BENGALURU: Good morning, Bangalore.
We are all a bit befuddled at this partial lockdown situation (I really don’t understand this partial lockdown concept; it’s like saying one is partially pregnant!). The hoary hordes are getting ready again to stand in unending queues to buy that bottle of bliss, the rest of us are looking around with utter confusion writ on our countenances. I think our wily leaders declared a partial easing of the lockdown just so that ‘the thirsty and the parched’ could draw circles on the road and stand for hours to buy their bottles of ambrosia. It is rumoured that a record amount was mopped up by our state government in a span of two days even after they hiked the excise post lockdown!
It is not surprising then, that they call us the ‘pub city’. Bangaloreans love their tipple, and though they would rather enjoy it at a restaurant or a pub, they are also ready to Zoom call each other and raise a virtual cheer. With this much money being mopped up in two days, I wonder why our government bothers to kowtow to other sectors like the builders’ lobby for example, and keep the hapless migrant labour entrapped in the state by not letting them go back to their homes, arbitrarily cancelling the trains, just so that they could remain as semi-skilled labour for… you guessed right -- the powerful builders’ lobby! Thankfully, the poor optics and public outcry made the powers to be change their minds, so now, there should be some happy migrants on their way home.
Slowly but surely, the new normal or the alternative reality is coming firmly into play. The cautious are testing the waters, while the risk-takers are trying to act nonchalant. But the ‘in-betweens’, the teeming hordes who know little and are even less interested to know more, are the dangerous ones. Armed with peripheral information and with a misplaced sense of bravado, these cretins walk about unmasked, undaunted and unfettered! But to every cretin that abounds there are the socially and consciously aware that hail from every walk of life. Offices and some establishments have tentatively opened their doors, though everyone is still unclear about social distancing, which is a very nouvelle concept in our country. Breathing down one’s neck is totally acceptable!
But the new normal or the alternate way of living isn’t too bad. It takes getting used to but I sincerely think we are getting there. The hospitality sector, which has been very badly hit, is trying innovative and newer ways to woo their customers back. Most restaurants and even the bigger hotels have started a ‘contactless delivery’ method where their vetted personnel arrive in hotel-owned vehicles to deliver hygienically packed food at your doorstep. The packaging, the specially crafted ‘limited’ menus’, the confidence-inspiring adherence to quality of the food and the optics (a gloved gentleman with an impeccably packed parcel stepping out of a gleaming car), give the customer a feeling of ‘nothing much has changed in my world’ feeling.
Yours truly was a recipient of one such wonderfully thoughtful Ramadan special meal from Sandeep Kalra, executive chef, The Ritz Carlton. Carefully and lovingly conceptualised by the team and GM Amitabh Rai, the experience left my family, both exhilarated and visibly moved by the change in scenario. The next morning, a beautiful contactless delivery of breads, bagels and cupcakes arrived as a ‘wake-me-up’ from Smoor chocolates as a Mother’s Day breakfast. The bounty was served to me in bed by my kids. I can get used to this! Darwin said it’s not the strongest or most intelligent of species that survives; it is the one most adaptable to change that does.Let’s go forth, unafraid but cautious, courageous but not foolhardy.