A dear friend recently went to Switzerland and took a chiffon saree with her just in case a Yash Chopra moment struck her. And she is not even a Hindi film aficionado like me. Just goes to show, doesn’t it? How in a moment when memory meets reality, a snatch from a loved film comes sneaking back too? Like it happened recently when I found myself crushing some grapes with my feet in a big wooden tub in a vine spangled gazebo at Bangalore’s Taj West End. at a wine tasting session and instantly wanted to hum a song from Lamhe. Yes, that song.
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The grapes were chilled and we squished them under our heels and the sensation was as compulsive, as addictive as bursting the sheets of bubble wraps one little poke at a time. Only this was far more dramatic. The grapes were bursting spectacularly under my heels into a scarlet puddle.
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The latticed gazebo was sunlit and there were buckets of ice with chilled wine bottles, goblets glinting red and white and some baffling little eats being swished around.
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Yes, this was a Yash Chopra moment alright. Sans Shiv Hari’s music. In any case, Taj West End is one of the most romantic places in Bangalore. Not just because it has preserved the colonial romance of a time when the British had build languid bungalows with monkey top windows and sloping roofs but because it understands that space is not just there to be built upon. That, it can translate into leaf strewn pathways, lotus ponds mirroring the sky, little stone fountains tinkling with wordless music.
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One of my first design stories as a scribe was about their terrace garden and the passion and love that is invested not just in maintaining the period architecture of the discreet cottages and the main building , but in taking care of the grass, both wild and manicured, the flowers, seasonal and perennials and the trees that run in hundreds if not thousands.
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There is the story book worthy tamarind tree as old as the heritage property. It stands green and abundant close to the Masala Klub that serves modern Indian cuisine in a leafy verandah, in the lawns and by the pool side.
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After the grape crushing, Chef Sandip Narang treated guests to a smart, contemporary take on old Indian favourites like Kebabs and curries, sans the drama of excessive spices and oily gravies. Narang is a lot like the food he conceptualises. Minimalistic, driven by clarity, forward looking. He tells us as multiple courses arrive teeming with gravies, Indian breads and signature recipes paired with the right Grover wine, that earlier all diners wanted was quantity and satiety. Now they want flavour, surprise, freshness.
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