BENGALURU: Good morning, Bangalore!
Yes! I am angry! I was angry at myself for letting a whole week go by and feeling miserable. I have been detached, moody and brooding. And what did that do for my mind-space? Zilch, nothing, nada! If anything, the pandemic should have taught me something. Every day is precious and a gift. Not for anyone else but for oneself. I had to paint myself into a corner, cry hot tears of anguish, feel terribly sorry for myself and ultimately crawl out of a self-pitying and dark head space to take a big gulp of air which I was fortunate enough to have!
Grateful for air, one asks? Of course! Ask those many people hooked up to ventilators and oxygen machines to tell you what they would give for that gulp. Human beings are complicated and difficult to understand. The ministrations of their mind are so convoluted, that I am sometimes forced to subscribe to the idea that ‘all is not well with us’! We can be generous, good and giving as we can be mean-spirited, selfish and cruel. Only one thing is clear.
‘One can be guilty of too much love and try to fix something… what we don’t realise is that we get broken in the process’… I am a ‘Rumi’ in the making! When I get my sense of humour back, I start to think clearly and out of the box. I need a swift boot on the buttocks to set me straight for some time. All said and done…melancholy, despair and depression are real and omnipresent and should be dealt with as such. Sweeping it under the carpet can have disastrous consequences.
I met up with good friend Yashodhara Marar after ages. Her husband, Hari, runs our world-renowned BIAL airport. They have been extremely kind to me, especially during the midst of the pandemic, whenever I called them, panicking about cancelled flights (especially when my son flying into the city). I went in for a sneak preview of the sarees and stoles she bought directly from the weavers. She and her for partners have founded ‘Mrinalini’, primarily to cut exploitation by commercial establishments who pay the weavers a pittance, but have a mark-up of over a hundred per cent on the merchandise.
Without taking the name of the ‘designer’ (he has a tongue-twister for a name), and who rose from the ranks himself, marks up these weavers prices by over 400 per cent! So ‘Mrinalini’ endeavours to go from the weavers to the wearer directly, keeping the prices affordable. They are not a ‘bleeding-heart’ organisation and they do make a small profit in order to run the show. But the bulk of the money from orders goes to support the weavers. This is sustainability... to be able to help the exploited by running a long-term organisation sustainably. I am really happy that my friends like Prasad Bidapa and Kaveri Ponappa are doing their bit for the Indian weaver. Just to show support, I bought myself a fabulous Banarasi sari in ochre, with a red and gold border. My Bengali heart sang with joy!
Better moods deserve sustenance too, especially the eating and drinking variety. So it was a very pleasant surprise when the new GM of Leela Palace, Madhav Sehgal, invited us over to their iconic Indian restaurant to celebrate 20 years of its inception. It was an intimate group of friends who were all food aficionados and the laughter, conversations and ambrosia did not look like it would ebb.
The highlight of the afternoon was meeting the very humble master chefs, Purshothum Naidu and Farman Ali, who were responsible for the inception of this restaurant 20 years ago. It’s all about commitment and sustainability through hardwork and focus. Chefs, weavers, artisans and performing artistes are all people who need the generosity, love and appreciation from their patrons for their craft and skill to survive.