-old law has been muddled to achieve a major milestone in the country’s social evolution. Whether this ruling will hold good outside Delhi, we have to wait and watch, but a giant step has been taken.

Elsewhere - In the United States of America, THIS is how a few bars joined the fight for equality for gays recently. Hence the arrival of EQUALITINI. While there will be quite a few interpretations for this cocktail, I will be trying my own version tonite at Take 5.


Here is the recipe:
30 ml Chivas Regal Scotch
30 ml Grey Goose Vodka
30 ml ginger and honey syrup
Dash of bitters, lime juice and splash of orange juice

Stir all ingredients together in shaker with lots of ice and fine strain into a chilled martini glass. Serve along with a chaser shot of Cosmo.

If you are around, do ask for it and show your support to the gay community, for the law might have freed the gays, but the society still has to.

While we are at the foothills of the gay rights mountain, one of the best ways to take the temperature of the community is to see what they are drinking. Before the arrival of Cosmo, gays were surly getting drunk but they rarely held allegiance to any one drink, un aware that just beyond the horizon a new sunset beckoned. And in `97, Carrie Bradshaw and Stanford Blatch in the famous TV series “Sex & The City”, popularized the Cosmopolitan into mainstream drinking. Much to the colour of cranberry juice, the gay world immediately took delight in sipping Cosmos all the time. Eventually, every one you knew drank Cosmos & the gay world started hunting for the next cosmo.

Has the gay world found it ? No drink could ever hope to be the true heir of the mighty Cosmo, but the Mojito came pretty damn close in the early 00-03. But mojito suffered the same fate as the Cosmo. Even James Bond was drinking it in Die Another Day. For a brief shining moment, the Pomegranate Martini restored order and harmony.

After enough pursuit and tired of choosing allegiance to a specific drink, Margaritas, Old-Fashioneds and Juleps; the classic drinks, are being rediscovered by a new generation. I have guests who ask me specifically not to make drinks that are bold in colour like pink, blue or green. My guess is they are scared of being perceived as gays. On another hand a very close friend of mine who I know is super straight (right now J, pun intended), does enjoy his Melon Martini very much despite its pink color and sweet taste. Bottom line , people are now ordering based on their own personal preference, meaning that perhaps the days of the gay solidarity cocktail are at long last, numbered. What do you think?