Out, black spot

Subrata Roy with Sanjay B Jumaani

If news that the famously incarcerated Sahara group head honcho, Subrata Roy, (in jail since March for failing to appear in court in connection with the Rs 24,000 crore unreturned investor deposits) will be out on bail soon, turns out to be correct, then besides his family and friends, a certain Mumbai-based numerologist called Sanjay B (‘Success is a Blend of Good-Fortune & Hard-Work!') Jumaani will be a happy man.

Following reports this week that Sahara was trying to sell its Gurgaon land holdings to raise the Rs 1,211 crore for Roy's bail, we received a mail from Jumaani saying his own visit to Tihar Jail might not be ‘a waste after all'.

Subrata Roy with Sanjay B Jumaani

"When I first met Roy nine years ago, I strongly suggested that he and his staff, who all wore similar black uniforms, should desist from doing so," says Jumaani, a suggestion that was obviously not heeded given Roy's woes.

"Three months ago when I met him in Tihar, he was dressed in Black again!" says the numerologist who betrays signs of being something of a colour fascist.

"But recently on my second visit, he assured me that he was done with the colour black. ‘I've even stopped wearing watches with black dials and straps!' he is reported to have confessed to Jumaani.

"I predicted that he would bounce back, as he's in his 68th year, which adds up to the number 5," says the pleased fortune-teller.

This is all very well, except for one small issue. How will Roy ever be able to show his face in New York's fashionable de rigueur all-black wearing Plaza hotel, which (along with London's Grosvenor House) he happens to own?

Oh well, just as well he's trying to sell them off too.

Jolly Delhi dinner
The uproar surrounding his alleged financial misdemeanours involving realty major DLF does not appear to have dampened Robert Vadra's spirits much. Word comes in that the beleaguered businessman, along with his wife Priyanka, was part of a group of friends who attended Mumbai based bizman Rajiv Wazir's fiftieth birthday, hosted by doting wife Komal Chhabria Wazir last week.

(Left to right) Former Nawab Kazam Ali Khan, Rajiv Wazir, Robert Vadra and Tunnu Singh

Held at the Imperial's cosy Italian eatery, the evening saw a host of Delhi worthies partake of the celebrations. The very grand Kasim Ali Khan, former Nawab of Rampur, said to own a legendary library in one of his forts, was overheard inviting guests to check out the ‘2000 rare books' in its collection; Chitrangada Singh, daughter of the erstwhile Maharajah of Gwalior, the late Madhav Rao Scindia, spoke about her husband Vikramaditya Singh's foray into active politics. The son of Dr Karan Singh, former Maharajah of Kashmir, has joined Mehbooba Mufti's party and is busy with the state's hustings.

Birthday boy Rajiv Wazir with NDTV anchor Sonia Singh and wife Komal

Star NDTV anchor Sonia Singh regaled those present with vignettes from her hilarious recent interview with Arnold Schwarzenegger, while her husband Congress MP RPN Singh, shared some eye popping details about politics in UP's hinterlands even while LVMH grandee Tikka Shatrujit (scion of the Kapurthala clan) swore to have flown in especially from Paris to attend the festivities. What did the Vadhras speak about?

According to a guest, their conversation was about their love for wildlife in general and tigers in particular and their affinity to Ranthambhore, which they said was their favourite holiday destination. Other guests on the table were Nandita and Imran Baig, and Tunnu and Zenia Singh.

It was a pleasant enough evening as these things go and hostess Komal Wazir, clad in her customary Chanel, was a most charming hostess; also, it is reported that in the absence of mangoes and bananas from the table, Vadra did not have to worry about certain men (mango) or republics (banana) that their presence would have evoked, nor ask any of the guests if they ‘were serious'.

Love me, love my plane
A measure of how high powered the recent spate of Mumbai weddings have been could be surmised from the fact that guests at the two involving the children of the country's leading bankers Chanda Kochhar (held in Mumbai) and Deepak Parekh (held in Jodhpur) were overheard hitching rides on their private jets. "Of course it wasn't to save on the expense of commercial airfares," remarked one of them later.

Chanda Kochhar and Deepak Parekh

"For this crowd, that obviously wasn't an issue," she said. "It was expediency-since there were so many common guests at both events, they could flow seamlessly from one wedding to the other almost as if in a cavalcade if they flew in together too," she explained.

High flying just got a whole new meaning!

Bending it like Leicester
Suddenly Mumbai can't get enough of Footie fever. Sources say that Leicester city football club is bringing its ambassador, ex-England, Liverpool and Leicester City player, Emile Heskey to Mumbai in a delegation led by Uday Dholakia, brand ambassador, Birmingham Airport this week.

Uday Dholakia and Emile Heskey

And amongst the host of promotional activities surrounding the trip will be free football lessons given to underprivileged children brought together by Anjali and Nirvan Shah's PIFA Foundation.

Also, Sante, the bar and restaurant in Bandra will host a ‘comfort food and drinks' evening on Tuesday night for the players.

Nice!