In The Good City – Expat Business Council – Doing Business in Bengaluru

Inside Koshy’s Jewel Box: Where Bangalore’s Global City Conversations Meet

Aditya Mendonca, Halima, and Anna Kuhnt come together at the Jewel Box at Koshy’s on St Mark’s Road for a private gathering that feels less like an event and more like a snapshot of Bangalore itself—layered, conversational, and quietly global.

Imagine walking into the Jewel Box at Koshy’s on St Mark’s Road, stepping through its understated entrance into a room that feels both intimate and historic. Ceiling fans turn slowly above conversations that drift easily between continents, careers, and cultures. On this evening, the space is not just a café—it becomes a meeting point for a different kind of Bangalore story.

This was the setting for a private gathering hosted by the Expat Business Council (EBC), marking the launch of its latest magazine—an evening that brought together cross-cultural professionals in one of the city’s most iconic venues.

Founded just six months ago, EBC positions itself as a networking platform for professionals navigating global careers in India. At its heart is a simple but timely idea: while most business networks are organised around nationality or sector, there is space for something more fluid—something cross-cultural, rooted in exchange rather than borders.

“We are a platform for cross-cultural professionals,” says Anna, co-founder of EBC. “There are many round tables already, but they tend to be country-specific. What we wanted to create was something genuinely cross-cultural, while still focused on business.”

That intent was reflected in the room itself. The Jewel Box, historically known as one of the earliest air-conditioned spaces in South India, has long carried a reputation as Koshy’s quieter, more tucked-away counterpart to the bustle of Parade Café outside.

It was a fitting backdrop for an organisation built around connection.

From a LinkedIn message to a working partnership

For Anna and Halima, EBC began not in a boardroom but on LinkedIn.

“We met about two years ago,” Halima explains. “Completely outside our usual circles. It started as a cold connection—but Anna replied, and that was really the beginning of it.”

What followed was less a structured plan and more a shared instinct that something was missing in the way international professionals were meeting and collaborating in Bangalore.

“EBC is also about helping expats understand India better,” Halima adds. “We’ve lived here for years now. We want to offer the same warmth and welcome that we received when we first arrived.”

Why Koshy’s still matters

Choosing Koshy’s for the magazine launch was not incidental.

With its origins dating back to the 1940s as a bakery and its evolution into one of Bangalore’s most recognisable institutions, Koshy’s has long been more than a restaurant—it is a living archive of the city’s social life.

The Jewel Box itself carries its own history as one of the earliest air-conditioned dining spaces in South India, once known for live music and a dance floor that attracted a very different era of Bangalore’s cosmopolitan crowd.

For EBC, that layered history mattered.

“It couldn’t have been a better place,” says Anna. “We also wanted a venue with a sense of history, and Koshy’s naturally carries that.”

Building something cross-cultural in Bangalore

The organisation’s focus is clear: creating a space where professionals from different countries and industries can meet without the rigid framing of nationality-based chambers or sector-specific forums.

“What we’re building is cross-cultural, but also business-focused,” Anna says. “That intersection is where a lot of interesting conversations happen.”

The evening reflected that ethos—an informal mix of introductions, ideas, and shared experiences, anchored by the sense that Bangalore itself is increasingly shaped by such hybrid identities.

A magazine, a milestone, and a city moment

The launch of EBC’s magazine marked an early milestone for the young organisation. For Halima, it is also a way of documenting the community they are trying to build.

“We’ll be publishing it in editions going forward,” she says. “It’s come together beautifully. I hope people enjoy it.”

And in a venue like Koshy’s—long associated with writers, thinkers, professionals and wanderers—the launch felt like a continuation of a much older tradition: of ideas being exchanged over coffee, meals, and unplanned encounters.

“A rite of passage for expats”

For Halima, Koshy’s also carries a symbolic weight beyond the event itself.

“It’s one of those places every expat ends up visiting,” she says. “It becomes almost a rite of passage.”

In that sense, the Jewel Box was not just a location, but a reflection of what EBC is trying to build: spaces where people from different backgrounds don’t just meet, but begin to understand each other—and the city they now share.

As the evening wound down, what remained was less a formal launch and more a familiar Bangalore scene: conversations that could have easily continued long after the lights dimmed, in a city that rarely stops talking.