BENGALURU : Good morning Bangalore!
It’s raining gorillas and orangutans! (might as well use similes of simians we are closely related to). One isn’t quite sure whether it’s morn or night so, I have taken a leap of faith by wishing my readers a pleasant morn. Please enjoy my convoluted language skills as I am reading Shashi Tharoor’s Pax Indica with umpteen cups of scalding hot tea as the rain lashes our city. The complexities of nature deem, that it is precisely these climes that warrant our reading and partaking of tea, or eating pakoras and sipping tea type of behaviour. That being said, I have opted for a little of both!
Funnily enough The Carpenters wailing, ‘Hanging around…nothing to do but frown. Rainy days and Mondays always get me down’, didn’t make a fig of a difference to my mood. I trotted off happily to have dinner with my good friend Prasad Bidapa. His friendship and mine go back to when I was a teenager. His wife, Judy, and I were classmates in college. Our children are about the same age and being auld Bangaloreans, our bond is very strong. We have seen each other invent and reinvent ourselves and I see a twinkle of pride in his eyes at my minor and major achievements. So when we all met up, the kids (who have known each other from school) and we, the atmosphere was charged with raucous laughter, drinking, eating and reminiscing. Perfect rainy day shenanigans!
I met the gregarious Kanishka Sharma a couple of years ago and we clicked instantly. Her forte wasn’t F&B but more brand marketing. She teamed up with the talented chef Pallavi Menon to start Navu (us in Kannada) Project, a café serving bespoke cuisine at the Bangalore International Centre. Dining there has been on my bucket list for some time now, so when the brand Ambassador of Glen Fiddich, Angad Singh invited us to a very intimate soiree there, I couldn’t really pass up that opportunity now could I? Single Malts are sophisticated swills for discerning palates and newer swills should be introduced or inducted in a setting that compliments the malt. Quaffing copious amounts of the said malt on the house does not a connoisseur make!
Vishal Nagpal has always been on my admiration list for his grit, tenacity and his ability to change and alter with the ever-changing scenario in Bangalore’s robust F&B scene. He has many firsts to his credit so I was thrilled to be included in his list as a wine connoisseur and be invited to a very nouvelle concept café called Trippy Goat and the unveiling of an online app. The app is a real boon to novice wine drinkers and buyers. One doesn’t have to start at rock bottom wines (like drinking vinegar) and work one’s way up the taste profile. The app shortlists your taste preferences, stores it and suggests wines from a large repertoire of companies. The evening saw a large turnout of friends with discerning palates and people who know their ‘stuff’ rather than ‘recent recruits’ who will give you tasting notes on vinegar!
This week also brought its share of tears with the rain. I lost two friends. One was a childhood friend (the type you play cops and robbers with), and another was a woman who reminded me of me! She was outspoken, an alpha mom and a brave-heart. Both were suffering and bravely fought their illnesses for a long time. I am glad they are rid of their suffering and now are free…but I weep and grieve with their families. There is a vacuum which can never be filled.
“Death may be the greatest of all human blessings” – Socrates. Be kind, be thoughtful, and be in communication…