Going live with Gabriella

What on earth is a live installation? We enquired when we were informed that sultry model-turned-designer Gabriella Demetriades, was planning one this week to show her latest line Deme clothing at a suburban restaurant. "It's the international trend where models stand wearing the clothes," we were informed.

Ah yes, we said, remembering one such experience in Rome at the anniversary of an iconic jewellery brand, where the awkward experience of staring at human mannequins, while they stared right back at you, had made for some painful moments.

Gabriella Demetriades

"We really wanted to do something different and interactive, and not your usual show," said Demetriades about choosing to show her clothes in this manner. "At the end of it, it's a celebration for all that my brand is; fun and sexy, and we want the evening to be all about that."

Demetriades, who was working in South Africa as a stylist, before she shot to fame in India as the woman over whom Lalit Modi and Shashi Tharoor allegedly fell out, has modelled for international brands. "I want it to be experiential, so the guests can get up close and personal with the clothes." Oops.

Kunder's quickie
Shirish Kunder, whose witty bon mots have often featured on this page, has made a tightly wound, short psychological thriller that has already garnered 5 lakh views at the time of writing this.

Shirish Kunder and Farah Khan

Launched by Kangana Ranaut on YouTube on Wednesday, in the presence of its actors Manoj Bajpai and Neha Sharma (Radhika Apte is also part of the film but was not present), the short has won accolades from no less than Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, who tweeted about it.

"Its getting great reviews, so we are really happy," said Farah Khan, Kunder's wife, herself a leading Bollywood director. "Hopefully by the time your column appears tomorrow, it will be around a million views," she said.

The Principal's the thing
Rarely have notices from school authorities resulted in so much celebratory rejoicing, especially, when they happen to be from Meera Isaacs the indomitable principal of SoBo's premier school, the Cathedral and John Connon School.

Meera Isaacs

But this week, when Isaacs issued a note to parents of students in Std V and VI announcing that the school has taken a decision to ‘discontinue examinations with immediate effect in an effort to allay the young students' stress levels and to return a semblance of their childhood to them,' her words ricocheted through some of the city's most select homes.

"I was distressed to see how today's children are being made so miserable by their parents who live their lives through them and focus on marks marks marks!" said Isaacs when we enquired about her decision. "I hope that tuitions become a thing of the past and that the joy of being children is returned to them," she says, adding, wryly, "I did it on humanitarian grounds, but it's so funny that I've become a heroine overnight." Indeed.

A scene for his next plot?
"Stonehenge was included in ‘The Krishna Key' but from a different perspective," says best-selling author Ashwin Sanghi, about his visit to the iconic English landmark, after the summer solstice this week, when he chanced upon a group of druids performing a ceremony.

Ashwin Sanghi

"Incredible to think that in the years between 3200 BCE and 2600 BCE, a group of people with neolithic tools could perfectly align these massive stones to capture the summer and winter solstices," he says. A revisit in a future book?

The druids performing a ceremony

A good eye
As one of the city's leading ophthalmic surgeons, he's known to have a good eye, but few know that Dr Burjor Banaji, sensitive photographer and avid trekker has a good ear too.

The saxophonist. Pic/Dr Burjor Banaji

For almost 10 years, Banaji, an inveterate globetrotter, had been hearing an unknown saxophonist perform at the Boston Public Garden. "Whenever the sun came out in Boston, he'd go to his special corner in the park, and I would hear soulful music wafting into my hotel room," says said Banaji. "However tired I was, I'd make it down there to listen for a while."

Last month, when Banaji encountered the gentleman again, he was compelled to shoot this portrait. " I told him how over the years, his music has always drawn me out of the hotel and into the park. And how much I've enjoyed hearing him play. I asked if I could post his picture on Facebook and he said, "Go ahead man. Make me famous," recalls Banaji, adding, "In my mind, he already was." Nice.

Pincer-like effect
Employees of this multinational conglomerate are feeling the pincer-like effect of its trouble with creditors, and the fallout of its run in with regulatory authorities over its latest breaking news scam.

"We have not been paid for months," wailed a mid-level manager on assurance of anonymity. "Many of my colleagues have been summarily dismissed and replaced with alternative junior hiring, so that remunerations are reduced.
What's more, the office complex at BKC has been sold off, " he says adding, "The instances of health problems due to anxiety and stress are growing alarmingly amidst my colleagues."

And to think that in spite of the mayhem in the ranks, the company's promoters are continuing with their high-rolling ways, with no change in their yachts, jets and overseas mansions and vacations.