Out, black spot

If news that the famously incarcerated Sahara group head honcho Subrata Roy in jail since March for failing to appear in court in connection with the Rs 24000 crore unreturned investor deposits will be out on bail soon turns out to be correct then besides his family and friends a certain Mumbaibased numerologist called Sanjay B lsquoSuccess is a Blend of GoodFortune amp HardWorkrsquo Jumaani will be a happy manFollowing reports this week that Sahara was trying to sell its Gurgaon land holdings to raise the Rs 1211 crore for Royrsquos bail we received a mail from Jumaani saying his own visit to Tihar Jail might not be lsquoa waste after allrsquoSubrata Roy with Sanjay B JumaanildquoWhen I first met Roy nine years ago I strongly suggested that he and his staff who all wore similar black uniforms should desist from doing sordquo says Jumaani a suggestion that was obviously not heeded given Royrsquos woesldquoThree months ago when I met him in Tihar he was dressed in Black againrdquo says the numerologist who betrays signs of being something of a colour fascistldquoBut recently on my second visit he assured me that he was done with the colour black lsquoIrsquove even stopped wearing watches with black dials and strapsrsquo he is reported to have confessed to JumaanildquoI predicted that he would bounce back as hersquos in his 68th year which adds up to the number 5rdquo says the pleased fortunetellerThis is all very well except for one small issue How will Roy ever be able to show his face in New Yorkrsquos fashionable de rigueur allblack wearing Plaza hotel which along with Londonrsquos Grosvenor House he happens to ownOh well just as well hersquos trying to sell them off tooJolly Delhi dinnerThe uproar surrounding his alleged financial misdemeanours involving realty major DLF does not appear to have dampened Robert Vadrarsquos spirits much Word comes in that the beleaguered businessman along with his wife Priyanka was part of a group of friends who attended Mumbai based bizman Rajiv Wazirrsquos fiftieth birthday hosted by doting wife Komal Chhabria Wazir last weekLeft to right Former Nawab Kazam Ali Khan Rajiv Wazir Robert Vadra and Tunnu SinghHeld at the Imperialrsquos cosy Italian eatery the evening saw a host of Delhi worthies partake of the celebrations The very grand Kasim Ali Khan former Nawab of Rampur said to own a legendary library in one of his forts was overheard inviting guests to check out the lsquo2000 rare booksrsquo in its collection Chitrangada Singh daughter of the erstwhile Maharajah of Gwalior the late Madhav Rao Scindia spoke about her husband Vikramaditya Singhrsquos foray into active politics The son of Dr Karan Singh former Maharajah of Kashmir has joined Mehbooba Muftirsquos party and is busy with the statersquos hustingsBirthday boy Rajiv Wazir with NDTV anchor Sonia Singh and wife KomalStar NDTV anchor Sonia Singh regaled those present with vignettes from her hilarious recent interview with Arnold Schwarzenegger while her husband Congress MP RPN Singh shared some eye popping details about politics in UPrsquos hinterlands even while LVMH grandee Tikka Shatrujit scion of the Kapurthala clan swore to have flown in especially from Paris to attend the festivities What did the Vadhras speak aboutAccording to a guest their conversation was about their love for wildlife in general and tigers in particular and their affinity to Ranthambhore which they said was their favourite holiday destination Other guests on the table were Nandita and Imran Baig and Tunnu and Zenia SinghIt was a pleasant enough evening as these things go and hostess Komal Wazir clad in her customary Chanel was a most charming hostess also it is reported that in the absence of mangoes and bananas from the table Vadra did not have to worry about certain men mango or republics banana that their presence would have evoked nor ask any of the guests if they lsquowere seriousrsquoLove me love my planeA measure of how high powered the recent spate of Mumbai weddings have been could be surmised from the fact that guests at the two involving the children of the countryrsquos leading bankers Chanda Kochhar held in Mumbai and Deepak Parekh held in Jodhpur were overheard hitching rides on their private jets ldquoOf course it wasnrsquot to save on the expense of commercial airfaresrdquo remarked one of them laterChanda Kochhar andDeepak ParekhldquoFor this crowd that obviously wasnrsquot an issuerdquo she said ldquoIt was expediencysince there were so many common guests at both events they could flow seamlessly from one wedding to the other almost as if in a cavalcade if they flew in together toordquo she explainedHigh flying just got a whole new meaningBending it like LeicesterSuddenly Mumbai canrsquot get enough of Footie fever Sources say that Leicester city football club is bringing its ambassador exEngland Liverpool and Leicester City player Emile Heskey to Mumbai in a delegation led by Uday Dholakia brand ambassador Birmingham Airport this weekUday Dholakia andEmile HeskeyAnd amongst the host of promotional activities surrounding the trip will be free football lessons given to underprivileged children brought together by Anjali and Nirvan Shahrsquos PIFA FoundationAlso Sante the bar and restaurant in Bandra will host a lsquocomfort food and drinksrsquo evening on Tuesday night for the playersNice