Making the most of their summer break while transitioning from school to college, Bhavani Ramesh, Harsshi Padmanabhan and Kawshika Rangarajan put their time to good use and planned and executed a fund-raiser to clean up the Singanallur tank. They were classmates in Vivekalaya school when they started out and have continued to stay in touch. Harsshi and Kawshika have secured admission in colleges in Coimbatore while Bhavani is still awaiting admission in colleges abroad. The girls chose Miyawaki - a Japanese method of rapid afforestation, for their clean-up project. Using the funds raised from the fete, vetiver will be planted around the banks of the tank; their long and fibrous roots will help filter the water.
Décor, food and entertainment were chosen tastefully for the fund raiser, and guests were treated to an elegant evening of fun, fete and fiesta at Whispering Stones. The evening was kick-started with Ashwin Mathew’s stand-up comedy – hilarious monologues peppered with a repertoire of comical accents. Virgin mojitos and vathalakundu coolers were served to whet the appetite of the gathering before dinner was announced. Soon, Roe Vincent and troupe took centre stage and opened their performance with a Beatles song before moving on to more memorable old numbers in Tamil and Hindi as well.
Meanwhile, there was a buzz of activity happening in the dining area with dozens of chefs applying finishing touches to their creations. The dinner was attractively laid out, with innovative and quirky decorations using local hand-woven baskets, strands of marigolds, shiny copper pots and glittering glass bottles.
The chefs - Manikandan, Praveen and Joe from the restaurant Kuchi N Kream, along with their team cooked up a storm for their guests. These chefs have won many accolades in the world of pastry and have the honour of having worked in Michelin-starred restaurant kitchens.
There was a salad bar with over five different salads, and a tempura counter doled out piping hot onion and mushroom tempura, on demand. The classic Italian Arancini rice balls were reimagined with a local twist; golden-brown crispy sambhar saadam and thayir saadam Arancinis were dished out. Flavourful Dahi gel spheres in strawberry sauce were served as individual appetisers in appropriate spoons.
The quesadilla and pasta counter was packed through the course of the dinner as eager diners awaited freshly grilled quesadillas and quickly tossed pasta with their multitude of accompaniments.There was vegetarian and chicken biriyani served in matkas with crispy batons of bread. Kuchi N Kream specialises in desserts and it’s no wonder that their desserts looked funky and interesting. The dark chocolate truffle with raspberry leather, a classic flavour combination but served in unconventional forms and textures was an ingenious idea. Infusion of herbs like basil in the Mango panna cotta and lemon grass in the strawberry cheesecake were a pleasant surprise. There was also the dramatically appealing nitro-serve ice cream in salted caramel flavour that magically appeared out of misty nitrogen clouds from a container. The act of contributing to a worthy cause by itself lends a feel good factor. But when it is combined with an evening of top notch entertainment a spectacular food, it elevates the experience further.
Bhavani, Harsshi and Kawshika say they have raised enough funds from the Fete N Fiesta event to plant vetiver around the Singanallur tank. They will work with other social activists to implement the project. They are considering event management as a career after graduation, and in the meanwhile, they say they have a line up of charity events in the pipeline to support various causes in Coimbatore.
