It?s the time to? no, not disco, but to lounge.

The year that began with one lounge bar in town should end with half-a-dozen, and counting. Calcutta, long known as a lazy city, is now learning to lounge around, in style.

From the hookah bar lounge at 22 Camac Street to the Lebanese lounge set for opening later this month at City Centre, lounge lizards are having a field day.

The success of the original ? Shisha ? sums up the reason why ground-level seating, subtle lighting and subdued music are scoring over barstools, strobe lights and ear-splitting sound. The capacity is about 200, but Saturday evenings see more than 600 people trooping in, says manager Sovon Mukherjee.

There is seating for no more than 30-odd in the cushioned and comfortable Shisha corners, but patrons would rather wait in queue than compromise, with a barstool. The average spend is no less than Rs 1,500 per couple.

So, looking at the lounge makes good business sense for restaurateurs. ?The 25-seater lounge should draw in the young adults, especially groups of friends who just want to hang out at one destination,? says Orkopaul Sen, unveiling his kebabs-only restaurant called Orko?s, with Lebanese lounge, at City Centre on Friday.

This would be Salt Lake?s second lounge, after Heka at Stadel, though the Egyptian address stops short of the bean-bag look and the chill-out feel.

Closer to the city centre, Fusion at the Golden Park hotel has served up a combination of a lounge, a pub, a restaurant and a dance floor. Replacing the raucous London Pub, it aims to call in the classier crowd, with music, again, being the differentiating factor between lounge and nightclub.

?The lounge sounds have to be world music ? often piano or guitar-based, never pop and never too loud. It must act as the ambience for conversation,? says DJ Amar of the three-month-old Red Hot Kitchen and Lounge, at Alipore Enclave.

Later in the night, the music grows louder and more chart-driven. That, of course, would draw a frown from those partying by the book, for international norms have no place for a dance floor or pop tracks sharing leg or mindspace with the lounge.

?The lounge has been a rage in the West for almost the last decade and it?s big in Delhi and Mumbai, so there?s no reason why it shouldn?t catch on in Calcutta,? observes Vipin Vohra, eyeing a December date for an 80-seater lounge off Max Mueller Bhavan.

Starstruck at Forum provides lounge luxury for 50 at a time, but a bar licence bottleneck has forced it to be reserved for private parties only.

The highest common factor at all ? a lair for those who want to party at their own pace, spending time (and money) at one address, rather than go hop-bump-grind.