Exquisite musical evening

This is what genteel Mumbai must have been like at the very tip of its pinnacle Apartments as spacious as cruise liners that recalled the sumptuous luxury of the citys early architectural era filled with canvasses painted by Indian Masters in their good period uniformed bearers padpadding across deep Persians bearing silver salvers offering of bitesized vegetarian treats as the citys establishment lost itself in the exquisite strains of a world class sitaristUstad Nishat Khan and Minal Bajaj with the Langaas of RajasthanWe caught ourselves composing the aforementioned sentence as we sat on Minal and Niraj Bajajs terrace on Sunday evening partaking of an extraordinary moment in the citys cornucopia of delights ndash a jugalbandi between the dashing Ustad Nishat Khan and a claque of wildthroated Langaas from RajasthanldquoLets spend an enchanting and charming evening over chaat and more to bring in Holi with Rajasthani Folk and Sitar by Ustad Nishat Khanrdquo the hosts had said Minal and Niraj are at the forefront of Mumbais social and business community indeed their ancestors were early industrial pioneers who like others of their ilk like the Tatas and Birlas founded the Indian industryNirajs ancestor Jamnalal Bajaj had been a close associate of Gandhi almost considered his son The family is a throwback to an earlier era when industrialists saw themselves as the patrons of high art and culture They had promised a unique synthesis a collaboration invoking the desert songs and rare nostalgic and earthy classical musics celebrative compositions and indeed it had turned out that wayAnd as we spotted the likes of Nandita Das with husband Subodh Maskara and son Vihaan Javed and Shabnam Ahmad Uday and Pallavi Kotak Shailesh and Amita Haribhakti Sanjay Jha Anuradha Parikh Anand Jain and Geetu Hinduja amongst many others enjoying the rapturous music even as the fairy lights twinkled on a Champa tree and a strong breeze teased the silken duppattas and carefully blowdried hair of the pretty ladies present we found ourselves composing the sentence This is what genteel Mumbai must have been likeA threetiered cake of a celebrationSunday evening witnessed a joyful celebration at the impressive Piramal House at Worli when Dilip Piramal chairman of Indias leading luggage industry VIP threw open the doors of his sprawling residence to host a party for his wifes birthdayKhalid Ansari and wife Zeyna with Dilip and Shalini PiramalDilip the second of three brothers who occupies three floors of the 10storey residence lives on the sixth seventh and eighth floors Ajay Piramal his younger brother who has featured in the first fifty of Indias Rich List lives in the same building occupying another three floors as does the family of their late eldest brother AshokNiranjan and Kamal HiranandaniBy any standards it is an iconic pile and the fact that Dilip and Shalini are able to infuse their parties with warmth good cheer and fun is a testimony to their combined charm We spotted the likes of Ajay and Swati Piramal Cyrus Poonawalla Niranjan and Kamal Hiranandani Hemendra Kothari Sanjay Pugalia and Khalid Ansari amongst the ebb and flow in the vivacious roomsldquoIt went on till 2 am We sang a duet Deewana hua baadal from Kashmir ki Kali and then Dilip sang a solo for me Jeevan se bhari teri aankhen from the film Safarrdquo said Shalini adding ldquoactually the celebrations were held over three days with different caterers each nightrdquoThe Siddhus of Upper Juhu indeedldquoThe Siddhus of Upper Juhu ahem which happens to be Andheri is about a PanjuParsi couple Bubbles and Behroze Siddhu who cope with a decaying Mumbai with hilarious consequencesrdquo says Rahul DaCunha about his latest offering from Rage that boutique of delicious selfparody opening next weekRahul DaCunhaldquoAt one point when a BMC drill and bulldozer simultaneously start work at 2 am husband turns to wife and says Why dont the BMC ever work in the day Someone in Mantralaya has hired a Chinese torturerrdquo informed DaCunha To be honest we thought the joke was sweet but a tad dated there would surely more likely have been a reference to Chinamade vibrators in a contemporary Siddhu household we thoughtBe that as it may we are hugely looking forward to DaCunhas offering for its pithy references sly digs and awkward chuckles in a hall full of an audience that not only recognised itself but could laugh at itself too The Siddhus of Upper Juhu Bring itThe dinner partyThere were 10 people at the dinner Ten very powerful people from the innermost circle men from way back whod shared decades of power between themselves men of wealth and consequence whod be expected to be at a table like this when the two Alpha males of the Indian political firmament dinedThe two were meeting after various sweeps of fortune various old enmities and a pretty fractious recent electoral run up The table contained some very important people who even so regardless of their pelf felt a twinge of excitement and privilege to be present Much depended on the evening How would it goBut very soon it became evident to the guests that bonhomie had been coopted as the agenda of the occasion So there was warmth and jocularity and not too tiny a jab at mirth at the expense of a few others who were not present could never be present in fact at such a gathering Bonhomie jocularity mirth and making new friends Such were the days so were the ways