Having lived in Delhi for some years now, I have seen the city's taste buds ripen to the good things in life. There is almost always a dearth of what is good and what is not. But the average Joe in Delhi still believes he lives in a world where he has the charm and the sagacity to sift style from crassness and it is this enduring belief that is often the subject of much good-hearted mirth.Take for instance the fact that Delhi homes are incomplete without 'Johnnie Black'. That is how a fine brand of whisky is adulterated even before the bottle is uncorked. 'Johnnie Black' is almost a statement of arrival for some and departure for those guests who aren't served it. I have been told that 'Peter Scot' comes closest to 'Johnnie Black' so if you do have to adulterate, then this is a valuable insight.

Drinking wine is a very unmanly thing to do which is why even the women in Delhi (who are busy pretending to be more macho than men) prefer 'Johnnie Black' or 'Absolute' (always pronounced with the 'e'): they still believe that Absolut, as on the bottle, is a spelling error and their Delhi Public School background will never permit them to tolerate this. Wines are also in the larger domain of being cheap and there are many Delhi homes which serve wine as if they were serving vinegar: it certainly tastes a touch worse than vinegar but then this is an area which has also spawned experts. I have been to many homes where they serve wine but not until the host has read out about 14 passages telling us where the bottle is from. Once you've had a sip, you will swear never to visit that region in Maharashtra again!

There is also cultivated hospitality. Delhi has suddenly discovered opera. There was a time when you entered a party and you heard Daler Mehndi but today Daler has been shown the door. There will be strains of Andrea Bocelli singing an aria and then the hostess will proudly announce the linkages between Italian wine and an Italian tenor and you are supposed to nod in complete and violent agreement.

There is also the whole universe of home décor and doing up your house well. Which basically means trotting off to Mehrauli Gurgaon Road and from the rubble of recent demolitions picking up furniture, which has become antique. In fact there are many such stores that will actually make antique furniture for you. And you are supposed to marvel at their genius. You are not supposed to trip them on the logical fallacy of producing antique furniture in the present.

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