Forget about the year becoming a blur as we reach the end of it, even the festivities have followed suit! Being an agrarian race, all our festivals are centred around the solstices, harvests, or planting seasons. So this year, all the festivities are literally competing to showcase themselves. All this is fine, except that the normal junta, like ourselves, have to put ourselves on ‘shut-down and sleep mode’ in computer parlance. Our government offices, banks and the like are shut, and either they are doing fervent poojas (ask me, we have a nationalised bank on the ground floor), or they are busy breaking coconuts and pumpkins, tying black thread and putting bindis on the computers and every caste, creed and the nation gets caught up in the flurry of inconsequential things. This leaves zero time for productivity, and simple tasks like updating accounts and passing of cheques become an ordeal. But what is our big, fat sub-continent without all this fuss? NRIs pine for all this hullabaloo, and whether it is Deepvali, Eid, Buddha Purnima or Christmas, we Indians are all invested in it. A two billion-strong country filled with festivities and holidays!
Whether the ‘orange-hued’ man from over the Atlantic would like to believe it or not, India is shining. A big thumbs down to all the confused desis who still feel India is this and that (ho-hum. I’m filled with ennui to even list out their gripes)! Indian ‘dawcters’ are the best, Indian food is the best (check out all the Indian Michelin-starred chefs like Rohit Ghai, who is now at The Ritz-Carlton), our homoeopathy and Ayurveda are the best, and our brands are global, and the people are the best. Caring, loving (a little overbearing), but the best!
So my very busy friend, Madhav Sehgal, the head honcho of The Leela Palace Hotels, invited me for a quick lunch at their pan-Asian restaurant Zen, before he zipped off again to another city. Lunch with Madhav is always a challenge. He is wired up, ready to head off to another meeting, yet engaged with you. Our conversations are always punctuated with laughter and serious new ideas and conversations, and just when you think he’s not listening, he will come up with a quick repartee! I look forward to spending time with him, and this time we were joined by Trilok Gurtu, the famed percussionist and the late vocalist Shobha Gurtu’s son. Madhav is a huge music aficionado, and his repertoire of listening and playing music extends from hard rock to hard classical! Trilok and I traded stories of performing arts and food; apparently, we were kindred souls in that aspect!
I haven’t been to a ‘fruit-soaking’ ceremony for a long while. So when Taj called, I went. I am glad I did because it was festive with red aprons and faux chef hats! They had an amazing line-up of Christmas savouries and sweets. The new GM, Taronish Karkaria, played perfect host as he was introduced to a flurry of old Taj guests. I got a video call from my munchkin in Mumbai, and she, of course, wanted a sample of all the cakes and savouries, especially her fave: the red velvet cupcake!
The year is almost racing towards the finish line, and it’s time to let go; time doesn’t heal, acceptance does!
(The writer’s views are personal)
