BENGALURU: This the season to be merry, isn’t it? At least that’s what the people wearing weather-beaten red hats with faux fur and plastic smiles keep telling us. This season has taken on a totally different hue with everyone thronging restaurants, pubs and hotels, with a vengeance, throwing caution to the wind.
Mind you, I am not remonstrating…I’m just being a proverbial ‘fly on the wall’. Too afraid to join them and envious of their ‘devil may care’ attitude’! The comorbid stays locked in a safe mental place, exercising caution like we have done over the last two years.
I stick to ‘safe bubbles’ and small crowds (haven’t understood how that helps), but we all give ourselves very powerful justifications and feel secure and happy living with that.
But guess what…it’s back! A newly-minted variant of the Cardi-V, the fifteenth letter of the Greek Alphabet…the Omicron has arrived! An uninvited mutant that is all ready to infect the remaining half of the uninfected people of the world! A Greek tragedy played out
at in all its glory!
Everyone is talking…some in hushed whispers and some with bravado, but talking they are. Even my new maid, could barely conceal her excitement as she causally enquired about the truth behind the rumours of an impending lockdown. She was looking forward to her ‘happy days are here again’ as sitting at home and getting a full monthly paycheck deposited in her bank seemed quite appealing.
Even at the annual tree lighting ceremony at The Conrad, pockets of people were discussing the ‘oily Omicron’! Of course, there are some who are born experts so there is no option but to listen to them. I just love the way a certain group of people always seem to have an ‘inside edge’. Even after the tragic death of a young and beloved filmstar, these ‘inside-edgers’ seemed to have a fast-track into the minutest details of his demise.
Needless to say everyone was related to, or best friends with his wife, who apparently, only revealed the truth to these know-it-alls! I truly think knowing-it-all is a serious aftermath of Cardi-V! Well, at the least, surmising on the death of the actor and the emergence of Omicron kept us engrossed and we ‘mulled’ over it drinking our mulled wine.
My week is happily interspersed with the mundane and some excitement. The news is out that people have tested positive for Omicron. We must learn a thing or two from our past mistakes. No pussy-footing around the anti-vaxers. Since they are more susceptible and can be asymptomatic carriers, more stringent action should be taken against them. The kids are going back to school and they are not even in the running to get vaccinated. If you feel so strongly about being vaccinated, then isolate yourself at home…till good sense prevails.
No one wants to be the ‘bad guy’. It always brings a frown on my face because the ones who were vociferously agreeing with the ‘everybody must get vaccinated’ lobby, suddenly stay mum when the time comes to confront somebody.
But frown as I might, the one person who brings a grin on my face is the extraordinary chef Abhijit Saha. He invited us to a bespoke tasting of his new restaurant. ‘Glass. Kitchen and Bar.’ He is consulting for the lovely Nirupa Shankar, an entrepreneur and all-round ‘wonder lady’, and they make a perfect team! My reticent and uber-talented friend Abhijit is the man who brought the concept of molecular-gastronomy to India many moons ago. ‘Glass’ is an Indian restaurant with a quintessentially Abhijit twist in flavours and taste. Just my type of evening, a well-stocked ambrosia-station, good friends (there were just a handful of us) and the company of both Nirupa and Abhijit….just perfect!
A sense of ennui has set in regarding Omicron. We must stay vigilant. The children need us.