The Do-gooders

The black tie event was preceded by cocktails where guests sipped on sparkling wine and nibbled on hors derves,while an emcee stationed on a makeshift ramp posed some uncomfortable questions. “What percentage of the Indian population lives on a bare minimum of two dollars a day? “Thirty percent?” was the first tentative answer. “Hundred percent?” ventured somebody else. “Ladies and gentlemen,seventy percent of your fellow country men survive on just two dollars a day,” admonished the emcee. Again,the weirdness of being cocooned in plush surroundings while pondering world poverty,but the money generated will go towards the educational wing of Khushii. The music and the ramp walk started with FDCI’s Sunil Sethi,Kapil Dev,Reema and Vidushi Mehra,wives of designers Nikhil and Shantanu.

An LV bag went under the hammer for Rs 1.5 lakhs and a Swarovski item for Rs 75,000,both Rs 50,000 more than the original price. The Mehra brothers bought back their own clothes,Gujral bid for an outfit by designer Malini Ramani. Mira Gulati of jewellery brand Mirari chose an Ashima-Leena number. “None of us including me do enough on our own for society. So if we can contribute to events like this which work towards a greater cause,then nothing like it,” said designer Suneet Varma. Guests include actor Irrfan Khan who hobnobbed with former cricketer and MP Mohammad Azharuddin,while designers like Ashish Soni,Rina Dhaka,Aparna Chandra and JJ Valaya caught up with industry friends. There was also the launch of a book of Urdu couplets and poetry,Tashnagi,by Manzar Bhopali. Who says charity can’t be fun?