Some events are built to be photographed. This one was built to be sat in.

Gulmohar Gatherings: Sip and Reflect was Tarini's first pop-up, and by her own account she played it cool while being "hella nervous". It was held in the garden nook at Food Stories Bangalore, under the winter sun and a canopy of blooming gulmohars, and the premise? Gather a handful of strangers and ask them to slow down.

On the agenda

Vision boarding. Winter arc-ing. Touching grass. Giggling. Sipping. That was the whole programme, and it was enough.

Every small detail had been designed closely. Tables of paper, stickers, scissors and glue, which is a setup most people have not sat in front of since school and immediately remember how to use.

A full house of strangers

People came from different cities, different careers, different lives. They talked about journaling, hobbies, making things on the internet, moving to a new city, and the particular difficulty of making friends as an adult, which is the conversation everyone in their twenties and thirties is quietly having and rarely gets to have out loud.

The line from the recap that stuck: it felt like everyone walked in as strangers and walked out as friends.

Our part

The drinks, and the reason they work at a thing like this. An afternoon built on conversation and reflection is not improved by alcohol; it is just shortened by it. Cold kombucha keeps a table talking.

Thanks to Tarini for building it, and to Food Stories Bangalore for the garden. May we all meet under another gulmohar tree soon.

Originally shared by @tarinily on Instagram. View the original post →