Love her or hate her, not many can ignore the enigma known as Radhe Maa, our very own, self-proclaimed lipstick-wearing godwoman
Love her or hate her, not many can ignore the enigma known as Radhe Maa, our very own, self-proclaimed lipstick-wearing godwoman. The perennially coiffured, self-styled saint has largely captured the public imagination for the past few years with her hilarious interviews making the rounds on social media.
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Radhe Maa and Huma Qureshi
Recently, a video was shared on social media of the godwoman attempting to enunciate the queen's language, which received its fair share of traction. New York-based hack Aseem Chhabra commented, "There are actually people out there who treat this completely ridiculous woman as a religious guru? How's that even possible?
And within minutes, the young, pretty actor Huma Qureshi jumped in, "I want to make a film on her. Epic. Some sacrifices will have to be made. It is the role of a lifetime..." And when a fellow tweeter enquired, "How does one write a script for this absurdity?" Pat came Qureshi's response, "Write an absurd one!" Nice!
Well-upholstered event in Delhi
The weekend saw the launch of the much-awaited 25th anniversary celebration of uber home furnishing store Sarita Handa's exhibition at Bikaner House in Delhi.
Ritu Kumar, Anita Lal and Sarita Handa
"It was really quite spectacular," says our friend Malvika Singh, the dynamic spirit behind BH. "Besides featuring archival material from across the world for viewers to understand the journey of the brand through rare, vintage textiles, the two-day exhibition will also see the label collaborate with wellknown artists Satish Gupta, Jeevan Xavier, designer duo Gunjan Arora and Rahul Jain, and Arrti Mansinghka, who interpreted her creations in the most imaginative ways," she said.
Some of the works displayed
Handa had set up her pioneering home furnishing enterprise in the early '90s when it was still rare to find fabrics inspired by indigenous traditional weaves. Soon her distinct appliqué work, quilting and crewel work textured jacquard weaves, vibrant ikats found their way to some of the best homes across India and abroad, to Pottery Barn, Macy's and Bloomingdales.
Malvika Singh
"It was a great inauguration party with 600 of Delhi's best and brightest in attendance, that carried on from 6 in the evening till midnight, in the sprawling rear lawns of Bikaner House, which has become one of the Capital's most iconic art spaces," says a source. 11 pm? How civilised is what we thought. In Mumbai, that's when parties start.
Where were you when...?
Thirty-three years after India's former prime minister Indira Gandhi was gunned down by her security guards, the memory of that horror is still palpable amongst Indians. Yesterday, on the anniversary of her death, the question on a friend's timeline, 'where were you when you heard about it,' brought forth a tsunami of memories, most of them grim.
Indira Gandhi
People recollected the eerie silence that followed, the dark plumes of smoke that rose from Delhi's colonies, as Congress-led groups allegedly went around neighbourhoods with lists of Sikh families to attack, and the mayhem and grief after an unarmed 67-year-old had been brutally assassinated by the very men meant to protect her.
Our experience of that tragic day somehow became the first chapter in NYC-based author Pranay Gupte's biography of Gandhi. It had transpired that Gupte was in Mumbai on that day, and had dropped in for tea, when we had answered the doorbell and broken the news to him. The writer in Gupte captured the ashen faces and tremulous voices of that afternoon quite accurately for posterity.
A tall tree had fallen and its effect would be felt for many years to come. Yesterday, as baby boomers recollected their memories of the day Indira Gandhi died, perhaps the most chilling was the one pithy sentence from a lady: "The building carpenter returned clean-shaven after lunch."
To India, with love
Donna Karan, the fashion designer and creator of the label 'Donna Karan New York' (DKNY), has lived the American dream. A graduate from the acclaimed Parsons School of Design, she made it to the big league on her own, before stepping down from her daily responsibilities at the eponymous brand she created in 2015, to focus on her new lifestyle brand Urban Zen.
Donna Karan and Manish Malhotra
We had met the celebrated designer during her visit to Mumbai last year when she was a panelist at a luxury conference, and had been delighted to hear that the quintessential New Yorker had a grand passion for India and all things Indian. This passion, she said, forms the style of Urban Zen, and she wears it on her sleeve like a badge. Recently, Manish Malhotra was party to Karan's love for India too.
Malhotra posted a photo of himself returning from a trip to Dubai yesterday. And amongst the numerous comments the photo received, our eyes focused on one from Karan. "So miss India, been far too long my inspiration, the beauty, the talent, the soul of Urban Zen," she posted. Could the enterprising Malhotra take this love further and propose a Louboutin-Sabyasachi type collaboration between the labels? Stranger things have happened.
Yacht's the way
The phrase from penthouse to 'repent' house is often used in the context of India's debt-ridden billionaires, many of whom have been forced to cut back on their flamboyant lifestyles because of huge un-serviced debts to banks and other financial institutions. Not all the debtors cut back on their extravagances, of course.
This page has often written about big fat weddings, the acquisition of sumptuous properties, and other modes of conspicuous consumption that they indulged in, despite the huge amounts owed. However, rectitude might be catching up with one such billionaire.
Recently, word came in that the over-the-top, one-of-a-kind, and highly coveted luxury yacht that he owned, was up for 'charter,' which means that it can be booked by others on its free time. The announcement of this news on the site of an international yacht magazine has elicited considerable interest from not only those who are considering hiring out the boat for their own travels, but also from other business peers who approve of this cost-cutting method.
"Finally, good sense has prevailed," one such business leader was overheard muttering over drinks at a five-star biz club in SoBo recently.
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