Sleepless in Bombay

They had over a hundred friends notable amongst them 8212; Devika and Suresh Bhojwani, Rani and Suri Kapur, Amitabh and Jaya with son Abhishek, Tina and Anil Ambani, Mohita and Maitreya Doshi, Czaee and Suketu, Queenie and Raja, Laila and Ricky, Vinita, Bakul Jain, Laxami Nair and Rita Mehta who has finally handed over Blitz to Vijay Mallya. Lock, stock and barrel, I think congratulations are inorder. A personal letter from Vijay inviting me to the relaunch of Blitz, nestles amongst next week8217;s invites. The food was divine and the band had everyone on their feet. The best looking man that afternoon? My neighbour, Ricky Lamba, in a cream Armani shirt that enhanced his drop-dead good looks. The best looking gal? Wife Laila looked great but Queenie in a short wrap top and white pants that showed a taunt belly proved that baby Rajveer had only enhanced the looks of this attractive mama. I salute them both! Modern gals with a good-look, keep-fit agenda. I like a Sunday brunch as a tradition, this one took the cake and the icing.

I have a confession to make. I don8217;t go to or write about all the events I get invited to strictly on the basis that events that have a lot of people do get talked about and are public. But more private affairs, I like to keep so. The farewell party for the American vice consul thrown by the Gurbaxani8217;s at the Palkhi was a short education on Sindhi tradition and culture, withprayers, dance, music and food all echoing the theme. The diplomatic corps was in full attendance and enjoyed themselves. Kishen Mulchandani, the czar of Palkhi, kept a keen watch ensuring a warm, hospitable ambience.

Sanjeev Choudhury, our bachelor Canadian vice consul, turned 30 this weekend. We kicked off the celebrations at the Palkhi with a clutch of his inner circle Shiamak Davar, Meghna Reddy with sister Sushma, Suchitra Pillai, Vikas Bhalla and his wife Punita, yes folks! He got married recently. My felicitations to them. Maleeka Lala and her sister Shonar, and Sudha Narayan from the Taj in a lovely Kanjeevaram lehnga, showed ethnic chic at its best. We then went on to the MTV-Seagram bash at the 19008217;s event managed by Wizcraft. Neon smooth and bumpy star stickers gave every one a special luminosity, but the star of the night was undoubtedly Usha Uthup. As a young girl in the 8217;70s at Lawrence School, I remember her sitting on my bed and strumming her guitar, singing for us before her performancein the school auditorium. I was so taken by her ethnic sensuality and style. The rich Kanjeevarams, jewellery and bindi which she still sports. The velvety, bedroom-beckons seductiveness of her voice, left us all shaking like marshmallows with jellied legs.

My first attack of heroine worship and to my absolute delight it was with a sense of deja vu that I heard her again. She was like the Queen of Sheba, we were her smitten slaves ready to do her bidding. The place rocked. Usha has charisma undoubtedly but the voice has an addictive sensuality that is raw and raunchy, warm and sexy with a power and range that could bring down a concert hall. She led us through a repertoire that went from Hava Nagila8217; to Malai Ka8217; to the latest Hindi film songs. I was on cloud nine as were Jaideep and Ramona Garware, Pratap Gaekwad, Neerja Shah, Kailash Surendranath, Pradeep Guha, Arjun Khanna and our birthday boy. Usha, you made me feel light ears away from pain and tears and transported me to a state of near Nirvana.Thank you MTV! Veejay Malaika Arora looked like a saucy lemon drop in a figure-hugging yellow dress. The blue invite with the sprung Seagram bottle was also inspirational.

Sanjeev8217;s invite for his formal 30th day celebrations came in a red box with 30 pieces that led you through the events of the night. The Presidential Suite at the Taj touched off the festivities, then the 19008217;s and finally a champagne breakfast at the Apollo bar. Everything worked like clockwork with a touch of magic. Considering we were all to be on night watch, I thought the party would take a while to warm up. No siree! Everyone was in their element before you could whisper midnight. Malvika Sanghvi was escorted by the culture minister Mr Navalkar, who was charm itself when set upon by a couple of the nights denizens, trying to make him defend his culture laws.

He came through as a sincere, intelligent gentleman. Kudos to him. Our charming host Sanjeev then sheparded the flock to the 1900s where we dutifully shook the mandatory legand then on to breakfast. I think us lesser mortals learnt a lesson or two on how to host the best party with true blue Hindu hospitality from our Canadian friend. Talk of a role reversal, power to you my friend Sanjeev, we are indeed proud of you.

I THINK a socially busy week begs the question how does one party so hard? I think for most people it holds true that they pack a full day of hard work. To unwind at the end of it, you want to be with friends 8212; to be sociable 8212; it is the panacea for all ills. The last thing you want to do is to sit and mope so you play as hard as you work.

The heavy gold invitation to the Marina B show was as classy as the jewels on display at the Crystal Room in the Taj. We were greeted by host Raouf Ansari and his wife. The show started preposterously late over two hours past the time on the invite. The tables were woefully inadequate to seat the most part of Bombay8217;s rich and famous. Seated though I was, it was distinctly uncomfortable to see friends standing close by whohad been on their feet for the better part of the hour. The show when it did start had clothes by Azeem Khan, a new star on fashion8217;s firmament from the traditional house of S U Zariwala. The Khan brother8217;s I8217;ve known over the years and I have a distinct partiality to their brand of honest, clean lines both with their clothes and personalities. After the show we collectively drooled by the showcases displaying the modern8217; yet young at heart8217; designs of Marina B. Suresh Bhojwani very kindly introduced me to the lady herself. She had on a beautiful triple row parure in pearls gold and semi precious stones. Tres chic, tres bon.

Neelam, our own versatile actress-cum-jewellery designer, and I had some distinct favourites from the showcases but a closer look was by private invite on Sunday. I did manage to catch up with a lot of friends and favourites that night. Esther and Raju Daswani, Nina Raheja, Nirmal and Meera Zaveri, Queenie, Raja, Biddu, our own talented music and rhythm export to the UK, Vivek and hisgorgeous wife Bonny, who is well into the last trimester of her pregnancy, Farah Khan and fiancee Akheel. Poonam Dhillon, Anu and Jaggi Shivdasani and last but not least the brave Sanjay Dutt and his to-die-for8217; bride Rhea Pillai. Sanjay and I talked about the dismal state of the penitentiaries in India. When he talked about the abuse that was meted out to him physically, I was sick to the stomach. A flood of memory rushed through my mind to almost bring on a flood of tears. Sanjay wrote me a poignant letter after Raj8217;s demise which I will always treasure.

When I said the reason we feel compulsive about having a good time is perhaps because deep inside the numbing ache of the bad times is hard to forget. Hard to put down factor it is a chilling reminder, day in and day out, that life is no bed of roses. The thorns of life are sharp and draw blood everytime. Like one of my soul sisters lost a tiny bundle of hope this week, may god give her the strength to come to terms with it. Another friend lost hismother, may her soul rest in peace. Riyad Wadia left Mumbai for New York 8212; forever, he said 8212; our loss is their gain. Anyway tomorrow is another day 8212; HAVE A NICE DAY!