Lipstick Under My Burkha actress Aahana Kumra at a seminar for women's safety

This weekend saw Suzanne Pillai Parveen Dusanj Bedi Madhu and Bhagyashree join former bureaucrat lawyer and womens rights activist Abha Singh anchor Faye DSouza and actress Aahana Kumra at a seminar on womens safety The recently released statistics Crime in India ndash 2016 published by the National Crime Records Bureau formed the centrepiece of the discussion said Singh about the need for the discussion According to these figures Mumbai is fast losing its status as a safe city for womenFaye DSouza Aahana Kumra Abha Singh and Bhagyashree at the seminar PicShadab Khan The seminar began with a 15minute document prepared by the students of a media course in which girls and women responded to the question Do you feel safe in Mumbai A majority of the respondents replied in the negative informed Singh who launched her book on womens rights Stree Dasha Aur Disha coauthored with journalist Naseem Ansari on the occasionThe law is accessed by the urban population that knows English We wrote the book in Hindi and in simple language to reach a wider audience It is an attempt to translate all relevant laws which women in rural India can use to fight against injustice and empower themselves Different chapters of the book are devoted to enlightening women on their legal rights The book documents individual cases of victims of triple talaq and other social evils affecting women It also contains legal guidance on topics such as filing a police FIR domestic violence complaint and protection from sexual harassment at the workplace said Singh But all of it is not theoretical We have also included sections that throw light on current cases that have rocked India like the Sunanda Pushkar and Sheena Bora murders she saidSpreading love and cheerAce fashion designer Manish Arora in collaboration with Start India Foundation put some zing in the pristine white Jindal Mansion a city landmark with an art installation titled All We Need is Love last Thursday evening To unveil the creative endeavour a panel discussion featuring art patron Sangita Jindal Manish Arora designer Arjun Bahl and Abhay Sardesai editor of Art India Magazine took place where the inspiration behind the installation and the collaboration between Start India Foundation the JSW Group and Arora was discussedThe installation All we need is love at Jindal MansionCreated with close to 2400 pieces of cloth either handembroidered or printed it took 6 months of ideating 35 artisans and 3 months to complete the final installation It aims to evoke emotions of love and encourage passersby to stop and think of all the beauty in the world After the year that we have seen messages of peace and love encourage people to be hopeful for times to come Its all about colour joy and celebration with added glowinthedark elements said a spokespersonSangita Jindal Manish Arora and Arjun BahlThe evening began with guests releasing red and pink balloons into the sky with a lot of cheer while sipping flutes of pink champagne The likes of Anaita and Homi Adajania Gaurav Bhatia Gauri Devidayal Vikram Raizada Ashiesh Shah Toshin Shetty Azmina and Tasneem Zakaria Mehta were seen on the occasion I am happy that Manish has used the canvas of our iconic Jindal Mansion to spread love and joy this festive season said a delighted JindalArt music and foodMany of Mumbais beautiful people hotfooted it down to Pune this weekend to attend the navjote ceremony of Zayan Poonawalla son of artist Michelle and businessman Yohan Poonawalla at the grand Poonawalla mansion in Koregaon Park The likes of Gaurav Bhatia Maheka Mirpuri Lyla Marker and Jackie Shroff were spotted at the glamorous doYohan Poonawalla with Maheka Mirpuri Lyla Marker and othersWith a trio of female musicians a feast of Parsi delicacies and many of the hostesss artistic creations on display guests were overheard the next day expressing fulsome praise for the warmth and hospitality of the evening Incidentally Michelle has recently illustrated The Adventures of Harvey Mouse written by her nineyearold daughter TaniaZayan PoonawallaWedding wowsAs the city gears up for its wedding season the grapevine is abuzz with talk of the marriage between two of the citys oldest business clans which will be celebrated with much pomp and ceremony between Mumbai and a destination siteWhat has attracted notice apart from the fact that both young people are wellheeled ideally suited and attractive is that in a departure from common practice the weeklong celebrations are being hosted by one side alone Normally it is a 5050 share between the boys side and the girls in all events but this time it appears that the girls side is taking care of the entire expense says an insider Even though the boys side is equally wellheeled and renownedWill this set a new precedent given that the families involved are influential in the business communities of Mumbai Most definitely yes says the source This will be cited as an example for many future occasions tooJLF in MumbaiLast week saw a delicious sliver of the Jaipur Literature festival unspool in Mumbai when the three personalities behind one of the worlds biggest literary events Namita Gokhale William Dalrymple and Sanjoy K Roy descended in Mumbai and held fort at The Royal Opera House The evening which saw a gathering of some of the citys most avid culture vultures in the audience included a reading from White Mughals by its author Dalrymple along with music by vocalist Vidya Shah and her troupeNamita Gokhale Sanjoy K Roy and William DalrympleDalrymple who sat crosslegged and completely at ease like a modernday nawab on a takht read from the love story on the 18thcentury British resident to the Hyderabadi court James Achilles Kirkpatrick and the noblewoman KhairunNissa while Shah evoked the lilting music from the courts of the age with musical renditions of the poetry of Mah Laqa Chanda Afterwards Shobhaa and Dilip De Dolly Thakore Punam Chadha Joseph Padmini Mirchandani Ranjit Ahuja and Amitabh Nanda congregated in the courtyard where Gokhale Dalrymple and Roy were seen chatting about the upcoming literature event in Jaipur which attracts many from MumbaiDolly ThakoreShobhaa and Dilip DeCatch up on all the latest Mumbai National and International news hereDownload the new midday Android and iOS apps to get updates on all the latest and trending stories on the go