Dagger drawn

As the nation stayed rivetted by the hijack drama, New Year’s Eve took on a more sombre note. Last minute cancellations to holiday destinations became de rigueur. There was a pall of gloom and just as the nation was cohered as one during the Kargil conflict, one again got a feeling of every one sharing this nail-biting, yet unnecessary use of force and terror by thehijackers against their innocent victims. With the blinding of the Sri Lankan Prime Minister, a courageous Mrs Bandarnayake vowed to fight on, but for both Sri Lanka and India, terrorists had captured the headlines and relegated the Millennial New Year to an `I don’t care if I celebrate or not’ attitude for its citizens.

Having decided to spend the early evening at a family get-together I then took my two sons over to neighbour Sushil Gupta and his elegant wife Meera’s home. We spent a little time with them and headed out with close friend’s Sanjeev Chowdhury, Ritu and Ajatshatru, Krish and Shiv, to Avanti and Yashovardan Birla’s home for a low-key New Year’s Eve party. When we arrived at 11.30 pm, we were about 80 or perhaps a 100-strong and when the clock struck 12.00, we exchanged very muted, quiet greetings. Sombre, yes! Family, yes! Friends, sure! But low, low-key all the way. Shahrukh Khan with wife Gauri, Manish Malhotra, Kajal Anand (who was the co-host), Rhea Pillai and Sanjay Dutt, VijayendraGhatge, Sunita Menon, Kunal Goswami, Kalpu, Neelam Kothari, Laila and Ricky Lamba were all there to share in this celebration. But it was very muted and under played. I left soon after, came home, wished my parents and sat with Ritu, AJ, Krish, Kalpu and Kunal and toasted the fact that the hostages were home with their families. It certainly reinforced my own belief that strong familial ties are the best New Age Mantra that will do not just our families, but the nation proud.

We then ventured out to what is becoming an institutional New Year’s celebration done with great panache and style by Pramod Goenka, his brother Vinod and the Morani’s. Seven hundred to 800 of the beautiful people, fireworks, great food from dinner to breakfast catered by the Oberoi, and the finest French champagne and wines made this the most talked about happening do. There were actors and actresses galore, directors, producers, models, all strutting their stuff. Everyone was having fun, the music was catchy and the dance floorpacked. Chayya and Nirmal Momaya, Arvinder and Simi Chandoke, Sunaina and Ashish Soni, Kunal Goswami, Kalpu, Reena, Monu, Beti, Kishen Mulchandani with sister Anita, and Uru Patel, were all congregated by the dance floor and I could swear most of them had their dancing shoes on and some were doing the `hoola hoola’. I tried the jive and when I almost swung into a pillar, versus my dancing partner, discreetly retreated to the less strenuous pastime of people watching. What was the dress code colourwise? Black, most certainly. Ravens one and all, but short and long dresses all found equal favour. But in the vast sea of fashion on display that night were very few whistle showstoppers.

Though the government organised `2000′, a show with Zee TV and Wizcraft which was very well organised and attended, at Chowpatty it still didn’t kickstart the New Year. To be honest Mumbai was a bit of a damp squib except for friends and family reunions as if in empathy with the hijack drama which had shaken one and all.

Myprediction for the year `2000′ is that small private dos will score over mammoth-sponsored events, where push and shove is the order of the day and the traffic is snarled forever. Private small dinners and events will be the `chic’, classy, celebrations that the glitterati will choose to be associated with. So, event managers, scale down and tone down to be in tune with the spirit of `2000′.

In light of the above, I went to a charming brunch at Indigo, everyone’s favourite restaurant, the brainchild of Rahul Akerkar. It was Anju Taraporwala’s 30th birthday and husband Farhad had about a 150 of their friends to brunch. It was obvious that everyone was having a whale of a time and when Rahul arranged for me to have an oil-free Spanish omelette, I assumed the role of French food critic and promptly gave the restaurant a `Three Michelin Star’ rating. Honestly, the food is scrumptious, the ambience friendly, the waiters have good attitude. With all these ingredients and a great chef-cum-owner Hey! They qualify!Some of the more attractive ladies that afternoon, the Birthday girl Anju, blushing in pink, her friend Preeti Kamlani, Avanti Birla, Sheetal and Poonam Bhagat, Neelam Kothari, Aarti Surendranath, Czaee Shah, Divya Mohta, Natasha Nanda, Gauri Poohumal, Tehnaaz Merchant, Pooja Shahani, Laila Lamba, Bonny Bulchandani and Mrs Taraporwala Sr elegant in a white pantsuit. The guys who impressed were Rishi Sethia, Sanjeev Chowdhury, Farhad Taraporwala the host, Raja Dhody, Salim Merchant, Manish Malhotra, Ricky Lamba, Lalit Sanani, Arjun Mehra, Karan Johar, Sanjay Bulchandani and Kailash Surendranath. Aqueel of Cafe M-fame was the star DJ and he played funky music which had everyone on their toes. The opening of his Cafe M, was a huge success with the here and now hero and heroine Hrithik Roshan and Amisha Patel officiating as chief guests. Back to the party, I was so comfortable, that I got ensconced in a corner and chatted and laughed with a few close friends. The food was served on the terrace of Indigo withwhite and silver balloons and white umbrellas adding a French cafe ambience. The strawberry daiquiris and sangria kept the flow of conversation and spirits on a decided high. Definitely a landmark birthday. It had panache, style and that special something which is hard to define, but makes for a wonderful celebration.

Let’s hope the year `2000′ holds as much promise for a new way of entertaining and offers more exciting choices for one and all. Enjoy 2000!