Top marketer of ideas and products

Baba Ramdev and Shekhar Gupta

"Mukesh Ambani is Mukesh Ambani, but Baba Ramdev is no less," says Shekhar Gupta, who, after his sizzling chat with the chairman of Reliance recently in Mumbai, will be back again tomorrow with yoga guru and BJP poster boy Baba Ramdev.

"Ramdev is one of the most successful marketers of ideas and consumer goods. He is an extremely charming person and I look forward to talking to him tomorrow, though of course we have sparred a lot," says Gupta, who at the Ambani session, which was packed to the rafters with sundry billionaires, media mavens and socialites hanging on to every word uttered by the notably relaxed and feisty tycoon, had commented wryly that he wondered if the crowd had come to hear him.

What will he speak to his Orange Highness about? "The Baba has been one of the earliest champions of demonetisation and his fight against black money is well known," says Gupta. "I will ask him about the recent move among other things," he says.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits the Serum Institute of India campus

High-powered visit
"He took a keen interest in the manufacturing activities of the Serum Institute of India, where the ‘Make in India' programme was highlighted with our company's numero uno global position in vaccine production for under-privileged children worldwide," says chairman of the Serum institute Cyrus Poonawalla about the high-powered visit made by PM Modi to his campus over the weekend. As is known, Poonawalla's enterprise is a global leader in its field.

As for this picture, featuring the likes of the PM and Poonawalla along with NCP chief Sharad Pawar, HRD minister Prakash Javadekar, CEO, Serum Institute of India, Adar Poonawalla, Maharashtra Governor C Vidyasagar Rao, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis among others, what can we say? Seldom has a snap featured so much wealth, power and famous personalities (on various sides of the political divide, we must add) before.

From Venice, with love
"I dine out a lot and I was quite bored with the culinary scene in Mumbai with no more than a handful of restaurants with consistent food, service and a vibe. So I collaborated with my friends Marlies Bloemendaal and Natascha Chadha at Ministry of New to curate bespoke events," says Kaveer Shahani, whose ‘Menagerie Pop Up' brunch - From Venice With Love - we had dropped into on Sunday.

Kaveer Shahani (3rd from left) with guests at the brunch organised at a prominent event space in the city

"Friends can invite friends and the gatherings host up to 30 guests. The focus is on great food, great wine and great conversation," says the scion of two generations of wine and spirits merchants, who had branched out on his own to set up Groove Temple Entertainment in 1996, to curate live music events and later to curate bespoke experiences around fine food, wine and song with his wine community ‘Wine You Up'.

The event had a laidback Sunday vibe to it with many expats and a smattering of Indians sampling the four-course menu, that included 16 authentic Italian delicacies from Baccalá Mantecato (said to be George Clooney's favourite) and Sopressa (sourced directly from the farm and made in the very same style as 50 years ago) to Zabaglione (made with Marsala wine), prepared by an attractive mother-daughter team from Italy.

"I find the chefs as a part of my travel and invite them to come and cook for us. Each edition will feature a new chef and I am particular about fresh and authentic ingredients, healthy cooking and, of course, taste!" he says.

Inclusive and on time
"We are less than one month away from the Kochi-Muziris Biennale opening with curator Sudarshan Shetty, who has conceived this edition based on the thought, forming in the pupil of an eye," says Bose Krishnamachari, one of the founders along with Riyas Komu of the art event that has created a place for itself on the international art calendar.

Sudarshan Shetty, Bose Krishnamachari and Riyas Komu

"We will present 97 artists from around the world and India," he says. But it is his next few words that offer a clue as to just why his ambitious art happening is such a success. Just as previous years, we will open our exhibition on December 12," says Krishnamachari, demonstrating a commitment to tradition and protocol that artistic types are not usually known to possess, adding, "As always, there will not be a VIP preview. We will begin. On one day. Together." No special privileges for grandee gallerists and beady-eyed collectors then? Nice!

A song on her lips
Word comes in that Mumbai-based singer and songwriter Geetu Hinduja will be releasing her third album in the form of an EP titled, ‘It's About Time!' this weekend.

Geetu Hinduja

Hinduja, who made a professional foray into the world of music rather late in life, says she's been asked by friends, journalists and fans about her latter day vocational shift. "In my early twenties, I was a housewife and mother, and later, I became an art gallerist and consultant," she says, adding, "So I am sometimes baffled by the questions people ask."

"For me, it is a natural culmination of events as they unfolded in my life," she says, adding, "So the title of this album is a reflection of the thoughts that crossed my mind as I was gently pushed to think about my musical journey in a way I had never looked at before."

The album falls in the genre of contemporary electronic folk and contains three songs and a bonus track is a Sanskrit shloka, which talks about the time aspect of Shiva.