High On Ayurveda

To impart health benefits of Ayurveda to the younger generation, Tejuswini Chowdhury is pairing Ayurvedic cocktails with club food at her night club Pudding & Mink, also the world’s first Ayurvedic Cocktail Bar. She speaks to Society about this novel concept.

- Meeta Mishra

Have you ever thought of a concept where the modern can meet ancient science to appeal to the youth? I bet there are many ideas in everyone’s head. One such idea that seems to be working is Ayurvedic cocktails. Yes, that’s right. It might sound like an oxymoron but Tejuswini Chowdhury seems to have cracked the code and has got takers queuing up outside her hip and happening night club, Pudding & Mink in Hyderabad. Tejuswini is the daughter of firebrand politician Renuka Chowdhury, who was also regarded as one of those people who were ahead of many others in her vocation when it came to ideas and execution. Here are the excerpts from an interview with the dynamic Tejuswini Chowdhury.

How did the concept of Ayurvedic cocktails and food in a nightclub come about? It is interesting because the Ayurvedic lifestyle is usually seen as that which abstains from alcohol and being up at late night hours.

I discovered Ayurveda when I was pregnant, five years ago. If Ayurveda was a religion, nature would be its Goddess. We are the microcosm of the bigger macrocosm. What better way to reintroduce our ancient heritage than through the extreme lifestyle that is now our norm? Ayurveda is all about balance. Mixing our drinks according to Ayurvedic philosophy brings a balance into the crazy lives that we all lead nowadays. A modern day city dweller is not going to turn into a yogi overnight. But if we learn to mix little bits of nature into our chemical worlds, I think it introduces even the biggest sceptic to the concept of greater connection to our cosmos. It’s like wearing a seatbelt when you are driving. You still need to drive. But why not be smart about it?

And how does one know what to order?