Singing for Justin Bieber
Justin Bieber
Singing for Justin Bieber
It's every girl's dream, even for the one who has probably been brought up on a diet of Beethoven and the Beatles, and so, when singer Sahirah Cyrus Oshidar (19) was informed that Whitefox and Justin Bieber's team had approved her cover version of 'Bieber's Despacito', to be featured as the track behind his promotional India video, she was naturally thrilled.
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Sahirah Cyrus Oshidar
"He heard my cover. Best day of my life," she said. Of course, Sahirah is no stranger to showbiz. Her father, Cyrus Oshidar, was amongst the founding team that brought MTV to India and is known as an authority on youth culture. The happy occurrence of her song being picked transpired when she'd gone to meet Arjun Jain, the man behind the 'Justin Bieber: Purpose World Tour', for 101 India, her father's digital youth platform, where she's interning before she leaves to study at King's College London later this year.
Her elder sister, Shayaan (22), is also a musician and is in her final year at Liverpool University, where Paul McCartney studied. "They've been singing together since they were toddlers and Sahirah is a huge fan of Justin Bieber. She's understandably over the moon!" said her mother, artist Simeen Oshidar. Nice!
Mahabanoo Mody Kotwal
Mother courage
Friends and fans of dynamic theatre veterans, the mother-son duo Mahabanoo Mody Kotwal and Kaizaad Kotwal, are delighted to learn that the former, who had to undergo five weeks of hospitalisation recently due to a nasty fall, is on the mend. The condition of Mahabanoo, a lady of immense courage and conviction whose championing of women's rights and other progressive values has made her one of the doyennes of the art world, had been a matter of concern for all.
Kaizaad Kotwal
"Though the road to a full recovery will be a bit longer, it is wonderful to see her having taken all this so well; and I am in awe of the strength, courage and resilience she has shown," said her relieved son, Kaizaad, yesterday.
But, of course, even as she recovered, the graceful lady, never one to wallow in self-pity, had a hilarious anecdote to share, which proved that she had not lost any of her wit or humour. "Yesterday, my grandsons called up. I believe Kaizaad had sent them a picture of me with half my hair shaved," she said. "So Kamyaab, the older one tells me, mehmu, now you just have to go to the Justin Bieber concert. You will fit right in and look just like his fans," she laughed.
That's the spirit!
Shashi Tharoor
But return our accent at least
Good to see Shashi Tharoor's spirited response to his critics, with the ammunition he uses best: words. Ever since the silken-tongued former diplomat and social media maestro tweeted the word 'farrago', it appears to have bemused twitterati no end and had trolls reaching for their dictionaries before they could reply.
And while there is no doubt of the Congressman's way with words, what baffles many, is where on earth he acquired that marbles-in-the-mouth accent from. Educated at Mumbai's Campion School and then later at Delhi's St Stephen's College and Tufts in America, with stints in New York and Geneva, Tharoor's accent reflects none of these places, so much as it does Oxbridge or even 10 Downing Street!
Making his frontal attack on British colonialism and their 'Days of the Raj' in India all the more baffling, one of his fellow politicians remarked recently, "The Brits must be very confused. Why is he attacking us for robbing his country when he's still not returned our accent?"
Rohit Gandhi and Rohit Bal
One year older and mellower
It was a low-key and chilled-out celebration to bring in popular Delhi-based designer Rohit Bal's birthday this week, when his legion of friends got together for an evening of good food, wine, flowers and warmth. Seen on the occasion were Bal's fellow designer Rohit Gandhi and stylist Neera Nath, amongst others. "Happy birthday my super talented brother. Feel super blessed that you are a part of my life," posted Gandhi, about fashion's enfant terrible, who appears to have mellowed with age.
Vicky Ratnani
A lather about ice cream
"These days ice cream is largely made from cheap palm oils. They're not even really ice cream," said Chef Vicky Ratnani yesterday, about the whole frozen desserts versus ice cream issue that appears to have got him into a bit of a lather recently on social media. 'let's chat on 9th May between 5pm to 6pm #IceCreamVSFrozenDessert #joinme #livechat', he'd tweeted by way of initiating a dialogue on the subject.
"I always look for the real deal, real milk ice cream, especially for my daughter, who loves it," he said, adding, "There are a few brands in India that do this, one of them which I came across on a trip to Ahmedabad a few weeks ago. These frozen deserts use cheap oil as a cost cutting method." And then to further buttress his point, he added, "In any case, I've always used ghee on my rotis and not oil."
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