Notes for all seasons

What made the afternoon eclectic and interesting were the keen observations made by the panelists — Harsha Bhogle,Tavleen Singh and Dr Farokh Udwadia — and the discussion that brought to the fore the amazing range of Rao’s writing. Keeping with the spirit of the book,the discussion covered diverse subjects – from politics,economy,reforms and terrorism to poetry,sports and culture.

Generous with his praise,Bhogle said,”Rao is an intellectual who doesn’t imprison himself with intellect” and called the columnist “a banker with a feel for language”. Rao read out from the book,starting with his controversial pro-George Bush article titled ‘This one’s for Marta’. Next on the columnist’s list was his review of Ruskin Bond’s memoir ‘A Town Called Dehra’ and his tribute to freedom fighter Minoo Masani,among others.

The session was packed with corporate honchos,academicians,investors,IIM alumni and book lovers. In attendance were Anil Kapoor,head of FCB ULKA,banker Renuka Ramnath,HDFC Bank MD Aditya Puri,Rupa Kudva,CEO of Crisil,marketing gurus Rama and Ashok Bijapurkar and Yusuf Noorani of Zodiac Clothing Co. Also spotted were artist Jitish Kallat,theatre personality Dolly Thakore,singer Penaz Masani and art consultant Mukeeta Jhaveri.