The range of options truly reflects the diversity of the influx that followed the Big Bang, or, in layman's terms, the rise of that behemoth, the IT industry, a few years earlier. There's a niche in this city for every yuppie, every hippie, every nerd, every glamour puss and every other conceivable form of homo sapien.
Yearning for the days of yore, when Bangalore was the casual Pub City? Some stalwarts have resisted the glitz and the glamour and continued to cater to the jeans-clad beer-drinking masses. Pecos, off Brigade Road, remains the wildly popular hole-in-the-wall that it was decades ago.

From lounge bars to coffee shops, from shopping malls to exotic restaurants, from nightclubs to bowling alleys…the Garden City of Bangalore is evolving, growing at a pace that would put Michael Schumacher to shame. Rhea Saran takes a look at the metropolis' humming nightlife

The thing about Bangalore is that it eludes neat definition. There's nothing square, predictable, boring or expected about this humming near-metropolis. Bangalore is not merely the Garden City or the famed Pensioners' Paradise or India's answer to Silicon Valley or any of the other monochromic labels with which passers through over the years have tried to tag it. If anything, it is a kaleidoscope of all those things. A palette filled with daubs of multi-hued, multi-toned colours. Bangalore is racy, laid-back, aggressive, passive, cosmopolitan, suburban, dirty, beautiful, nouveau riche, old money, hip, traditional, techno-savvy and arty. It's a glorious mess of contradiction and constant change. And these days the city is really living up to its age-old mantra of 'solpa adjust madi' (just adjust a little).

The adjustment, of course, is more than just 'solpa', more than just that little bit. Gone are the days of the sprawling colonial bungalows, extravagant gardens and quiet jacaranda-lined streets that the Bangalore of old was celebrated for. Sleek high-rise office blocks, apartments, hotels and malls dot the once lusciously green skyline. The city that once slept before the witching hour now buzzes non-stop, with white Toyota Qualis taxicabs careening down flyovers at three in the morning, depositing bleary-eyed call centre operators and IT professionals at their doorsteps. Bangalore is evolving, changing, growing at a pace that would put Michael Schumacher to shame. They say that a city's prosperity is mirrored by its rate of progress. Well then Bangalore is on a crash course toward its zenith.

But, for all the chaos and confusion that accompanies a makeover, Bangalore has managed to retain some of its undeniable old-world charm. Koshy's, the famous eatery on St. Mark's Road, still serves up delicious plates of appam and eshtew and Spanish Omelettes to the eclectic crowd that gathers there day upon day to hold forth on the state of the world while sipping unending cups of strong filter coffee. The Bangalore Club remains as stolidly, almost snobbishly, colonial as before with its beautiful architecture, lavish lawns and persistent 'Men Only' bar. Bangaloreans are still tenaciously fighting traffic in order to take their daily constitutionals through the several hundred acres of greenery that form the local Hyde Park look-alike, Cubbon Park and the botanical gardens, Lal Bagh. And while many old buildings got acquainted with bulldozers to their peril, the Vidhana Soudha continues to shine majestically forth, every graceful archway lit with an iridescent light, lending that surreal quality to the State House that forces passers-by to stop and stare, even if just for a moment.

Inevitably, in keeping with the city's binary nature, ye olde tradition must be accompanied by the new, the in, and the happening. And Bangalore does not disappoint. From lounge bars to coffee shops, from shopping malls to exotic restaurants, from nightclubs to bowling alleys, there is no dearth of places to see and be seen at. The range of options truly reflects the diversity of the influx that followed the Big Bang, or, in layman's terms, the rise of that behemoth, the IT industry, a few years earlier. There's a niche in this city for every yuppie, every hippie, every nerd, every glamour puss and every other conceivable form of homo sapien.

Spinn, a quaint old bungalow converted into a nightclub, caters to the young and hip, with the average age hovering in the late teens, but with a sizeable portion of working-age 20s and 30s. Seating options outside and on the terrace provide respite for those who need a break from the pulsating music that rocks the two-storeyed dance floor inside. And if you like the music, but can't be bothered to move, luxurious white couches line the wall at the far side of the bar. F-Bar, a venture of Fashion TV and another of Bangalore's 'it' spots, is located in Le Meridien across from the newly refurbished Bangalore Golf Club. Here, the couture-conscious sip lychee daiquiris while catching up on the latest something from Christian Dior on the many televisions dotted around the club. Popular dance tracks keep a number of patrons on their feet on the wooden floor designed for just this purpose. Housed in the very same hotel is Insomnia, to which the inebriated stumble post 2 am. The music is less cutting edge, but most revellers don't care and are happy to have a place where they can boogie until the sun comes up. Another late night favourite is Club X. Located on Airport Road, this establishment keeps the adrenaline pumping until, all partied out, the masses flock to 24-hour coffee shops to slake their thirst or ward off a killer hangover.

For those with a less frenetic game plan, there are available the offspring of a rising trend in lounge bars. Cosmo Village on Magrath Road, once simply a three-tiered fusion restaurant, now has the honour of being a trendy nightspot, too. Although the food is still good (the chicken in banana leaf is highly recommended), the real reason to go there is to hang out on the second floor Paani Bar, a sensually decorated space with candles lining the walls and lotuses floating in a man-made pond around which couples sit, sipping their cocktails. The music is eclectic, ranging from Buddha Bar-esque tunes to more popular hip-hop, and the in-house DJs seem less bound by the Top 20 than at the other bars. The antiques-dotted terrace of Cosmo is the ideal retreat for those who don't want to compete with the music to be heard. 13th Floor, a self-styled Lounge, is perched atop Barton Centre on Mahatma Gandhi Road. This bar rewards those lucky enough to bag an outdoor terrace table with a panoramic view of Bangalore. Seated up there with the wind in your hair and the lights sparking before you, it certainly isn't the Long Island Iced Tea alone that's causing that heady feeling. I-Bar at the Park Hotel offers a more literal interpretation of 'lounge' with their profusion of beanbags and deep chairs. A night out at this upmarket saloon requires a fairly deep pocket, resulting in an older - and often expatriate - clientele. Housed paradoxically in a building belonging to the Bible Society of India on the corner of St. Mark's Road is 1912, the ambience varying from comfortable leather-bound sofas scattered indoors to wicker furniture placed strategically beneath the stars outside. Pitchers of Sangria and a gaggle of friends round off what is bound to be a relaxed evening out.

Still yearning for the days of yore, when Bangalore was the casual Pub City? Some stalwarts have resisted the glitz and the glamour and continued to cater to the jeans-clad beer-drinking masses. Pecos, off Brigade Road, remains the wildly popular hole-in-the-wall that it was decades ago. There is almost never an empty seat at this grimy three-tiered, hard rock playing, beer-only serving, ganja smoke-filled establishment. For a little more variety in the beverage department, there is Tavern at the Museum Road Inn. And although the gender ratio is weighted heavily towards the male of the species, this watering hole is frequented by enough women to keep the men returning! A slightly more mature crowd gathers at Geoffrey's, the cosy bar at the Royal Orchid Park Plaza Hotel off Airport Road. Although there is a sad drought of jazz bars in this city, Geoffrey's comes close to slaking that particular thirst by hosting live Blues bands. With a cocktail in hand and eyes closed, you can imagine yourself in a smoky Chicago club. Well, almost.

In true Bangalore style, of course, the entertainment landscape will inevitably shift and warp over the next year or two - if not sooner. Plans for new restaurants, new malls and new bars are already in the pipeline. In this constantly mutating city what's in today is often passé tomorrow.