I’ve been wearing pink for years, but still it is one mega thrill to see the girls in hues of pink at the WOW WINE EVENING! Pink T shirts, pink saris, pink skirts, pink kurtas, pink tank tops and pink what-have-you… Even the NDTV anchor makes sure she changes her shirt to PINK for the occasion!

I thought that the evening would start at a little over seven, but the sisterhood starts coming in almost an hour earlier! With every entry there is a peppy chorus of ‘Oh you are dressed in Pink’!! The response to the WOW do in the Capital took me totally by surprise! A real pleasant surprise at that!

The ladies in pink start trickling in and almost instantly there is conversation and peals of laughter shaking up the Café in a never before fashion! A refreshing start to the evening is the Lemon Grass and Plum Coolers offered by Market Café, setting the pace for the goodies to follow. Ice breakers? None needed… Nothing but the obvious happens when there are forty or more ladies bonding and chattering away!

Without much ado, Olivier, the French sommelier and Thomas from Grover Vineyards introduce the ladies to the finest of wines from the Grover Vineyards located near Bangalore. Amongst the wines they showcase are Grover Sauvignon Blanc, Grover Shiraz Rose and the award winning Grover La Reserve. And Market Café’s starters are equally classy as is the wine - Crisp potato skins with homemade barbeque sauce and garlic aioli and Teriyaki chicken kebabs with Soya, ginger, scallion and sesame oil, amongst other exotic stuff.

The clink of wine glasses, the laughter and joy make me feel that wine is ‘happening’ because women are drinking it - and appreciating it - and raising the bar on what is cool and what is not. I guess that drinking wine is finally becoming a staple, a mainstream way of socializing and connecting with our sisterhood, a fun thing to learn and like the hues of pink in my wardrobe, you can buy more of wine, knowing that you can never have too much of it.

I’m so glad that WOW is in the right place at the right time, so glad that everyone else is enjoying it too. All present agreed that the WOW Wine Evening was a lovely opportunity to connect with other women, interact and make friends with women who love wine, travel, good food and the good life.

We raise our glass to the good food, good wine, good conversation and a great time! The good times continue with a surprise gift for the WOW women from Blossom Kochaar, who incidentally is all set to open a swish city spa in Delhi next month. The Spa will provide special treatment for De stressing, De-Toxifying, Re-Mineralizing, Body Wrap, Massages, Aromatherapy, Hydrotherapy, Color Therapy & a host of treatments that revive, rejuvenate and relax the body mind and soul.

 

The Women on Wanderlust do feel that life, like wine and travel, is to be enjoyed and explored. We’ll raise yet another toast to that and the next WOW get together! Do write in with your views and suggestions on travel and everything else that goes with it.

WOW Wine Evening - 21st August 2007

Market Cafe, Khan Market, New Delhi

I have signed up for a luxe Northern Europe voyage, a towering 2100 passenger, two-sittings at dinner, four cabaret/theatre-shows a night liner.
The ship itself is a wonder of the modern world -a state -of-the-art city at sea that sails along slowly enough for relaxed leisure, and fast enough for you to linger longer in each port of call. Stretching on an average of 850ft and weighing a little over 90,000 tonnes, these liners are virtually luxury hotels-on-sea with miles of international decor, acres of carpets, air-conditioning and awesome mountains of grub.

The ship has an assortment of cabins and staterooms, and there is an entire regiment of staff to look after you. And what looking after! These are not mere mortals, they are supermen and superwomen born with the ability to anticipate your every wish, and make it come true, even before you know you want it. Thus, they know when breakfast should be served in a hushed whisper; when a lightly scrambled egg and some fresh orange juice is all you can face: when you’ve bounced back sufficiently for a pre-lunch daiquiri, or when you’re in the mood to party and it’s going to be champagne and caviar in the Jacuzzi at 2 am. Again.

With onboard PR like this, who needs the sales patter? You get it anyway. Want to be pampered and made to feel like celebrities, order in room service, and eat great food, that too, at no extra costs. Want to party all week, visit lots of different places instead of just one and then have an aromatherapy massage the next day to soothe your aching head? Easy. Some people who are veteran cruise-goers don’t even bother to get off the ship in port, they tell you - there is so much to do on board! I can’t wait for the fast approaching sail date! Think I deserve it.

 

When it comes to all-women soirées, the sky’s the limit, so I let my imagination run a bit – Can it be a dinner party, a leisurely brunch somewhere or seeing Chake De together. No… I want a lifestyle evening for ladies who love travel & the best of everything…

Then I think, hey…why not do a WOW WINE EVENING!!!

I grab the phone to call Parisian Thomas Sauzet of Grover Vineyards, Mumbai, who knows everything about wine and a few days later we are on, planning the exciting evening full steam ahead along with Suman Chatterjee of Market Café.

 

As the day draws closer, I look forward to the conversations, laughter and zeal, who knows what great new friendships, might strike up and what ‘all women’ networking might accomplish.

Ladies - its time to take a trip!

More and more women are thinking about leaving the better half at home and hitting the road with the female gender. When women travel together, they can really let their hair down. It’s fun, noncompetitive and stress-free – a bonding experience that all women look forward to.

They talk about it being a liberating experience because of the freedom to choose their own destination and activities without having to compromise with family members who might want to do something else.

The woman traveler phenomenon is my inspiration for starting WOW, besides I wanted to meet other women who share my passion for travel, and assist them to achieve their wish lists.

This blog is about like minded women, our aspirations, our lives and of course, our travels! Do continue to read, enjoy and share your travels and life experiences. I am sure that it will be a journey you will enjoy.