Oh-So Beautiful

The new Soho House in Mumbai offers quirk, peace and great tonics. Just don’t be social media-friendly during a stay, as Sharmistha Chaudhuri discovers

Should you or should you not? Take a membership that is. That’s the question on every creative-minded person’s mind in Mumbai. Or at least the ones I came across on my visits to the city.

Soho House recently opened its doors in Mumbai, well early November 2018 to be precise; and the flavour of the season has tongues wagging. From the swanky ‘townies’ to the glamorous Juhu fashionistas, the first Asian property of the exclusive members-only club found from London to Amsterdam, Berlin to New York, has everyone talking. And a chance to be seen at.

There I was, sitting at the lovely rooftop area, taking a swig out of one of the house tonics—gin, cucumber, mint and lemon, fashionably called Eastern Standard—on a Friday afternoon. I won’t lie, it felt wonderful to be away from emails, copies to write or edit, meetings and most definitely, social media. I completely agreed with the house rule—no taking phone calls or pictures in member areas to maintain privacy. While the uninterrupted view of the sea on my left was a calming factor (it wasn’t the gin, I swear), on my right there were people milling about, meeting friends or just grabbing lunch.