Tags:
Journalism of Courage
Favourably booked
The Malabar Room at The Oberoi played host to quite a litterati event this Saturday. Writer Dominique Lapierre, famous for books like City of Joy and Is Paris Burning, released his new book 8212; A Thousand Suns. A Thousand Suns is Lapierre8217;s reflection of his life as a journalist and his gradual involvement with humanitarian activities. The title, he informs, comes from the famous South Indian proverb 8212; there are a thousand suns beyond the clouds. This is the first time that an Indian publishing house, the Full Circle, has rights for Lapierre8217;s book, which was released first in India because it is Lapierre8217;s first love and to check book piracy. Publisher Shekhar Malhotra said that some known book pirates had promised to spare this one, since it was for a noble cause. The royalty of this book will be used to build more mobile boat dispensaries called City of Joy8217; to provide medical aid to the underprivileged in Sunderbans.
Divine wine show
The highlight of the week was the Chateau Indage Wine Festival. The launch of their sparkling pink champagne Grande Cuvee De Millennium at the Oberoi Hotel on Friday, turned out to be quite a lavish affair, laced with a fine sprinkling of celebrities. Seen there were Shobha De, Lisa Ray, Anish Trivedi, Sabira Merchant, Dolly Thakore,Jackie Shroff and Prem Chopra.The wine festival was later celebrated in Narayangaoan near Shayadri Valley on February 28, with celebrities being flown down to the spot in a chartered plane.
Despite being a Sunday, Indage managed to drag quite a few wine connoisseurs and celebrities from India and abroad for the festival. Besides a guided tour of the state-of-the-art winery, the festivities included harvesting of grapes, planting of personal vines and the traditional grape stomping. Malvika Sanghavi, Anil Dharker, Nina Pillai, Madhu Sapre, Ajit Wadekar, Anish Trivedi and Rashmi Uday Singh were seen participating in the events. Also seen mingling with the crowds was Karen Anand who co-ordinated the gourmet cuisine on offer.
