White and fuchsia pink are the hues at a trendy tea café where you can indulge in piping hot ‘Chai garam’ with samosas or check out tea with lemon and ice. Or hibiscus. Or camomile. Or cinnamon. Or something you might never have magined.

Lounge bars, lush pubs and style cafes…day spas and fitness studios…glitzy malls and wellness stores…. With a yen for keeping abreast of everything, Delhi swings to the tune of money and power. Doing a round of the hip spots in the capital, SUMITRA SENAPATY chills out, even as the city sizzles in the heat of summer

Chocolate therapy Nocturnal bazaars Sake martinis Dry flotation beds

Hip is one of those words that the second you say it, you’re not. It’s what infuses the glitzy dos of Mehrauli farmhouses and accompanies the click of stilettos on the white marble floor of slick penthouses. It hovers around the haveli environs of Olive Bar and Kitchen, the au courant place to be seen at; pulsates down the ramp at a fashion do and swaggers down One Style Mile behind the intriguing shadow of the Qutb. We may struggle to define it, but we all know hip when we see it.

Even in summer when the heat is jarring, a sizzling Delhi continues to swing to the tune of money and power. A sense of urban rejuvenation seems to be taking place, with flyovers sprouting spontaneously, alongside the Metro and there is even talk of the beautification of the Yamuna riverside prior to the Commonwealth Games.