Not in my name

What can one say to those who appear to base their entire political discourse on an extreme form of whataboutery No sooner had news of the tragic killing of Amarnath pilgrims by terrorists broken than the trolls began their baiting where are all the pseudo secularists and libtards who marched in candle light vigils for Junaid nowThis disingenuous argument ran so strongly on social media yesterday that we were witness to a bitter feud that erupted on a friends timeline The argument began when hed posted how every single one of his Kashmiri Muslim friends on Facebook had spontaneously expressed horror at the terrorist attack later going on to say there were 40 to 50 of them So deeply embedded in hatred and prejudice was one troll that he challenged the man to prove his claim down to the last name of the fortieth personAnd as the verbal brawl got nastier and more out of hand with both sides unyielding we wondered if this endless whataboutery would bring back even one innocent soul After all divisiveness and hatred were the cause of the problemSheikh rattle and rollWe woke up to a post by the impassioned restaurateur and TV judge Zorawar Kalra whose track record in three years could outstrip many This is completely unprecedented exulted the Sardar son of pioneering foodie Jiggs KalraHH Sheikh Mohammed at Farzi DubaiHonoured to have HH Sheikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum at Farzi Cafeacute Dubai for the fourth time he said And as the clip revealed the butter chickenloving Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai HH Sheikh Mohammed once again feasted on Farzis distinctive spin on modern Indian cuisine along with a large group of his associatesIn Dubai it is considered an exception if the Sheikh visits the same restaurant twice and only a handful of restaurants can boast of him visiting more than two times I am surprised he doesnt have Farzi cater to his palace informs a Dubaibased source No wonder even without serving alcohol the Farzi Cafeacute in Dubai has become the most profitable franchise in Kalras bouquet Sheikh that Mr KalraOld friendsThis week media platforms across the board were flashing pictures of what appeared to be a fascinating grouping all three of Nita and Mukesh Ambanis children Ishaacircu00c2u0080u00c2u0088Akash and Anant seated in a limousine accompanied by former MP Milind Deora and his wife producer Pooja Shetty Whats more they were captured departing from producerdirector and TV host Karan Johars residence after what appeared to be a really small private dinnerMilind Deora Pooja Shetty Akash Isha Ambani andAnant AmbaniEven though every member of this cluster was famous and inhabited the very top edge of the social wedge their disparate vocations and ages drew a fair amount of curiosity what had given rise to the gathering The launch of a big budget film A highprofile ad campaign The start of a new sports leagueMilind Deora and Dhirubhai AmbaniActually it was their fathers That Milinds father the late Congress leader Murli Deora had been one of Dhirubhai Ambanis oldest and closest friends is well known Both men shared a unique rapport and spent much time in each others company be it flying to Delhi as ambitious young men looking to make friends and influence people or en famille at their weekend getaway homes on the outskirts of MumbaiManmohan Shetty and Yash JoharMeanwhile Pooja Shettys father entertainment mogul Manmohan Shetty and Karan Johars dad the late producer Yash Johar shared a warm rapport too In spite of belonging to a glamorous industry both men had carved a reputation for themselves as being down to earth loyal and ever ready to help in times of crisis When we had met Manmohan with both his daughters for tea hed spoken fondly of the elder JoharAnd on his part KJo had made many references to Pooja s sister Aarti in his recent memoir So there you have it the most likely and plausible cause for a bunch of old family friends to get together for some nosh and chinwag on a lazy Sunday eveningMan of many partsThe two of us have worked together since 1986 As an art directorcopywriter combo under the watchful gaze and tutelage of Kersy Katrak says wordsmith playwright and director Rahul da Cunha about the joint exhibition of photographs he is showing with Prashant Godbole later in the monthRahul da Cunha and Prashant GodboleDa Cunha is a man of many parts not only does he run the ad agency responsible for Amuls iconic campaign but he is also an avid photographer getting up at the crack of dawn to shoot insightful pictures of life around himIts stuff Godbole and I have shot together and individually in Varanasi Cairo Istanbul and Mumbai he says And as if this were not enough we forgot to mention that Rahul is also penning his first novel and learning to play the acoustic guitarThe Shah of fashionNot all appointments made by the ruling regime are controversial The NDA might have bequeathed us Gajendra Chauhan and Pahlaj Nihalani whose suitability for their posts have been thunderously challenged but news that industrialist Rajesh Shah Co Chairman and MD of Mukand Steel being named Chairman of the National Institute of Fashion Technology comes as a welcome surpriseRajesh Shah PicTwitterShah a longtime Modi supporter and an alumnus of both Cambridge and Berkeley is the son of the late industrialist and former Governor of West Bengal Viren Shah who so famously was incarcerated during the Emergency Shah also is a man in possession of a refined aesthetic sensibility and an early admirer of Indian cultural czar and crafts revivalist Rajeev Sethi who he had commissioned in the nineties to design his home in Juhu resulting in an outstanding display of Indian arts and craftsNot only this but Shah is also active on a number of corporate platforms like the YPO and an old Davos hand All this could augur well for expanding fashions scope and success when he takes over Indias premier fashion institute set up in conjunction with the Ministry of Textiles in 1986 as an institution of design management and technology for the business of fashion