Good morning, Bangalore!
Now that I’m firmly ensconced in the city of my birth, my phone hasn’t stopped ringing or lighting up like a proverbial Christmas tree. Albeit a few pesky calls offering me obscene amounts of cash (in the form of easily re-payable loans) or tele-marketers trying to con me into parting with my hard earned cash, the rest of the calls and messages have been from friends. I came back to my valiant ‘ooruites’ just about saving our precious Cubbon Park from the greedy gloms of ruthless land grabbers (I’m sorry I can’t think of a kinder word). Without an ounce of concern for our depleting lung space, they wanted to erect a concrete high rise obscenity to accommodate the High Court staff! Like that’s what the entire city needed…more lawyers!
What amazed me were the vitriolic dialogues that some ‘well heeled’ citizens indulged in, to shame and intimidate the rest of the concerned citizens who planned to stage a peaceful protest to highlight this travesty! They actually implied that protesting on the roads was futile and useless and what the ‘honourable’ court decided was to be obeyed without a whimper! Well, thank God for the ‘honourable’ citizens who were right in thinking that the court of public opinion matters in a democracy and three cheers for our new BBMP Commissioner who wholeheartedly supported them! I sincerely hope the politicians in Maharashtra take a leaf out of our book and behave more ‘honorably’ than they have at present.
In our country, where habbas, holidays and hollering take centre stage, people have moved from celebrating one set of festivals to the next. My inbox is inundated with a slew of invitations to cake mixings! Well, technically they are fruit soakings where oodles of liquor are poured into vats of dry fruit and condiments which eventually end up in the Christmas cakes. I have never mixed any cake batter in these ‘dos’ so I’ve always wondered why they call it a cake mixing. I’ve begged off attending most of them (a lady has to work too), but a couple that I have attended turned out to be a pleasant enough. I attended a ‘cake mixing’ at the Four Seasons to usher in the yuletide spirit with a gaggle of girlfriends.
The air was festive with a crooner singing peppy Christmas-themed songs and all the ladies present set the mood by togging up in red, green and white outfits. Of course the copious amounts of some fabulous mulled wine being imbibed, just enhanced everyone’s ‘spirits’ even more! Charming red aprons and hats were passed around and after some enthusiastic mixing of the condiments with liquor (where some of us got a wee bit happy just inhaling the fumes), their yummy French chef, Stephane Calvet delighted us all by shucking fresh oysters and topping it with his secret sauce!
Making Christmas cakes and goodies used to be family affairs. I have distinct childhood memories of barging into our Christian neighbours and friends’ houses pre-Christmas hoping to sample anything that was baking or cooking and we were invariably playfully shooed off and told to wait our turn. Now, various hotels invite us to participate and this is comparatively a new phenomenon. I wonder if Deepavali sweet kneading and Eid mutton marinating will follow suit!
My brunch at The Ritz Carlton was a tad overdue. But the gentle persuasion of their hotel manager, the charming Tusch Daroga and PR Upasana Madan, had us trotting off there even on a dry day. With a slew of prestigious hotels cropping up in Bengaluru, everybody has to stay on top of their game. Their brunch was spectacular with an eye for detail and elegance. A chat with their Executive Chef Dawa was informative and eye-opening. The afternoon abounded with stories, good food and cheer. Who needs alcohol for raucous times.
’Tis the season after all!
Rubi Chakravarti
writer, actor and funny girl