Ladies who (power) lunch

Good morning, Bangalore!

I have consciously decided to stay away from topics that deal with death, doom and disaster this week. I must admit that even though our city lacks basic amenities (here I go whining about it again!), there is a certain ‘je ne sais quoi’ (an indefinable quality) that separates Bangalore from the rest of the cities in India. The weather definitely is the most redeeming quality and I feel this has a direct bearing on our temperament! It is as if nature keeps giving us a second chance and after a couple of sweltering days the heavens open up, bringing the temperatures down drastically. While the rest of India drowns, we bring out our woolies!

We are a ‘mock metropolis’! We have the trappings of a big city; shiny malls, multiplexes, enough new restaurants and micro-breweries to fill the Grand Canyon, fancy brands and a burgeoning population! But deep down we are a small town trying very hard to ward off a massive influx of people and un-sustained growth that threatens to change the way we live and think. We have an intrinsic and unhurried way of looking at things. The auld (I just love that word; it just so succinctly translates itself) Bangalore adjusts slowly; rather it paces itself into an acceptance mode. Look around and one can immediately spot the old seamlessly blending in with the new! I saw a charming sight in Malleswaram, an area where stately old bungalows valiantly hold their own with ugly high rise buildings.

A cow was gently being coaxed by its owner, who was on a scooter, to a single-storeyed home where the lady was waiting with a steel vessel. The cow was milked right in front of her eyes, while she fed the bovine some juicy stalks of grass all the while having a full-fledged conversation with the bovine! Synchronicity at its best! Bangalore has a long tradition of meeting over languid lunches. Don’t let the word ‘languid’ fool you! It just means unhurried and unfettered by the constraints of time. In the days of yore, ladies met for coffee mornings which stretched into lunches. Various subjects were on the agenda ranging from errant husbands, belligerent house-hold help, wayward children and rising prices that sent their household budgets into a tailspin. But in no way do I mean this in a condescending manner! These conversations had a serious impact on the socio-economic structure of the family and in turn society at large. It was networking!

The scenario has altered slightly, but not dramatically. I invited a bunch of my FFs (female and fabulous) friends for a languid lunch at Kebabs and Kurries, ITC Gardenia. If one must lunch then one must do it with a sense of style and panache! An intimate guest list was drawn up, and the menu was carefully curated along with the right beverages to accompany the meal. No light, fast and quicksilver lunches would do for these successful and erudite women.

The meal was a culinary coup d’etat! Carefully and painstaking curated by the chef and the GM Amaan Kidwai, the traditional Indian lunch of a slow cooked mutton shank or Nihari, (it took nine hours from pot to table) embellished with fragrant masalas and saffron and eaten with a traditional Indian bread called Khameeri roti was simply divine. With individually printed menu cards and spices suitably adjusted to every lady’s palate, the experience was enriching. As entrepreneurs and professionals, we had the time to network, talk politics and indulge in shop talk. Cards and phone numbers were discreetly exchanged while we ruminated both with our taste-buds and minds! The meal meandered into coffee and petite fours and the air was replete with bonhomie. As women we know the importance of having one’s cake and eating it too! Nobody left as strangers that day… business and pleasure anyone?

Till next week. Ciao