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’ll stride into a brewpub in a saree and won’t give it a second thought. And if she’s not busy working 18 hours a day, that’s probably where you’ll find her anyway. Say hello to Neha, our Mug Holder of the Month.

Tell me about yourself. What do you do?

I work for an IT firm, a healthcare company. To put it in simple terms, we manage everything behind the scenes. Whatever you see—the cafeteria, the transportation, the conferences, the events, any kind of meetings—me and my team work on that.

We call ourselves enablers, for people, to give them a conducive environment so that they can just sit down and work, and not worry about anything else. We make solutions for hospitals and physicians.

Are you from Bangalore?

I do call myself a Bangalorean, after having been here for 11 years. Originally though, I was born in MP, and brought up in the beautiful city of Udaipur. I spent most of my childhood in a very small town, about 80 kilometres from Udaipur, called Rajpura Dariba Mines. I don’t think anyone would have ever heard of it.

I spent most of my childhood in a very small town, Rajpura Dariba Mines…

My dad happens to be a geologist, and he was based out of this mining area. It was primarily a zinc and alloy type of mine, and it was a very versatile kind of place. We lived in a colony with people from multiple cultures. So that whole North Indian-South Indian distinction people sometimes make, didn’t apply. I grew up with people from all over. That made it easy for me when I moved to Bangalore.

When did you end up moving to Bangalore?

When I got married. I used to be a hotelier. I studied to be a hotelier and started off working with hotels. I worked with a 5 star hotel before I got married, and then continued at another after my marriage. But somewhere along the line, I felt this need for a work-life balance.

I didn’t know the concept of weekends before I came to Bangalore. I used to work a good 18 hours everyday. And though I enjoyed it thoroughly, but I felt that maybe I needed to balance things out a bit too.

I’m not the type who enjoys a lot of free time—I’m a workaholic. I call myself that, and I still can only sleep about 5 hours and not more.

So is this job as hectic as being a hotelier? Or not as much?

I would say that if I want to make it, I can.

I’m not the type who enjoys a lot of free time

Why do you think you got selected as the Kudix Mug Holder of the month?

I need to ask you that question, actually. I’m not sure why I’ve been selected, but I like their beer so much, I come here every week. And this is with all groups of friends—people I am meeting for the first time, as well as all my old friends. They’re all bugged with me, because they’re all like , “Don’t ask Neha, you know where she wants to go.”

How do you make time to chill at Toit given that you’re a workaholic?

I catch up with friends here and sometimes after a hectic work day, when I want to relax, I stop by here and get a glass of beer for myself. I just get going after that, feeling so much better. This place has such a relaxed feeling about it.

Do you have a favourite beer?

Yes! The Toit Hefeweizen. I also wait for the Summers to come, because I love the Aam Aadmi Ale. I try everything they come up with at least once, but I think the Aam Aadmi is something I look forward to. Even the Christmas Special Santa Ale is nice.

I also wait for the Summers to come, because I love the Aam Aadmi Ale.

Do you have a favourite food?

Scotch Eggs! They used to have it in chicken before but now it’s in lamb. I don’t eat lamb but just because it’s Scotch Eggs, I eat it with lamb now. I like it that much!

Was growing up as a geologist’s kid a lot of fun?

Yes. We stayed at one place for a really long time. I have grown up in a place where everyone knows everyone, because it was a small colony. And I was a very naughty child.
I’ve also never really had a ‘girl gang’. Always had these boys who were my friends.

Since it was a mining area, we would go explore these old mines that had been shut down. We would just get in, and there would still be these locomotives there. It would be pitch dark, so we’d carry candles and torches, whatever we could find at home. We were not supposed to be there because it was a restricted area, and one day somebody found us. I still remember the beatings I got, because I took so many other kids along with me.

…we would go explore these old mines

It was a small set up, but with high levels of naughtiness. I grew up with forests and foxes and snakes. I don’t think I was particularly scared of anything, but my parents certainly went through a lot while I was growing up. *laughs*

Any particularly crazy incident that comes to mind?

So many! We grew up in a place that had a lot of cacti and this one time, I told my younger sister I would give her a facial with the liquid that was stored inside them. It oozes a milky substance. I rubbed it all over her face and told her not to tell mamma. By nightfall, she had blisters all over her face and was bawling. Thankfully, nothing too bad happened and she was fine. But it took a couple of weeks for her to be perfectly fine.

Does your husband come here often as well?

Not really. He stays home, and takes care of my son. His job allows him to work out of home a lot, which is great because he’s always been a very homebound kind of person. My job on the other hand, requires me to be in office every single day. Plus, I like to go out as well. So, it all worked out fine for us. We’re both very much Bangaloreans though and I don’t think in the 11 years that we’ve been here, that the whole conversation of ‘going back’ has ever come up. We’re going to be here!

How did Toit become a part of you life?

By chance actually. My previous office used to be close to another brewpub and I used to go there. I’m very brand loyal, so even when my office shifted, I continued going to that brewpub. One fine day, one of my friends, after much convincing, literally dragged me to Toit for his birthday.

…that if there’s once place i will go to, it will be Toit.

And after that day, I haven’t gone to another brewpub. That was in October 2012. Everybody knows, my family and my friends, that if there’s once place I will go to, it will be Toit. You will definitely find me at Toit. In a saree. You can also add that I love sarees! I think I have around 400, and I don’t care if I get weird looks when I walk into a pub wearing a saree. I’m most comfortable in them and love collecting new ones too!