TND West

When savvy travelers are in the south of India, looking for luxury hotels, Bangalore resonates with a splendid sound.  Some of the finest hotels are here, and the amenities are delightful, making for a sumptuous travel experience.  The lodgings are really quite impressive, with a combination of new world innovations and old world charms, giving the guests a perfect place to hide away and rejuvenate the senses.  After a good rest, and an excellent meal prepared by our world-class chefs, venturing into the city of Bangalore is another treat and another feast for the body and spirit.  Bangalore is one of India’s largest cities, has one of the biggest universities in the world, and an impressive track record for technological developments.  It also has a very interesting and lively cultural scene.

One of its most visible writers, and one of the most celebrated living writers in the world, is Girish Karnad.  His fame is for his plays, but he is also a great actor, film director, and does voice work as the narrator of Karadi Tales, a very popular book on audio for children.  He is also a very renowned cultural critic, and speaks out very strongly in favor of freedom of expression.  His views have caused him to become the focus for several threats and attacks, but remains very staunch in his support for the right to speak freely.  His reputation is very strong in the literary world, and he holds a special place in the hearts and minds of fellow residents in Bangalore.

He was born in Maharashta in 1938, to a family that spoke Konkani.  In his early years, Girish Karnad was exposed to local theatrical performances, including works of Yakshanaga.  Yakshanaga is a form that continues to evolve, but its roots are very old.  It is often compared to opera, because of its use of song and dance to accompany the narrator in story-telling, but it is much more improvisational.  This is perhaps some of the source material for his playwriting inspirations, and his plays often make use of myths to make allegorical connections for the audiences.  Interestingly, he had aspirations to become famous as a writer of works in English, and even attended Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar, and later went on to teach at the University of Chicago in the U.S. However, his muse did not speak to him in English, but in another language, Kannada.  He was the seventh to win the Jnanpinth award, India’s highest literary honor.

There are so many fascinating cities in India, and for 5-star hotels, Bangalore is among the finest.  The hotels here live up to the long tradition of hospitality here, and are absolutely first-rate for providing excellent technological amenities.  Guests here will be both relaxed and refreshed, and well-connected to the world at large.  Bangalore itself is an amazing place.  It has one of the largest universities in the world, a thriving economy, and a diversity of people and traditions.  The food is also excellent here, prepared by master chefs who have a solid knowledge of old and new traditions in world cuisine.

The local food is excellent as well, and there are many fine restaurants where the whole family can enjoy a meal.  There is also a place where Benedictine monks make Italian cheese.  There are many things that are unique to Bangalore, and this certainly counts among the more interesting.  Called Vallambrosa, which means, roughly, “valley of the shadow,” it is run by the knowledgeable and humble Father K. L. Michael.  When he was in Italy, doing his theological coursework, he became interested in the tradition of cheesemaking, and decided to start studying it.  After eight years in Naples, he returned to Bangalore and brought the craft with him.

The secret to good Italian mozzarella is buffalo milk, and Vallambrosa takes 160 liters of milk to make 40 kilograms of cheese every day.  It could certainly be more, because the demand for their cheese is very high, because the quality is superb, and attracts fine restaurants as well as expats living in Bangalore.  The six-person team is also charged with taking care of the monastery, so they are producing as much as they can, or even want.  The profits are all absorbed by the charitable trust, so it really is a labor of love.  Aside from mozzarella, they also make mascarpone, caciotta, ricotta, bocconcini, and pecorino.

Anyone traveling in Bangalore, India last week was able to witness a rare event, to participate in a first for the the city, and that was a public wine tasting festival, out in the open in the middle of a park.  Usually this is an activity that is reserved for the plush restaurants and hotels.  Bangalore, India’s families of the middle class strata were able to grab cups made of plastic and make their choice of white or red.  The event was held at the Lalbagh Botanic Gardens, and those in attendance were enthusiastic about this newly started tradition.  Local wineries and makers had predicted that they may sell a couple of cases, however more than twelve hundred cases were sold before the event was even half way over.

Many of the tables and stalls had sold out of their stock, and for the first time, some of the people of the city were actually drinking the wine in public, as the lines for the cups wound through the gardens at the stalls that still had some to sell.  This had been a taboo, an ago old no-no, but as the drinking of wine becomes touted as healthy, the citizens are definitely lining up.  Many who had never had a drink before in their lives came to try this new ‘healthy’ activity.  Some very traditional ideas still remained with some of the spectators not partaking in the tasting, however many were happy at the idea of the social restrictions being lifted.

As more westerners are moving to Bangalore, the society is seeing the trends change as far as the consumption of beer and wine are concerned.  Some of the bars are still required to close down by midnight, however other restrictions are changing such as the lowering of the cost of licensing for wine bars.  Western countries revel in their wine festivals, and the government had promoted this festival in the garden and modelled it after some of those.  Even the wine board was surprised at the number of people that came out to participate, and this could become a new tourist activity in future days in the country.