Honouring ABK

Ajit Kerkar who will receive a Lifetime Achievement AwardHes regarded as one of the most dynamic personalities of Indian hospitality a man who singlehandedly created a conglomerate from a single entity and put Indias hotel industry on the world map And this week the charismatic Ajit Kerkar erstwhile MD and Chairman of the Taj Group of hotels will be receiving what many believe is a long overdue and richly deserved Lifetime Achievement award conferred by the Hotel Investment Conference South Asia HICSA which is currently taking place in MumbaiThe HICSA Lifetime Achievement Award is presented to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the hospitality industry says an insider And to be sure Kerkars contribution has been stellar From overseeing massive expansions in the group even as his hotels retained the warmth and charm that they were known for was just one of his successesThere are many ways to judge greatness in leaders One of them is how they are with their own staff Do they manage to retain the people they grew with or is there a constant revolving door of disgruntled managers secretaries office boys Kerkar was legendary for his warmth and human qualities and his colleagues and staff doted on him which is one of the things that made the group so successful Staff is after all your handshake with the customer and it makes for excellent business if they are motivatedIt is a measure of this warmth that when we called to speak to Kerkar yesterday the call was answered by his secretary Vanaja whod been with him for almost 30 years Or that another of his brilliant colleagues the restaurateur Camellia Panjabi will be hosting a party in honour of ABK inviting his colleagues during his dazzling innings The venue A charming gymkhana not a stones throw away from the fivestarThe genius of SouzaWho isnt familiar with the genius that was F N Souza The brilliant artist one of the founders of the Progressive Artists Group of Bombay is an enduring legend Now word comes in that the equally brilliant gallerist Julian Hartnoll or fine art monger as he likes to refer to himself will throw light on the legend at the Pundole Art gallery this weekendFN Souza and Julian HartnollFrom the late 1980s to the present day Mr Hartnoll has sold many of the most important works of art painted by FN Souza through his gallery in London Perhaps of greater importance was not the business relationship but the friendship shared by the two gentlemen Hartnolls talk peppered with several personal anecdotes and stories delivered in his quietly eccentric manner will recount a time when dealing in Indian art was more about the love of the art itself says the lovely Mallika Advani auctioneer for the galleryAny admirer of the works of FN Souza should take this opportunity to hear in good humour the personal experiences of the artist towards the end of his career and to view 18 diverse works from the personal collection of Mr Julian Hartnoll This talk follows Hartnolls wonderful talk in Delhi last week titled Memories of SouzaOf mothers and sonsNews comes in that Rudhra Kapur the talented scion of the Burlingtons brand at a fivestar which has been hugely popular with Europeans since the Fifties has recently shot his latest catalogueSimi and Zeek ChandokeOverseen personally by him the artistic Kapur is known to bring any easy style to these ventures using striking real life people to showcase his creations And this year one of the duos hes had model for him is the motherson combo of TV anchor Simi Chandoke and her handsome longtressed 18yearold son ZeekThere are two lines one is the spa resort line and the other a formal line says Simi about the shoot Some of the pictures were taken at Rudhras apartment at Cumballa Hill which is full of the beautiful objects his mother had collected Interestingly Simi says it was one of those rare shoots which could feature both mother and son I guess because were both so into fitness she says Zeek who she says is instrumental in getting her to the gym daily is currently preparing for his undergrad studies in America NiceConnecting the dotsDesigner Krsna Mehta sees the hidden shapes and patterns within things and knows how to connect the dots Five years ago when the online space was an amorphous entity Mehta had fearlessly hitched his wagon to its star and decided to exclusively retail his design label India Circus here On the occasion of his online store completing five years it has announced its first brick and mortar store at Kala GhodaThis will be a space to showcase creative ideas get customised designs and also make the shopping experience even more exclusive said Mehta adding It will allow multitouch points and a more personal customer connect See what we mean about connecting the dotsAsh in the airWeve missed a couple of Ash Chandler gigs recently which is a pity because if theres anything we love its live music and if theres anything we love more its stand up routines and Chandler performs both with elanAsh Chandler with his bandThis weekend Chandler and his band are slated to play at a Parel fivestar and we are hoping to be there His repertoire includes a Jazz swing arrangement of Roadhouse Blues and Avicis Wake me Up a reggae version of Justin Beibers Love Yourself a cha cha cha version of Guns and Roses Sweet Child of mine and a Bossanova version of Sweet Home AlabamaWere also doing redux Jazz versions of old Hindi songs from Pyaasa and others he said when we spoke yesterday Now if hed throw in some of his drop dead impersonations of yesteryear stars Brando Dilip Kumar etc it would be a ten