She's the closest we've come to a dyed-in-the-wool jet setter, travelling the world on a PJ with a hip and young entourage
(Far right) Ananya Birla with (centre) Gabriella Demetriades and a friend at Boom
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She's the closest we've come to a dyed-in-the-wool jet setter, travelling the world on a PJ with a hip and young entourage. This week, word comes in that long-legged and long-tressed Ananya Birla, eldest child of one of the country's most admired business leaders, Kumar Mangalam Birla, dropped in at Brussels with her girl gang, including her personal stylist, well-known model Gabriella Demetriades, to attend the ionic Tomorrowland festival in Boom, Belgium.
Ananya has been keeping up her international music commitments, and a couple of months ago, had been invited by the Dutch DJ Afro Jack to Las Vegas for a similar electronic music festival.
Afro Jack, known for his progressive house beats, had flown to Mumbai to launch Birla's debut single last year 'Livin' the Life.' Besides her music career, she is founder of Microfinance, a company that provides microfinance to women in rural India. She is also the founder of CuroCarte, and is a cofounder along with her mum Neerja, of Mpower, an advocacy platform to champion mental health! It's called Livin' the Life!
That 70s show
The perks of our job are varied, but we never imagined they would include Shobhaa De singing to us over the phone. The best-selling author was trying to convey the mood with which she approached her latest book, 'Seventy… and to hell with it,' written to coincide with her 70th birthday which occurs next January.
Shobhaa De
"You remember the song from Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge sung by Kajol?" De enquired, and on hearing we hadn't, launched into a not half-a-bad rendition. "Zara sa jhoom loon mein," she crooned, even breaking off to sing the SRK lines (na re, na re, na ) and then returned to pick up the Kajol lines, "Mein chali, ban ke hawa..." I wrote it joyfully," she said, "having great fun with it. As my editor Meru (Gokhale) says, it's a coming of age book."
'Seventy and to hell with it,' all 80,000 words of it took De a year and a half to write, and because she shares her birthday with that of the Indian Republic, it is also her reflection on India turning 70. "It's a big book. To be out in January well in time for the two big lit fests, and in which I've said exactly what I feel like," said De. To which we replied. When haven't you?
Towering stalwart meets young turk
We love nothing better than to be present when the stalwart of a profession meets the Young Turk, who is rapidly ascending rungs of the same ladder.
Noshir Talati and Ashiesh Shah
And this Sunday, at a rambunctious and jolly soiree, which brought together a variety of people from different generations and walks of life, we were present at exactly one such confluence: the meeting of the country's iconic architect and interior designer Noshir Talati, with his younger colleague, award-winning and high-profile architect du jour, Ashiesh Shah.
What most delighted us was the palpable respect Shah held Talati in. "He's a legend, he paved the way for all of us who followed," he gushed. "You could say his firm is the standard bearer of the profession." When asked to elaborate Shah did so enthusiastically. "Look, let's face it. Luxury and interior design were considered Infra Dig in post-Independent Nehruvian India," he said. "Mr Talati made sure that they became a way of life." Indeed.
A different music
"In retrospect, I guess words like 'dumb' and 'low life' were a little harsh," said the feisty singer Suchitra Krishnamurthy, when we called her yesterday about the Twitter storm she'd caused with her spirited complaint about an early morning azaan in her neighbourhood, which interfered with her sleep.
Suchitra Krishnamurthy and Sonu Nigam
"But I've also used the same words to criticise gau rakshaks and beef bans," she added, eager to show that she had been an equal opportunity offender and, thus, not communal. What was interesting is that Krishnamurthy's complaint followed on the heels of her neighbour and colleague Sonu Nigam's infamous tweet on the same lines.
"We live in the same vicinity," she said. "And I had reached out to him during his episode." Has Nigam reached out to make common cause with her this time? "No I haven't heard from him. We're not kids who require such support," she said, adding, "The funny thing is that since his episode, the noise appears to have gotten louder. You cannot force religiosity down people's throats this way."
The Punjab out of the boy
She is one of Hollywood's most acclaimed and attractive actresses, and has frequently appeared in published lists of the sexiest women in the world. He is a much married Bollywood actor, and quite a dishy one at that.
So when the two met in Paris many moons ago as part of a brand endorsement, no one was surprised that sparks flew. What was not expected, however, was how the hunky actor, celebrated back home for his suave charm, rapidly degenerated into Punjabi crudo under the heat of her gaze when they were introduced.
"Maybe the jet lag and that bubbly he was quaffing added to his state," laughs the young middle management executive who'd been assigned the task of accompanying our hero on the assignment. "But in a few minutes after meeting her, he appeared to be overwhelmed by his inner Punjabi, and began telling me how he was going to @#$% her, come what may," says the gent who admits that though he can laugh about it today, at that time he feared the actor's behaviour would result in him losing his own job. "I was mortified that she would overhear!" he confided after a few glasses of wine about the memory.
Er, did the wine-soaked boy get his wish? "I cannot say for sure, but it did seem strange that the actress suggested we all drive to a romantic vineyard, for a late-night post-dinner drink after the event," he says, "After which, I passed out!"
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