Japan on a Plate

Edamame soup

Salmon art

Sea bass takes a swim

That seaweed swirl

What is the meaning of life? Why are we here? Is there a God? I wouldn't know. I live for the here and now, by which I don't mean I plan for the weekend, but that I can only rely on this moment right here. So when I found myself at Edo, (meaning estuary, also the former name for Tokyo), ITC Gardenia Bangalore for their “Japan Debate on a Plate”, I was well pleased with my philosophy du jour, because the here and now tasted sublime and I came away with the answer to at least one of the above questions, yes, there is a God, a culinary God at least.

At Edo, that would be Resident Chef Fumio Kikuta who got a helping hand from visiting Chef Vikramjit Roy and Raveen Misra, Regional Brand Ambassador, SEA Portfolio Markets and Emerging Asia who served up whisky-based cocktails that went over my philistine head but which, I was told by connoisseurs at the table, “tasted as smooth as butter”.

I was too immersed in my Salmon with confit melon and miso cream cheese, bubuarare and smoked corn mash to pay too much attention to the Green Tea whisky complete with Johnnie Walker and seaweed flourish except to admire the way it looked (yes, Superficial is my middle name), and by the time the Edamame soup, sansho crisp and foie gras foam arrived at the table, I couldn't have told you the name of my lunch companion. Not because I was imbibing freely but because I had never tasted something so delicate and inspiring. Can there be anything worse than tasting a spoonful of what looks like a science experiment and finding it tastes like one, too? The soup looked like an artist had laboured over it in both terms and Mmm, it was good.

The Chilean sea bass with tamari teriyaki and organic vegetables and jalapenos maceration followed by a dessert of Johnnie Walker XR 21 poached pear carpaccio and yuzu probiotic yoghurt ice was tantalising and refreshing. What an ode to the imagination some meals can be.

I don't know about you but to me, Food can often answer all existential queries.

The Indians are coming!

Dot, not feather, and they're everywhere. And I don't mean running away from the Saudi authorities, but on the little screen.

As the old 'Goodness Gracious Me' joke goes: Hannah Simone who plays Cece on 'New Girl'? Indian. Noureen DeWulf who plays Lacey on 'Anger Management'? Indian. Less surprisingly, Sarita Choudhury who plays Mira on 'Homeland'? Indian. And of course Kunal Nayyar on the 'Big Bang', Mindy Kaling for 'The Mindy Project', 'Navi Rawat' in 'Numbers' and Maulik Pancholy in 'Whitney' (who's also Out, thus killing two requirements in one fell swoop; it's been mandatory for years to appease the gay community by representing them as well, you see).

The Indians are not just coming, either, they've been. The frontrunners from Kal Penn ('House') and Naveen Andrews ('Lost') to Rhona Mitra ('Boston Legal') and Indira Verma ('Luther') paved the way for the public acceptance of brown faces on the telly, something Anil Kapoor on '24' must have been most thankful for.

The thing is, though, that when you cast black, brown, Korean and gay because they are black, brown, Korean and gay, it's just as racist and homophobic as Indians looking down their noses at Nigerians or telling your parents you're really Bi. Lady Gaga has been trying to tell us for ages that we are born this way, why haven't we learned the lesson and moved on?

Not that the actors are complaining, and neither am I, and who knows maybe the above have not made inroads in Hollywood because one of Cable's biggest markets is Asia, but it's important to be aware of hidden currents before they pull you under.

When you cast an actor for their fitness in a role, that's when you show an evolution in species. I think it's safe to say we're not quite there yet.

But isn't it fascinating to think of ('Burn Notice') Gabrielle Anwar's father being Tariq Anwar, and so on? Putting borders on the world and on people is just the silliest thing.