Mid-week boredom coupled with work-stress? The weekend rush and traffic already getting you worked up? Then you could be one of those who has moved their weekend by a few days. Move over Sunday. Say hello to the new Wednesday, the mid-week weekend.
It’s the day when you have many temptations. There are offers on everything from a kilo of atta to a pitcher of beer, special discounts for mid-week online shopping. Your movie ticket at the multiplex is cheaper. The malls are calmer and easier to deal with. Women get a drink, on the house at many pubs. Traffic is not as mad and manic as it is on Saturday or Sunday. Moreover, everyone seems so much more wound-up by mid-week that it’s another happy excuse to unwind.
Ashrita Chandra, an English teacher at school tends to do most of her grocery shopping by mid-week. “Since I work in a school, the daily plans have to be submitted by Wednesday morning, so by the time Wednesday evening comes, my weekend starts. Once school is done on Wednesday, I tend to begin to unwind.” She makes time on weekday evenings for hobbies and finds them far more peaceful than weekends. She also points out that generally mid-week, every place remains un-crowded and most things get done quicker. “Even at the movies, the tickets get doubly expensive on weekends. Popcorn and Pepsi is so expensive at the multiplex!”
Balraj K.N., freelance writer and cartoonist tends to hang out with his group of friends mostly mid-week at restaurants or pubs. “Since I’m a freelance and my friends are in similar work too, we tend to work till late in the night, wake late, and don’t have a boss to report to! So if we’ve heard of a new restaurant in town that’s getting good reviews, we head there for breakfast, maybe lunch. It’s not that I do it every Wednesday,” he laughs. He points out how Wednesday is ‘Ladies Night’ in many pubs across the city and inevitably brings in the crowds. “And in most of the places I frequent, I find friends and friends of friends. If you’re in a city long enough, and I’ve been here 23 years, you’ll find a network of people in the same place. We connect over work too sometimes, and it helps build up business.”
“Something like a Wednesday night is a perfect conduit to introduce any new experiment. People come in more relaxed and with an open mind, and the traction is better,” points out Chef Manu Chandra, partner at Monkey Bar, Indiranagar, where two new cocktails and a special shot are created just for Wednesday nights. Funk Nights on Wednesday set the scene for the mid-week party to begin in a throwback to the era of funk and disco. “The Saturday and Sunday night crowd is a hard-core party crowd, and we have large crowds who are pretty much set on what they want.”
Prashanth Wesley, a math teacher, says he and his wife like to go out on Wednesdays to the movies because there are fewer people at the ticket counters, tickets are cheaper as well, traffic is less.
“It’s a break from work and home food; it’s a cooking break for my wife too. Most weekday evenings are otherwise spent preparing for the next day. Weekends are more about having friends over or heading out of the city to explore nearby places.”
