Brunch at the Ritz Carlton which we all enjoyed
Two and a half years ago my sister’s flat had to be tenanted. So we put up our board on the gate to invite tenants interested in the beautiful three bedroom flat. The board was made and the carpenter called to fix it on the front gate. Then whoever passed the board and were genuinely interested, would either call to see it, or call to ask the rental we wanted.
An American came from NASDAQ which is on St Mark’s road. He came with a retinue of brokers, hovering around him like flies. He wanted a place where he could see his favourite evening hangout -- Bang in the Ritz Carlton. I did not even know the name, just that it disturbed us with its booming music.
I'll take one said the waiter and we posed
He seemed slightly weird and entitled and that’s not what I want in a tenant. Several others came and went. Either the vaastu was not what they wanted or I was unhappy with the number of family members. Indians always have extended family and a retinue of servants and we were not looking for more disturbance.
Then came a young engineer from Siemens, who went around the apartment taking pictures. He was not too bothered about the parking, but wanted to look out of the windows to see the view. Lucky for us he loved the plants in the garden and our crab claws or heliconias were in full bloom when he came. Plus we are really lucky to have a huge house next door with a tree filled garden. That clinched his deal and inspite of looking at 21 houses which he said were superior to ours, he agreed and took it.
Posing infront of the pool
“At least put up curtains for me,” he said, “As I have to furnish the place now.” He was thrilled to find Pepper Fry online and in a few weeks furnished the entire house. Simple clean lines and he was so house proud. Best part he was Danish who are apparently the happiest people in the world. He was and the three of us loved him and he loved us back in return.
The delicious rugbrod that I enjoyed @ my cousins in Denmark!
Since I studied in Denmark I was familiar with Rugbrod. A wonderful rye bread which my cousin in Denmark, introduced me to, when I spent weekends with them. It’s black and Mari Ann taught me to eat it with goose pate. I love pate but had never tasted the goose variety. The wind engineer baked his loaf of bread and cut it neatly in half and brought me half, every single time! The door bell would ring and there he was, holding half a pound of warm and delicious, just-out-of-the-oven, rugbrod.
Whenever he went back to Denmark on work, he would bring tins of pate for me, without my even asking. And when he travelled, Pushpa the help and me would look after his wonderful tomato ‘farm’ on the balcony. He grew the most delicious cherry tomatoes and harvested a large crop, every once in a while, ripe off the plants.
The pool at the Ritz Carlton is impeccably maintained
The house was impeccably maintained. So much so my husband would take friends to see it and say -- look at how he keeps the house. Clutter free, minimalistic and spotless. I think it’s in their DNA to keep the place clean. Infact even after my help would clean his home, he would spend the weekends cleaning even more with his vacuum cleaner.
A three bedroom house for one man, you ask? He lived in the kids room because the view from there was the greenest in the flat. The Master bedroom held his gym equipment which he hardly used, as he went to the Ritz Gym every single day. All the bedrooms were well furnished as throughout his stay he had relatives come down to visit.
His tomato farm on the balcony
How he loved India and he wanted to show off all the parts of the country to his rellies. Agra, Jaipur, Goa, Mahaballipuram, he travelled everywhere and enjoyed the experience. But ofcourse it was not all hunky dory for him in Bangalore. He went through four drivers and finally got one that could understand English. He laughed and told us, the cost of hiring an English speaking driver is much more than a regular local. But he preferred a hired car to owning one which we have realised is the most sensible option if one does not live in the country.
Plus all the Indian engineers he hired were book smart, not hands on and that he found to be a huge difficulty. I teach journalism and I can see the same problem with young journalists to be -- they are fine academically, but useless hands on.
The young guy enjoyed the gym in the Ritz Carlton. “ Come you must see where I went every single day for two years,” he said. The gym was top -of- the- line and membership really expensive, but he loved the place and enjoyed the ambience of the pool as well. “I swam a lot too,” he said, “ there is a kiddy area upfront and the 25 metre pool is at the back. “ All around sat foreigners on the sun beds reading and sunning themselves.
“Look at us, we want your brown colour and I have seen shelves of stuff, to help you guys get ‘white’.” Such a paradox really, but the world over, we brown skins hunger for skin whitening, while they want the warm tan that we sport.
The three of us were treated to a wonderful brunch by the young guy at the restaurant which was surprisingly packed to capacity. He is going to leave us in December and he wanted us to hav e one last meal together. We went in to eat at around 11:30 and I think left only by 4pm! There was nothing that we did not try and nothing we did not talk about! And ofcourse I asked for fruit instead of the huge selection of desserts. Lovely to see a firang enjoying our spicy food. Infact he laughed and said he ate more spice than me.
Sometimes you are destined to get a genuinely nice person who comes and lives in your flat and enjoys his stay. While there are others who grumble at the slightest issue. Lucky for me all my tenants and my sister’s too, who are mine by default, have been lovely people. Infact we had a HC lawyer trained in Cambridge who has moved into his own home now, but, will always come out and completely support us, for free, should we have a problem with any- one else.
These are the sons we have in the country, since our own elder sons have left for greener shores. And that makes us very confident and comfortable.
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