BENGALURU : Good morning, Bangalore!
I have received umpteen messages and phone calls ever since the New Year dawned, wishing me all types of good fortune. Of course, there were the usual forwards one can download, with cheesy songs and generic messages. But I really appreciated the ones that were original, where someone had taken the trouble to write something personal.
We have become people who have stopped thinking for ourselves. Internet dependency allows us to be more ‘mass’ than ‘class’! Writing individual notes tailor-made for your different friends is so passé. Just find a generic card off the internet and forward it en-masse! Very few even take offence to the ‘forward’ icon on a WhatsApp message. I, for one, am going to have an apoplectic fit if I see another dancing reindeer, snowflakes that sing, and a florid-faced bearded man in a funny suit!
Like every New Year’s Eve, my husband and I sensibly sat at home with some excellent wine, great hors d’ouevres and a couple of friends. We played trivial pursuit, dumb charades and watched a movie. We revelled in each other’s company and did things that we normally never have the time to do during the year. We laughed, giggled and talked, all the while keeping a beady eye out for any of our kids who may need assistance (a drop, a pickup, caught between a rock and a hard place) and other such sundry problems which somehow becomes our problem.
My daughter used to have the temerity to call her father, asking for a pair of flats to be delivered to her at The Bangalore Club (which is down the road). Why? Because her feet hurt and, more importantly, she would lose her parking slot if she moved! ‘The husband figured out soon enough, that facing my wrath (at this slavish behaviour) was far worse than my daughter’s ire!
Luckily for me, my days that preceded the great ‘New-Year tamasha’ were filled with affection and grace, which is a true representation of all things sophisticated and elegant in Bangalore. Good friend and noted oenophile, Ruma Singh, threw a soiree for hubby Viney Singh’s birthday at the Olive Beach.
The party was teeming with old friends, head honchos and theatre personalities who I hadn’t met in ages. The aperitifs were spot on, as were the starters and the specially curated Rajasthani dinner. Conversations and bonhomie flowed as easily as the ambrosia, and we had a fantastic time.
Aloma Lobo is one of Bangalore’s most respected and adored personalities. Her work on adoption and many social causes has won her accolades at home and abroad.
Her family from all over the world got together to acknowledge her at The Four Seasons and we were privileged to be considered a part of her family. The evening was heart-warming as an audio-visual of how many lives she had impacted was played. Aloma, in her usual self-effacing manner, surreptitiously wiped away a tear, when her family and friends gave her a standing ovation, protested that we were making a huge fuss and insisted with getting on with the serious business of drinking, eating and dancing!
The Consul General of Israel, Dana Kursh, and I have over the years formed a warm and mutually respectful friendship. She threw a small dinner, celebrating the eighth day of Hanukkah, where she beautifully explained the meaning and significance of this festival of lights. Her guests, many of whom had joint ventures with Israel, were given the honour of lighting the Hanukkah lamp. It was a beautiful evening, which culminated in song and good cheer under the stars, on the rooftop of the Israeli-owned Den Hotel.This decade, be kind to one another. Ciao!