Lutyen's leading lights

Shashi Tharoor, Karan Thapar and Hamid Ansari

Could there be a hidden message couched in Shashi Tharoor's soon to be released tome ‘An Era of Darkness'? Sure, its title is followed by the qualifier - The British Empire in India. But given that the author is one of the more vocal leaders of the Congress party, particularly pitted against the Modi regime on the recent OROP fiasco this week, could Tharoor's echo of the VS Naipaul classic also allude to present day India?

"I write to invite you to the launch of my latest work of non-fiction on the inglorious legacy of the colonial Raj in our land," Tharoor had emailed. "The book will be launched on the evening of November 4 in Delhi by the Vice-President of India, Hamid Ansari, followed by a discussion between Karan Thapar and myself on India's experience of colonial rule."

And with a leading single malt brand teaming up with a five-star hotel in the capital, the event gives every indication of being a gathering of some of Lutyen's Delhi's most celebrated leading lights. Could a few choice comments on any current perceived era of darkness then be ruled out? Watch this space.

The Arnab conundrum
Along with the rest of the nation we too are caught up in the swirl of rumours about Arnab Goswami's imminent plans. In no order of importance they being:

Arnab Goswami and Rajeev Chandrasekhar

1) He's joining Mukesh Ambani ("Didn't the tycoon single him out for special praise only recently during Shekar Gupta's event at the Trident?")

2) He's joining Rajat Sharma;

3) He's joining WION, Zee Network's ambitious new TV offering; and finally

4) That the voluble anchor is joining the erstwhile telecom baron and media tycoon MP Rajeev Chandrasekhar, who is his backer along with a bunch of BJP MPs. Arnab's wife, who has quit her job with the ABP group, is joining him too. To this we promptly asked the Bangalore-based Chandrasekhar for his comment.

(And to which Chandrasekhar promptly replied: ‘Rumors are best ignored') So where is Goswami going? Nowhere for the moment if you factor in his continuing appearances on his usual channel, where it's business as usual except that we noticed Goswami attempted to smile beatifically last night at his viewers at the start of the show. When Arnab smiles, the Nation is worried.

Really?
In this day of heightened sensitivity to gender politics, isn't the idea of a Playboy Club awfully outdated? After all the whole idea of grown women made to wear costumes to resemble sexy furry animals flies in the face of post-modern feminism.

But obviously this has not deterred Parag Sanghvi, Chairman, PB Lifestyle Limited, and Viiking Ventures' Chairman Sachiin J Joshi and Naitik Goyel (Partner, Mumbai Club), who are launching their enterprise with a party this evening in Worli.

"PB Lifestyle Ltd. is the master and exclusive license-holder for the Playboy brand in India, whose establishments at present are in Pune, Hyderabad and Gurgaon," says a spokesperson, adding, "With 31 outlets planned already, you can be assured the brand will make way to every major Indian city by March 2018." There goes the neighbourhood.

He's just my best friend ya!
It could well have been a scene out of KJo's ADMH. God knows the bathos it resulted in was worthy of one of the film's subplots.

When the attractive editor of a Delhi-based woman's glossy posted a picture of herself looking exceptionally blissful with her head on the shoulder of a good-looking but unfamiliar hunk recently on Facebook, it gave rise to a barrage of congratulations from her legion of friends, who assumed that it was an announcement of couple-hood.

Of course, those who knew the lady were a bit taken aback because last heard she was very much with her long time BF based in Hong Kong. Fortunately, we dug deeper. "Is there something we don't know about your life? Mainly is there a new guy on the scene?" we enquired.

True to her reputation of playing it with a straight bat, the lady did not shrink from the enquiry. "That's my gay best friend. My favourite person in the world. "She responded, adding, "My partner is still the same and I hope never to change him."

And she signed off with, "Thank you for not jumping to conclusions. Couldn't stop laughing at these congratulations. But as my yoga teacher said, we look so happy perhaps it's misleading."

And the birds flew freely
"In the last few days, I was in the border town of Jaisalmer and my group received permission to go to the India-Pakistan border. We raced to reach there before sunset so we could see the floodlights come on along the tall fencing that separates us from them," says artist Sharmishta Ray, who spent Diwali in Jaisalmer at Suryagarh as a guest of Manvendra Singh Sherawat, who she describes as ‘the visionary debonair owner of the opulent palace hotel', along with TED and INK Fellows.

TED Fellows Ben Burke, Sharmistha Ray and Nikhil Velanpur at The Golden Fort, Jaisalmer during Diwali.

"The Thar Desert with endless sand and shrub lay stretched out on both sides, a shared landscape and birds flew freely across unhindered by the physical boundary. It was a strangely humbling and emotional experience. What have we done to each other?" she mused on her return to Mumbai.

Others on the trip included musician and INK Fellow Joi Barua, who was recording a new album incorporating indigenous folk sounds, TED Fellow Ben Burke, a spoken word poet and performer from California, TED Fellow Nikhil Velanpur and INK Curator Lakshmi Pratury. "On Diwali we scaled to the top of Sonar Kela, set off fireworks with the local fort dwellers and sang songs into the night. It was the most magical Diwali ever!" she says adding, "We have more creative collaborations in the pipeline, so it won't be our last trip to Jaisalmer.