/ 23 October 1998

Durban dreams

Friday night: Swapna Prabhakaran

My weekend sort-of starts on a Thursday afternoon, and my Fridays are usually earmarked as a day to chill and catch up with friends. As the sun sets on the weekend traffic heading out of Durban city, we avoid rush hour altogether by driving into town to meet at the Bat Centre on the harbour after work.

Little children turn lazy, happy cartwheels by the water’s edge and the dusk colours are splendid to watch. We sit on the Bat Deck as a mellow jazz band begins warming up for the night’s show.

Around us, several conversations can be heard -people are talking about politics or art.

In the room behind us, a weekly poetry circle Prometheus Unbound begins with hugs and smiles. Two hours later, the sun has set and the jazz is in full swing. The Bat Centre goes on all night, but we leave to find some supper.

I’m in the mood for Thai food and a friend suggests we go to Chok Dee’s. It seems really nice in there, but they are fully booked and can’t give us a table. Sorry.

So we end up at M on Florida Road, a wonderfully chic place with minimalist decor, beautiful waiter-people and amazing meals. Outside the weather has turned unpleasant, thanks to unpredictable spring.

So we shiver at our table and read the menu. After calamari rings with lime and coriander, I have a divine green Thai curry on basmati rice.

My friends migrate to Liquid, and I follow. The atmosphere is a bit overwhelming at first. Most patrons seem to be dressed in obviously expensive labelled clothing given an exotic edge by very visible body piercing and tattoos. The music verges on hysteria, playing on my nerves like a Swedish massage, painful but oddly soothing.

The fluorescence gets a bit much after a while, so we head off to the comfort zone of our regular hang-out, Legends, and it’s nice to be in the familiar warmth of the caramel-and-cream atmosphere, as fat raindrops begin to fall outside.

This is the place for long drawled conversations and meditations over coffee and desserts.

One girl agonises over whether or not someone she half-knows at Liquid was trying to pick her up and, across the table, another friend tries to organise people to join him on a trip to Johannesburg for the following weekend.

Within an hour, we’re all comatose and ready to head home. Saturday will be the night for clubbing.