In High Spirits

“I want to be a man in a woman’s world,” says 40 year old Chitrita Sanyal,a senior journalist,with a Bengali news channel. “I have been a fan of whisky for almost 15 years now. But when I go out with friends or colleagues and order a whisky of scotch,people still judge me,for I have stepped into a man’s domain,” rues Sanyal.

Whisky,which is mostly considered a “man’s drink” is finding many takers in the Capital and the trend has been noticed by Meena Bhatia,Vice President,Operations and Marketing at Le Meridien.

“Whisky has a lot of history. It is a romantic and elegant drink,very suitable for women,” says Bhatia.

“We thought that there was a need for women to come together at a suitable platform and discuss and enjoy the drink together. That’s why we decided to start this initiative,” she adds.

The group that started earlier this year,has 70 women as its members,who come together every month to discuss,appreciate and know more about their favourite drink. “You learn so many things— like what food goes with whisky,how to choose whisky and how to drink it,” says Anita Dua,one of the founding members of the club. The group also involves itself in activities like parties and social work. “But we felt that there was a need to have something exclusively for the women’s evening,” she says.

The last session that was held in early October was about whisky and doubled as a ladies’ night about the approaching festivals. The “Spirit of Festivities” taught the members how to pair different types of whiskys and malts with different types of foods.

“I never knew that whisky is supposed to be paired with just cold water and nothing else. Here we see men adding soda,club soda and other things to it. But whisky is best enjoyed neat,” says Shalini Kumar,51,about one of the the topics at the recent sessions. “I haven’t developed the taste for it yet,but it takes some time getting used to it,” she says adding that she’s only a social drinker but enjoys being a part of this club.

Bhatia explains the practical side of the story. Since there is no membership fee and the food and drinks served at these meetings is not to be charged for,it may not look like a very profitable venture. “But it is not meant for profits,” she explains. “The whisky market in India is growing,and since women are now becoming a more and more important part of that demographic,all the alcohol companies want to make sure that women are exposed to their brands as well,” says Bhatia.

But what about the husbands? How do they react to their wives meeting every month to discuss and consume alcohol? Bhatia defends,“We are not encouraging women to drink,we are teaching them how to drink responsibly and enjoy it too. Many of our members are housewives,wives of diplomats,writers and so on. Their husbands want their wives to know their drink and this club gives them a fair chance,” she concludes.