At Toit, our customers have always been our primary focus. They’re the ones who bring life to the place, create memories and end up giving the place its familiar, friendly vibe.

And there are so many different kinds of people who come through our doors daily, that we wanted to get to know their stories.

The Kudix Mug Holder of the Month is our little way of celebrating our customers, and their unique stories.

She loves her beer as much as she loves her blood samples. Say hello to our Mug Holder of the month, Dr. Aneesha.

Are you from Bangalore?

Yes, I’m very much a Bangalore girl, I’ve been here since 1997. More than Bangalore, I am an Indiranagar girl. And I’ve done my schooling and college here as well, so yeah, I’m a proud Bangalorean.

So, you’re a doctor right?

Yes, I’m a pathologist. 

This might be the first time we’ve got a doctor as our KMH.

Really? I come down here with my MBBS buddies a lot. This is a fun hangout place for us. We come here, have a good time and catch up.

Why do you think you were selected as the Mug Holder?

I really thought about this. You know somebody may think I deserve to come here because I come here a lot and I drink a lot of beer. And I’m not denying that.
To be honest, the first time I came to Toit was in 2010, when it started and the brewery wasn’t open yet. I came with my girlfriends, and we were wondering if this was going to be a bakery or restaurant, because there were no breweries at that time. I had bottled beer then. 

I feel from then till now, it’s not just the number of times I’ve come here but that I’ve had so many of my important events happen here—I had a pre-engagement party here, and my bachelorette party was also here. We’ve hosted our friends’ pre-wedding parties here too.

Whenever we wanted to have a memorable time, like a keepsake, we’d come to Toit. And we still do. Everyone here is so friendly and I’ve never been to another place where they put so much effort into nice gestures.

Have you always been a beer drinker?

Pretty much. I’m not much of a hard liquor person. I love beer. My Dad introduced me to beer drinking, he’s a beer lover.

Does your husband also drink beer?

Yes! But not so much initially. I think I got him into drinking beer more.

What does he do?

He’s an engineer, and he works in construction.

Wow. Doctor and Engineer is fully by the book. Will you future child have any choice?

I think it’s quite overrated actually.
I mean, I love being a doctor, it’s a wonderful profession. But there are so many other professions too, nowadays. 

It’s not the ultimate thing, and I’m sure students have also realised that, getting into other branches and making a name for themselves. I think we’re past that whole ‘either be a doctor or an engineer’ thing.

Is it possible to say that being a doctor is a fun profession?

It’s fun when you make it fun for yourself. It’s more passion than fun. It can vary for different doctors, and how they perceive it.
But when you’ve put so much effort into learning and when you give that back to society by using your intellect, it’s a very nice feeling, whether you’re involved with the patient directly, or indirectly like I am. I use my brains and I hope I’ve made the patient feel better.

So, have you always wanted to be a doctor?

Actually, I have. More so because of the lack of wanting to do anything else.

My parents are doctors, and I just saw that as a way of life. And I’m happy I chose it, I’m very happy with what I’m doing. 

What exactly is a working day in the life of a pathologist?

Well, I wouldn’t say I’m a very seasoned pathologist yet because I just started practicing from August, because that’s when I finished my Masters and started working. It hasn’t been much time.

But we do everything, we see people’s blood reports and we see specimens from surgery and we have to tell them whether anything is cancerous or benign. It can vary and people take up different specialisations within pathology itself.

We hear all these stories about Medical colleges. Since you’re fresh out of your Masters, what is a crazy medical college story that you can share?

Nothing. I’m very boring that way. I went, I studied, I came back. I didn’t even go to hostel. All my friends have been very chill too.
We’ve all had fun of course, but regular fun. Nothing crazy.

It’s not a pretty picture for sure. It’s not like you can just say I want to be a doctor and just become one.
You need to be passionate, you need to be very hardworking, sometimes you may even wonder why you’re doing this.

But then when you see how you can apply your learning, then it comes through.

How did you end up finding the time to visit a brewpub this often?

You balance everything. Not everyone who goes to medical college has to be a nerd.

I mean, what is a nerd? I don’t know what a nerd is. Anybody who studies and is hardworking is just a hardworking person. You can be hardworking in any other profession also, and you don’t end up being called a nerd. 

But yeah, you balance things out I guess. And most doctors are pretty fun loving.

Yes. One can tell from the wild stories you’ve shared.

*laughs* See, I’m boring in general as a person. That I know. But fun for me is meeting my friends, catching up and sharing stories. Mostly, the friends I hang out with are my school friends who have grown into my college buddies, so we keep reminiscing. That’s what I like to do. I don’t really like those wild nights. 

Are you always working though?

It’s only once you start working, that you know what it really is like. You’re never really off. And you can’t really be like “I’m having my own time now, don’t call me”, because you’re needed. 

I’ve accepted it now. It’s part of the job. And when I want my personal time, I know I can get it and figure things out. I”m pretty sorted like that. But if you’re getting into medicine, you should accept this and know what you’re getting into.

What do you do when you’re not working?

I love reading. I’ve always loved reading.
I recently finished reading the Ramayana, this version being Ramesh Menon’s. I got really hooked onto it. And now I have to start the Mahabharata, which is huge!

I love cooking too! It gets tiring by the time I come home, but I do enjoy it.

What’re your favourite thing to cook?

I love making pasta. I love pasta in any form really. I used to like baking a lot, but I do that when I have more free time. I used to bake a lot after my exams. My husband loves the carrot cupcakes I bake. So much so, that now I’ve told him I’ll only make it on his birthday. 

You’ve already said you’re passionate about medicine. But what is the one thing you hate about it?

There’s nothing to hate really. But I wish the stress on doctors to deliver was lesser. People feel like doctors are God and everything has to be perfect, and they just dismiss it saying you can’t make mistakes. But it’s the age old thing, we’re also humans and they should give doctors a break for that. We have bad days too. Some days they might not be as friendly, but that doesn’t mean their mind isn’t working to find a solution.

If you weren’t doing medicine, what would you have been doing?

Something I would really like to do is open up my own small cafe sort of thing.
With food that I would like to prepare, with books there, a place where people could relax.

No fixed menu, it should change everyday based on what I feel like cooking that day.
But these are things I like to do, I feel if I make it a business, it might lose its charm. But I would like to do that someday.