The 600 odd km Kochi - Bangalore route is one of the busiest in the region. Taking into account the rush of passengers by air, rail and road the Indian Railways is considering the introduction high speed trains or bullet trains in the sector.

Railway sources say that the project is in conceptual stage. The Rail-ways would initially do a traffic survey to study the traffic pattern and to generate data on such indicators like the demand in the next 20 years, the usage of each mode of transport and the volume of traffic that would get diverted to the high speed corridor. After this, the en-gineering survey would identify the route and estimate the costs. It will outline the terminal facilities and determine the speed.

“There are 12 trains between Kochi and Bangalore in a week, which carry around 12,000 passengers”, said CMC Nair, area manager, Southern Railway. According to him, there is an average waiting list of 150 people for each of these trains. “It is one of the busiest routes”, he said adding that the high speed train is a project of the future.

Rough estimates based on services that originate from Kochi and sub-urbs indicate that around 4500 people travel by bus in the same route in a week. Other districts in the state also have high volume traffic to Bangalore.

On the other hand, air traffic in the Kochi - Bangalore sector is grow-ing each day. Presently there are 12 daily flights in the route, which carry roughly 4500 passengers in a week. Says Vinod Menon of Travel Mall, “the air traffic is likely to grow at 30% in the coming years given the developments in the IT and tourism fields”. He, however, main-tains that the business traveller who flies to Bangalore or Kochi in the morning and returns in the evening would still prefer to travel by air.
Meanwhile, the Railway Board, finance commissioner, Mr R Shivadasan, has gone on record that the Kochi-Bangalore corridor is being considered along with the Kolkata-Patna sector and the Mumbai to Ahmedabad and Mumbai to Delhi links.
Experts have also pointed out that for short distances of 600 to 700 km bullet trains are faster than air travel if we take into account the travel time to airports and the waiting time in the airport. In any case, for students, business men, holiday makers and others who have suffered the hardships of travel in the route between Kochi and Bangalore, the possibility of a traveling in a rail corridor at 200 plus km speed must be pretty exciting.

Bangalore today is major market for 10, 15 and 18-year old single malt Scotch, on a par with Mumbai and Delhi, thanks to the city’s cosmopolitan culture, say industry analysts. The market is growing very fast though on a very small base for single malts in Bangalore, as is the case elsewhere.

Single malts, being ‘image products’, have emerged as the talk of town today. For instance, Glenmorangie, UK’s top brand and among the leading five in the world, launched in India about year ago, has made deep inroads into the Bangalore market. “Glenmorangie has made significant progress in Bangalore in the last six months. The whisky’s USP is that it is available in seven variants—distributed in 10, 15, and 18-year-old varieties, apart from offering whisky finished in Sherry, Port wine and Burgundy casks,” says Moet Hennessy MD Ashwin Deo.

Also, in a marked shift, the target audience for whiskey today is the youth; for, drinking a single malt is more of a style statement. “Most of us want to try something aspirational. A few year’s ago it was any blended Scotch whisky. Today, it has to be a single malt,” says Ashish Misra, VP, marketing, Mason & Summers Alcobev, Bangalore, whose brand Glen Drummond is another strong contender in the single malt segment.

Countrywide, the market for single malts is very small—under 20,000 cases annually, with the overall whisky market estimated at around 69 million cases. But everyone’s talking about malts and the segment, according to industry analysts, is growing over 100% year-onyear. And the industry hopes this talk will convert to volumes over the next two years as it has happened in wines. Also, single malt consumption would go up in a big way if prices come down.

The unique part of this year’s show is that it’s on for two days instead of one, giving people plenty of time and opportunity to come back and buy what they like. There will be a range of designer ensembles, mix and match, Western, Indian and fusion wear, including ethnic saris, bags, jewellery, shoes, belts and funky accessories.

Talking prior to the event in Bangalore, Shashi Venkatraman, Chief Operating Officer, Worldwide Media Pvt Ltd says, “All the designers are highly individualistic and this is reflected in both the pret and ethnic ensembles. The Femina Clothes show is our way of bringing young designers to our readers at affordable prices and each collection is exquisite and wearable.” Anshu Bhattacharya of Rave from Goa, who will carry elegantly constructed ensembles and simple yet immaculate semi-formals in a plethora of vibrant colours says, “The Femina Clothes Show has been a platform for designers to showcase their creativity, innovation and elegance. I’m sure this year too the shows in Bangalore will bring along a whiff of freshness to people’s wardrobes!” The two-day fashion extravaganza will feature brands and labels from Delhi, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Goa, as well as local talent.

While there will be a few of the earlier favourites who participated in the show in previous years, theres also a young, funky bunch of new age labels on display — offering you clothes that are affordable and fashionable.

And the creative brains behind these cocktails were 22 bartenders from various hotels and clubs across Bangalore who had gathered to participate in the Belvedere Bartender Competition.

Sponsored by the luxury vodka Belvedere, this contest was an international platform for Indian bartenders to showcase their talent. Three outstanding bartenders, one each from Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore will be selected to represent India for the regional rounds in Hong Kong to compete with bartenders from across Asia and the rest of the world.

Says Ashwin Deo, managing director, Moët Hennessy, India, and Indian Sub-continent, “Ever since Moët Hennesssy came to India, its initiative has been to increase customer awareness, trade, education and accessibility of its brands. Belvedere, one of Hennessey’s offerings started the cocktail/martini culture in India and has taken it to further heights with the first international Belvedere competition that’s given local bartenders a global platform.”

Competing to make it to the regional rounds in Hong Kong, six out of 22 participants made it to the finals in Bangalore.

Theatre person Anish Trivedi, who short listed these six finalists says, “Bringing it down from 22 to six means I had to taste 44 cocktails. It was a lot of hard work, but finally it boils down to creativity, taste and presentation. With a cocktail, first comes the look, then aroma, taste and finally the sensation… you know the starburst that you get in your mouth.”

While finalists Ashok Suvarna, Shashikumar, Danny D’Silva, Raghunath, Manu Manikantan and Vijay Kumar Jayram battled on during the final round, fashion guru Prasad Bidapa, Pradeep Andrews from the bartender academy and Anish Trivedi sipped on a melange of colourful cocktails to arrive at a collective decision on the final winner.

“The cocktails were very nice. Using saffron was an unusual. I found that it enhances the taste,” says Prasad Bidapa.

“In a cocktail, it’s about taste, aroma and blend. For a bartender, it’s also about having good knowledge about his product.