BENGALURU : Good morning, Bangalore
It is nice to see a quiet buzz in Bangalore as restaurateurs and retailers open their doors to welcome customers. Since liquor has made its way back to pubs and bars, owners are waiting with bated breath, hoping that the young and old will want to venture out and enjoy themselves after months of being mentally and physically locked up. Some areas are doing better than others. For instance, the UB City Mall seems to inspire a certain confidence and it’s nice to see it buzzing during the weekends. I live in the CBD area and every time I pass the multitude of retail outlets, beauty parlours and restaurants, I see them partially full.
Way better than the eerie and gloomy situation that one witnessed a couple of months ago.
I have been doing quite a bit of reading up on this strange predicament (for the lack of a better word) we find ourselves in. My friend Priya Chetty-Rajgopal, an activist and head hunter, is of the view that never before has the entire planet been subjected to the same economic conundrum or illness before. The world has had its share of economic upheavals, but never before has it happened to all the countries at the same time for the same reason. We are subjected to so many varying theories on a daily basis, that sometimes we find it difficult in separating fact from fiction.
In my opinion, the lockdown has been a failure. It has devastated the economic health of our country. The first lockdown was initiated within four hours and that didn’t give panicked immigrants time to get back to their respective homes and their mass exodus on foot perhaps contributed to the further spread of the virus into the hinterland. Sufficient funds were not spent on upgrading medical facilities and no plan for dealing with the ensuing health and financial crisis was effectively communicated. This left a nation of over a billion people reeling with a crisis of halved salaries, unpaid loans and EMIs, a dark cloud of death looming over them and forced imprisonment in our homes or wherever we were caught, with dire consequences if we disobeyed… And we were told it was all for our good!
Well, all that is in the past. Bangalore has opened up and our safety is now our responsibility. This has put the swish set in a fix! Damned if you do and damned if you don’t. This has resulted in a very hush-hush situation. I remember when the initial lockdown was lifted there were self-appointed monitors who used Facebook, like all cowards, to chastise and shame people who ventured out. Many people even today venture out incognito, always afraid that someone may disapprove!
I can only say my mood lifted by many notches to be at the intimate and responsible brunch at the newly re-opened Zen at The Leela Palace. There were only the six of us and our charming hosts GM Kunal Chauhan and his wife Sunaina gave us a whiff of how we can still revel in good company, and excellent cocktails and food, with the sun on our faces, the wind in our hair and music in the air! I think I was myself after ages! I playfully demanded hand-made mayonnaise from their executive chef Mir Zafar Ali, and while the rest of the guests gasped at my impunity, he obliged with a smile. It was a care-free afternoon with all the safety protocols adhered to.Places are opening because of the economy, not because it’s safe… Let’s keep that in mind and be responsible and safe, not paranoid!