BENGALURU: Big drops of plump raindrops fell on the parched footpaths of namma ooru bringing in some temporary relief. There was barely any chance to rejoice because the rain was gone as soon as it came. I fancifully imagined the earth opening and closing its mouth in anticipation of more precipitation, and I hurriedly (and rather foolishly) rolled down my car window hoping to get a whiff of damp earth and perhaps a cool breeze with a splatter of rain on my face. But alack! The blast of warm air that assaulted my visage brought me back to reality pretty fast.
Other than trying to wave this heat-onslaught off with a couple of jokes and comments, we, Bengalureans, have to sit back and take a long hard look at the total dissipation of our beloved city. We have stood by and watched as unscrupulous people have usurped our lake beds, built ugly high-rise apartments on them and dumped waste and effluents into our water bodies.
We have stood by and watched successive ‘men-in-white’ build steel structures and auction off the trees that stood in the way. We have also protested (mildly) when our green landscape suddenly turned into cement heaps, and we the citizenry try valiantly to protect our green spaces like Lal Bagh and Cubbon Park (both whose acreage has diminished alarmingly).
And when the chaos, the traffic and the lack of infrastructure overwhelm us, we sit back and talk about our wonderful weather over filter coffee! Now we don’t even have that as we swelter with temperatures that are higher than cities and towns’ that border the Thar Desert! As far as I’m concerned, people who care and are invested
in the welfare of our beloved city ‘belong’ and those who have a cavalier attitude don’t! I really don’t care about your phonetics!
Now that I have vented, I need to do what ‘ooruians’ do best. Close our eyes to the angst and talk ‘fluff’! What’s going on where, who is suffering from FOMO, how does one keep one’s skin hydrated under layers of make-up, grand (and not so grand) openings, and a myriad of other such ‘earth-shaking’ information.
As one can see the heat wave hasn’t played kindly with my mood, so the best thing to do was to pamper oneself. So I booked a special ‘jaali’ massage at The Ritz-Carlton spa. Tired and harassed by the heat I walked into the swanky interiors of this hotel to be greeted by a shower of rose petals (that gave me the right ‘vibe’ aka ‘vataavaran’). Greeted by a courteous staff, pampered to the hilt with a synchronised massage (or a four-hand jaali massage) by young women with strong hands! I keep telling myself ‘I’m worth it’!
Last evening I attended an elegant sit-down dinner called ‘Shefs at The Leela,’ an initiative to give female chefs a level playing field in male-dominated professional kitchens. An initiative conceptualised by travel & food columnist Rupali Dean and VP/GM Madhav Sehgal, the evening abounded with showcasing the talents of three ‘shefs’ Radhika, Prerana and Devika, with interesting conversations about what inspires them as they were deeply connected with sustainability. So the adage of ‘she foraged, she prepared, she perfected’ was spot on!
Don’t direct the wind…adjust the sails!
(The writer’s views are personal; this column was written before Friday’s rains)