Glamour of Derby

Red, did we say ? Gawd ! That colour is totally out. So, what’s in then ? Rust, blue, white and yes, of course, black. The colour of the night in the light of the Derby Day. Black is the perennial favourite. And black it has been on Derby Day all these years. The ladies in their short and long legs. Deep necks and shallow glitterati gossip. Thick makeup and thin bodies it’s all on parade.

Beer baron Vijay Mallya, sponsor of the Indian Derby, has realised the tremendous marketing potential of the Indian Derby as a glamour and glitzy event rather than a sporting one. Earlier the Derby used to ride(literally) on the hype of those who dipped their pens into champagne instead of ink. The cocktail press would tout fashionable phrases and deify the Derby at the social altar. Now, that stylish spiel is not a figment of a reporter’s imagination. The Derby gets an added sheen of gloss every year. The buzz begins the night before at Mallya’s pre-Derby do where the social butterflies twitter, flitter and glitter. Besides the fashion factor, the party has a dash of exotica thrown in like the twist of lime in a glass of gin. The last year one saw the exotic comprised flamingo dancers who lit up the night. This year who knows what the man whose Kingfisher beer touts itself as the `King of Good Times’ brings to Mumbai.

And that’s what the Derby really is. The king, the swing, the zing of good times. The long lines of cars snaking towards Mahalakshmi. The horse from the rear!

That’s what glamour at the Derby is. A day for people who know not a treble from a tanala. But certainly know their Gucci from theirGivenchy.

(PMG)