"The photo was taken at the Nehru Stadium in Fatorda, Goa," says Raj Salgaocar, co-owner of FC Goa, who appears to have galvanised the entire family — his wife Dipti, son Vikram and daughter Isheta to sport its colours
Raj Salgaocar
"The photo was taken at the Nehru Stadium in Fatorda, Goa," says Raj Salgaocar, co-owner of FC Goa, who appears to have galvanised the entire family — his wife Dipti, son Vikram and daughter Isheta to sport its colours.
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“In Goa, we are all passionate about football; it is the religion that binds us. My father started Salgaocar Football Club in 1956 and the Dempos started theirs in the sixties,” says the industrialist, also known for his interest in the arts.
Vikram, Dipti, Isheta and Raj Salgaocar
“We went through a challenging time during the initial stages,” he says about some of FC Goa’s underwhelming performances, “but it is the hard work and focus of our entire team and our coach, and undoubtedly the love and support of all our fans which has led us to the third spot. We are determined to make it to the semi finals. May the Forca always be with us!”
Indeed.
Elegant Delhi wedding
It was a wedding as noted for its elegance and understated style as for the couple it was uniting. When Penguin India’s statuesque Chiki Sarkar wed The Economist’s Alex Travelli over the weekend, Delhiites were charmed by the intimacy and warmth of the festivities.
Chiki Sarkar. Pic/Twitter and Mani Shankar Aiyar
Held at the bride’s father, publishing tycoon Aveek Sarkar’s old friend former diplomat and Rajya Sabha MP Mani Shankar Aiyar’s exquisitely decorated bungalow, the wedding saw the likes of Sonia Gandhi, Subramaniam Swamy, Sanjaya Baru, Barkha Dutt, Rajdeep Sardesai, Salman Khurshid, Ramchandra Guha amongst a host of prominent Delhiites, partake of the festivities.
Aveek Sarkar and Rajdeep Sardesai
“Chiki’s twin sister hosted a wonderful dinner in her garden at Sujan Singh Park, the bride’s parents a dinner for close friends at the Oberoi and CPI leader Subhasini Ali (daughter of the legendary Captain Lakshmi Sahgal) threw a Sunday lunch to celebrate.
“It was as different as could be from the big fat Indian wedding,” said a guest. “And the glowing bride, barefoot outdoors in Delhi’s winter, dressed in a traditional red sari, looked like she’d walked off a Ravi Varma painting!
The number game
Time to come clean: we have no head for numbers. The moment you mention a number to us, it disappears straight into that mysterious place where all numbers go for some people. The place where 81 so easily transforms in to 18, where 220000.00 has one zero too many and where algebra sums grow tentacles and terrorise people.
Vivek Jain and Khushroo Dhunjibhoy
Our issue with numbers might have something to do with the fact that in Std III, we were roundly smacked on the left side of our head by our maths teacher (at which point we felt all the numbers we knew pour out of our right ear); whatever the reason, numbers and us have not been the best of friends.
Which is why we had not paid heed when a reader pointed out that in the item ‘Bitterly Fought Elections’ last Thursday where we had mentioned that current chairman RWITC Vivek Jain was facing charges of alleged financial mismanagement, it was to the tune of R15 crore and ‘not a mere Rs 15 lakh as you had mentioned’.
After all, aware of our disability, we had checked and rechecked the number: ‘1500.00 lakh,’ which to our maths teacher hit head meant the number ‘15,’ followed by many zeroes (never to be counted) and the word ‘lakh’: 15 lakh!
So imagine our horror when the nice reader persisted and we once again checked the document and realised that we’d got it wrong! ‘1500.00’ we now realize is a full ‘hundred and fifty lakhs’, not a small amount at all.
‘The reason I persisted is because I am a horse lover and an avid race goer and have been a member of the RWITC for almost 30 years,’ the reader had written, ‘and it saddens me to see the sudden decline in the running of our club. I, for one, am hoping for change in the upcoming elections, as maybe a change of guard will have some new ideas,’ said her mail.
Well, there you have it. A confession. A correction. And much concern about how RWITC Chairman Vivek Jain seeking re-election against stalwarts such as Khushroo Dhunjibhoy, plans to address the alleged outstanding loss of Rs 15 crore!
Unseasonal flowering
‘Laburnum trees flowering in Mumbai in November-these normally flower in March! Scary stuff!’ commented music composer and noted blues guitarist Ehsaan Noorani on a news report that he’d read yesterday on climate change.
Ehsaan Noorani and Laburnum trees flowering
“The implications are on a much larger scale. We already saw what happened in Kashmir this year with the floods,” he said when we spoke to him.
“It’s like a time bomb ticking,” said the musician.
Meanwhile, in corners of the city, magnificent laburnums spring forth in winter.
Christmas cheer
“I started organising bazaars to sell waterproof lined products that I make with an NGO first with Mary’s Clan and now with Navjeet Community Health Centre at Holy Family Hospital,” says Rachel Wawn, whose annual Christmas Bazaar held today at her Sobo apartment has become a source of seasonal cheer on the city’s calendar.
Rachel Wawn
“Home sales are more intimate and allow you to better engage with your customers also they keep costs down, which is important for an NGO or social brand,” says Wawn, whose famous mulled wine and mince pies are as much a highlight of the bazaar as the exquisite hand made products by NGOs such as Women Weave and the Victoria Memorial School for the Blind.
Christmas Bazaar
As for Befriend, the NGO Wawn herself spearheaded to provide a livelihood for women tailors, we hear its colourful waterproof wash bags have become quite the rage amongst some of Sobo’s most glamorous girls!