Coalition and Partition

Tale of a Sunday I’m fairly certain I daydreamed

After a few weeks of incessantly fretting over my lack of exposure to the world outside my laptop, I planned a wilful Saturday evening at one of the country’s best bars - a jaunt I convinced myself I vitally needed to feel my late 20s age again. But like all previous Saturday evenings, on the day I reverted to behaving twice my age, groaned about traffic and the crowds and stayed home with a book only to find myself sulking over my comfort in my comfort zone when alas, my companion for the day and I finally coalesced after some arm twisting on both ends to go out for the very next meal which happened to be a Sunday brunch.

Decked in clothes I’d worn just once, I set out for a restaurant I’d settled on after an hour of research. For those who scarcely go out, the momentousness of those rare few outings is so high that it takes a few days of dedicated planning to ensure that once the rabbit is out of the hole to forage food, it goes back underground happy enough for it to want to stick its head out of its hole again a little quicker the next time. And spoiling the climax of this not so suspenseful story, the bunny in me went back elated.

Gurgaon’s Museo Cameo housed a restaurant in its outdoors named Fig and I don’t remember much about the food as most of my meal there was spent shrieking over the rats and cats running around me. But luckily enough for us in Delhi Fig has opened a new outpost at Malcha Marg which feels like such an upgrade with its comfortable and easily available parking and its indoor greens which promote harmony with nature without its pesky creatures.

Fig at Malcha

Upon entering the restaurant we were informed of the waiting time which would end beyond 11AM surpassing the breakfast hours, a piece of information I happened to miss out on my research. Craving for breakfast pancakes we tried a few other places in the area but none appealed to our heart as Fig had occupied a pretty big place already with its menu and earthy interiors so we returned back and as a woman on a mission to ensure my companion did not miss out on breakfast due to my tardiness, I literally felt like flash as I requested for and then swopped in on a table and ordered within a 3 minutes window iso as to get out hands on their breakfast. Some days you get lucky with all your choices and this was my day as I managed to have a very smartly dressed eye candy sitting opposite me at a restaurant serving healthy yet tasty food filled with plants, art and lots of light.

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Why I re-fell in love with Sunday brunches? Beautiful drives with no road traffic, a tranquil mood that comes from knowing I had a good productive week and now have a full long day to unwind and food that I don’t get to eat regularly during the week. Why I re-fell in love with the person sitting in front of me? His perfect choice of smart casual summer clothes of beige shorts and a white shirt, his openness to sharing my food so I could order and try more, his smiles that seemed to be more effortless and recurrent here than general. Why I fell in love with Fig at Malcha? Their design brought in abundant of natural light - perfect for Sunday mornings, the Scandinavian interiors drew no attention yet made one feel calm, the food made even all the things I dislike taste great, and to alleviate the experience the staff was friendly without being pestering and the crowd was amicable - not one person that made the Judgy Judy in me bring the court to order for an emergency session.

There are days that make you feel like you’re bathing in the warmth and glow of something that’s so serene, there are experiences that make you feel happy to be exactly where you are at that moment in life and the amount of calm and mental ease my persistently running at a 150 miles per head felt with the relaxed experience made this day one of those days. It left me on such a high that it tided over all the disfavour I then built up for an anticipated experience that turned out to be disappointing.

The Partition Museum in Delhi was recently opened after an extensive renovation of a historic complex. Fascinated to learn more about the Partition, an incident very close to heart to my companion, we headed there after the brunch. India is a country progressing at warp speed in all fields including art and conservation so I wasn’t completely misguided in assuming the conception of a new museum would use innovative media to make the exhibits more appealing and immersive. I do understand how difficult it is financially for patrons to build and support initiatives such as these financially despite our society getting more cultured and henceforth garnering more interested in art and architecture. But somehow the Partition Museum for me missed the mark even when I tried to factor in all the reasons it could have been the way it is. Designed more as a curation of letters, stories and objects from survivors of Partition, the museum is a nice place to visit (during the winters if you cannot survive the blazing heat without fans and ACs) to see some old remnants, but if you hope to teach your kids about the Partition by invoking in them the very raw turmoil we in the know feel when we hear about it, this is not the place for you.

Delhi Partition Museum

The approach to the museum is confusing, the parking is unorganised, the entry is lacklustre, the interiors are dismal, the staff inside is nonchalant at best about your visit, and the exhibits are vapid. There is a highlight inside the Museum which is noteworthy. It’s an international travelling show so is related to the theme but not faintly a feather in the cap for the curators of this museum but for me is a must visit for if you cannot catch the show elsewhere in the world.

Project Dastaan is an initiative founded by 4 students from Oxford University aimed at reconnecting Partition refugees with their abandoned homes through VR. With a few issues in its execution that cropped up due to covid and some wonderful accomplishments that led to them venturing into Social impact as well apart from illuminating the world about this landmark event, this is a wonderful project to learn about. It features a VR movie titled Child of Empire which is available to view at the Partition Museum in Delhi and Amritsar. The breathtaking short puts you in a village at the time of migration fleeing away from Pakistan back to India. It showcases some poignant scenes like the splitting of the land you’re standing on as well as the train massacre as you view it from below the berth. The movie talks of how and why the Partition occurred while highlighting the past and present plight of the people who lived to tell the tale of the harrowing experience. I cannot recommend this movie more, regardless of whether you want to know more about the partition or film making or are just fond of keeping yourself aware about insightful work being done in the world.

I went back from this Sunday intellectually, gastronomically and amorously content leading me to realise that if this is not an age congruent choice, I don’t mind pretending to be in my early 30s if this is then the more favoured choice of a Sunday sashay (hopefully with the same smiling face sitting opposite me).