#100sareepact
93/100

A Pact Date a day keeps the Pacters happy and gay !!

All we needed was any excuse to get together and when Monica and Prats said hey we can’t make it on Monday when can we catch up it didn’t take me long to say Breakfast at Koshy’s on Tuesday!!!

Out came Saree No 93 , a soft brand new Kanchi Cotton in Pink and Mustard with the trademark Nalli broad border with the Zari on the inner edge . A birthday gift from from friends Jude and Anita who know my taste so well .

Koshy’s in Bangalore is so iconic it gives iconic another meaning . It’s the Irani Cafe incarnate of Bangalore and with its timeliness decor and simple yet sturdy wooden tables and chairs spells C O M F O F O R T and C L A S S .

The staid and stoic staff who wait on you are as iconic and pre historic as the constant old timers who have forever frequented Koshy’s . And morning is the best time to frequent Koshy’s. Though any time of the day is the best I love the diffused sunshine pouring in through the bamboo chicks and the warm , roasted glow inside is enough to warm the cockles of your heart .

So it had to be Breakfast at Koshy’s and the old timers’ bastion was invaded by the Saree Pact Battalion in full gale force . There were just five of us but the place came alive and was awash with color and sound as only happy women can conjure up .

You have read the posts put up by the other suspects so I will not pontificate further on what we girls got upto except to say that when the next time a Saree clad woman will enter , they will fear for the sanity of their morning .

So many cutlets and coffees and a mushroom omelette and slices of bread and butter the power of the six yards saw the staid and starched and stoic man at our table unbend enough to smile a bit at our chatter and laughter and was persuaded to take a few pictures and pose with us .

Earlier we had already done what no one had ever done before ..asked the elegant old timers to pose for a Saree Pact picture with us ladies and did they oblige and shyly accept the round of coffee we brought for them in return for their chivalry .

Morning well spent and as we stepped out we simply had to have that group picture in the sun and what perfect timing for a dear friend who was meeting me to turn up and do the honors !

I am sure when Sriharsha befriended me at Calcutta airport all those years ago he never thought he would be called upon to photograph a feisty band of women one morning in Bangalore.

That February evening at the Calcutta airport in 2008 came rushing back to me . It was after one of my patient support group meetings and there was a whole noisy gang of us from Bombay.
Patients and volunteers returning after a great meeting full of an infectious energy that caught this quiet young man’s attention and he came and sat next to me asking first were they my family ? They were all calling me Amma but looked a kind of motley crew he must have thought .

Soon he was one of us and ever since then has been one of us . Just his feelings for these friends of ours who are coping with the diagnosis of a life threatening disease and yet giving a new meaning to that life.

Great seeing you today Sriharsha and thank you for out Pact Pictures . Kicking myself for not having taken a picture with you in the Saree .