'Tis the season

Kanika KapoorTis the seasonThis past weekend while most of the countrys top industrialists including Mukesh Ambani Kumar Mangalam Birla Shashi Ruia Sanjay Reddy and even actor Aamir Khan were away in Bahrain to attend the beautiful traditional nuptials of the MehtaJatia families held on a private island in the Gulf Country an equally overthetop affair was celebrated in full Rajasthani fashion in UdaipurNewly married couple Varun Chaudhary and Anushree TongyBinod Chaudhary industrialist and chairman of the Chaudhary group named as Nepals first billionaire by Forbes hosted a lavish threeday extravaganza which saw him take over most of the cities top hotels to celebrate the wedding of his younger son Varun who married his girlfriend Anushree who hails from the jeweller family that owns Dia ColorMika Singh performs during the sangeet ceremonyThe wedding ceremony which took place at Jag Mandir overlooking Lake Pichola was attended by Salman Khan Shatrughan Sinha Shobhaa De Ranil Wickremesinghe Prime Minister of Sri Lanka Congress politicians Kamal Nath and Digvijaya Singh and others namely Shaimak Davar JJ Valaya and Kanika KapoorShatrughan Sinha and Salman Khan also attended the celebrationsThe mehendi function was so beautiful it was laid out on the lawns of the Udaivillas which had been decked up to resemble a floral carnival And Mika Singh had everyone on their feet during the sangeet at the City Palace said a guestSadhguru Jaggi VasudevThe new spiritual triumvirateAs expected the visit of spiritual master Sri Sri Ravi Shankar who along with Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev and Baba Ramdev forms the Holy Trinity of the present times attracted the countrys movers and shakers in the past it had been Osho Swami Chandrashekhar and Dhirendra Bhramacharya to sit at his feet and hear his discourses at NSCI Dome which has fast become one of the premier venues for the citys many events be it sari exhibitions weddings trance concerts or religious gatheringsSri Sri Ravi ShankarSpotted on the occasion were Rhea Pillai AD and Sabena Lara Dutta and businessman Suketu Shah all cardholding members of the citys beautiful brigade It was a very eclectic crowd cutting across age and economic demographics They hung onto gurujis every word and gesture He focused on meditative techniques and answered peoples questions with wit and authority says a disciple who was present However the giggly sages presence had left a few in the audience underwhelmedBaba RamdevThe choice of the venue shows the enormous contradictions of the system commented a Leftleaning member of the media who was curious about the guru and had bought a ticket to see what the fuss was about Hardly a few seemed to be aware what a huge land grab the NSCI Dome represents he said Here had been a public municipal sports stadium freely available to the common people And now it had been taken over by the rich through an agreement with the civic body and had become a playground for the fun of this class he added Citing the sages insistence on going with the flow as one more instance of a conspiracy to create a system where people did not ask inconvenient questions or think criticallyBreeding conformism is the essence And that is what men like Sri Sri are good at was his verdict However the most damning indictment he had was this He seems no better than Baba Ramdev Same promotion of commercial interests Same salesmanship of a range of products These were on display yesterdayAn added sparkleWord comes in about a sparkling fashion show held over the weekend showcasing Delhibased designer Suneet Varmas latest collection Shining Star Held at a highstreet shopping mall in Delhi it saw four hundred of the Capitals leading fashionistas gather over flutes of bubbly vino red spirits and canapeacutes of salmon and dark chocolateSuneet Varma along with the modelsTwenty models and five of his celebrity friends walked the ramp including Malini Ramani and television anchor Fatima Karan says Varmas partner Rahul Arora Whats more the evening marked the 15th anniversary of Varmas successful collaboration with Swarovski Crystals which he has made a part of his oeuvre time and againMalini Ramani and Cinthia Marquez with VarmaBut by far what added the extra sparkle to the celebrations for the designer who is currently working on his second home decor collection with Arttdinox of Jindal Steel third jewellery collection with Swarovski and preparing for his trunk show in London later in the month was the fact that the show also took place on the eve of his 52nd birthday How did he plan to celebrate we asked AroraIts his 52nd birthday and he worked all day today as he had clients for a bridal appointment from Dubai he replied But he is going to see his mother now for dinner SweetFaredoon Bhujwala takes part in the protest marchWho cares about apathyIt was hard to miss the difference in his voice when we spoke to our friend Faredoon Bhujwala yesterday post his silent march to protest the proposed massacre of over 5000 trees for the Metro III project and against the use of Aarey Colony for commercial activitiesA few hours earlier before the march had begun we had spoken to Bhujwala on his way to the venue and hed sounded much more buoyant The idea was to gather outside the NCPA and walk from Nariman Point to Intercontinental Hotel on Marine Drive with banners and posters to draw attention to the dire situation We started with eight of us he said to us at the end of the exercise but it swelled up to 20 or so protestorsWhat was heartening was that it was not the usual suspects and there were new faces including an elderly Sardarji and a motherdaughter duo whod come all the way from the suburbs and brought their own banners he addedWhat was interesting is that we walked past policemen who did not stop us and motorists and pedestrians showed interest said the impassioned Mumbai lover always enthusiastic to support good causesBut then his disappointment broke through and he said But what is sad is the apathy of people to stand up and speak for our fundamental right to breathe clean air and ask for honest answers from the powers that be I mean 20 people in a city of 18 millionhellip he signed off