Devendra Fadnavis has, time and again, demonstrated his zeal to embrace a younger, more energetic persona
Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis in virtual reality
Devendra Fadnavis has, time and again, demonstrated his zeal to embrace a younger, more energetic persona. One of the youngest chief ministers of Maharashtra at 46, the boy from Nagpur has often been lauded for his eagerness to adapt to new technologies and practices.
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Recently, at a conference organised by a digital company, he had tweeted, “Fascinated to learn about virtual reality, artificial intelligence, cloud computing.” And now, evidence comes in that Fadnavis really digs ‘virtual reality’. We chanced upon this picture of him wearing the familiar headsets at a meeting, while his colleagues looked on bemusedly.
And though we don’t have further information on what was being simulated for the CM, we think looking at the world through virtual reality spectacles is better than looking at it through rose-tinted glasses!
Dining with the Nawabs
Amidst the general clamour of the lit fest in Jaipur, a note of quiet elegance was struck at the launch of ‘Dining with Nawabs,’ a coffee-table tome on the great cuisines of yore, written by Meera Ali, wife of director-designer Muzaffar Ali (and one half of their design label) and photographed by Karan Puri.
Meera Ali, Priya Kapoor and Karan Puri
“Each year, we host an annual dinner at ‘1135 AD’, the restaurant at Amer Fort, and this year, we celebrated the release of the book there,” says publisher Priya Kapoor about the book, for which she personally travelled to the nawabi kitchens of Arcot, Bhopal, Kotwara and Rampur amongst others.
Gaj Singh, the Nawab of Bahawalpur, Sanjay Bali, Pramod Kapoor and Muzzafar Ali
“All the dishes served at the dinner were from the book and we had over 300 guests, including the erstwhile rulers of Bahawalpur, Kotwara, Hyderabad, Kamadhia-Surat and, of course, Gaj Singh (Bapji), the erstwhile Maharaja of Jodhpur.” Others who attended this delectable soiree of food for thought, and food for the palate, were Shobhaa and Dilip De, Madhu and Naresh Trehan, and Anil Dharker.
Her place in the sun
Her famous former husband, Kabir Bedi, might be celebrating the first anniversary of his fourth marriage this month, but that has not stopped the London-based TV producer, Nikki Bedi, from enjoying her place in the sun.
Nikki Bedi
Bedi, who had met the thinking woman’s pin-up when she had played Desdemona to his Othello in Alyque Padamsee’s production of the Shakespearean tragedy, had made national headlines a few years later over her handling of an inappropriate remark made by one of her guests on a popular talk show she was hosting in the 90s.
This had resulted in the show being cancelled and Bedi had moved abroad to pursue a career in media shortly after. Now, back as producer of the BBC World Service’s Arts Hour On Tour, featuring the Jaipur Lit Fest, the ever effervescent Bedi looks like she’d put all that behind her as she soaked in the Indian sun. You go, girl!
Talking food, walking food
“The Upper Crust Food and Wine Show is one event that remains undiluted, dedicated as it is to sincere die-hard foodies,” says publisher Farzana Contractor, who’s all set to host the well-known gastronomical extravaganza in its 14th year over the weekend.
Farzana Contractor
Showcasing 150 exhibitors, the trade fair features food, beverages, and kitchen appliances from across the world, which are jostling to get on to the Indian plate, with live cooking demonstrations, wine alleys and samples of breads, cheeses, pickles, chocolates and yoghurts galore!
“But this year, I’m adding a feature,” says Contractor. “I’m taking my celebrity guests on a Gourmet Walk through the floor laden with goodies. With a little bit of help from my chef friends, who are also joining in this walk, we intend to widen our food horizon a bit and have some fun tastings too!” she says.
And who is joining in? Consul generals, artists, health gurus, fitness instructors, writers, even doctors and lawyers, she says. “That’s the nice thing about food,” says Contractor (who also organises a very successful annual pets’ extravaganza) “You can be anything and a foodie!” Indeed.
Heels and hooves
SoBo’s charming ‘Ministry of New’ certainly lived up to its name, when it played host to high tea for the finale of a three-week international women’s polo tournament, an initiative of Somi Roy and Roopa Barua. “Do you know that India does not have a single women’s polo team?” said Barua, who is a documentary filmmaker based out of San Francisco and Mumbai, with roots in Assam.
Roopa Barua (centre) with members of the US Polo Team
“Polo Yatra 2017 invited the USA women’s team to play in Jaipur earlier this month. This was followed by a tournament with Indian women players in Hyderabad, and the third chapter was the second Manipur Statehood Day Women’s Polo Tournament in Imphal,” she said. “The idea is to spearhead an initiative to develop and support women’s polo in India using Manipur as the anchor.” Nice!
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