Palace recovery

Recently his health has been of grave concern and so when Amar Singh erstwhile Samajwadi party leader Indiarsquos uber power broker and famous friend of the other two lsquoAcesrsquo Amitabh Bachchan and Anil Ambani was reported to have fainted at Dubai airport en route to Singapore naturally politicians of all hues were on tenterhooks But we have it on reliable source that not only is the virtually indestructible politician stable but is a guest now of His Highness Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan great grandson of Zayed bin Khalifa Al Nahyan and owner of the Abu Dhabi United Group which owns Bank Alfalah Warid Telecom Wateen Telecom and Taavun Amar Singh So whereas none of his famous friends have flown down to keep him company the ebullient Amar Singh is recovering quite well in the Sheikhrsquos fabulous palace in Abu Dhabi before he flies home we hear And what is the friendship between the two men based on According to an insider it is the fascination both men have for Bollywood glamour Nice The gallerist and the mice So itrsquos a case of the cat schmoozing off to Haj after eating a hundred mice Or so the word goes in the art district when the topic of this Delhi gallerist comes up Apparently the man in question has had a long and colourful history of dealing in fakes But now perhaps after a bout with his conscience or a tryst with the authorities hersquos embarked on a major exercise of reformation and rehabilitation as far as his credibility is concerned One route has been to engage the talent of a venerable and much respected writer to oversee his division of art publications ldquoThe person he has engaged is above board and comes with a whole lot of credibilityrdquo says our source ldquoWhich affords the naughty gallerist many benefitsrdquo Apparently one of these is that each time one of the galleriesrsquo fabulous fakes is reproduced in a serious art journal by the venerable art writer it automatically gains authentication And now the said gallery is set to enter the Mumbai market with a spanking new and clean record As we said having eaten a hundred mice the cat comes to Haj to roost Metaphors like this only work in their original of course The gentleman traveller When we met him at Shaina NCrsquos to celebrate his appointment as Goa CM we realised that IITeducated Manohar Parrikar was a different kettle of fish from the average politico How different was brought home to us when we read a post on a social networking site penned by a passenger whorsquod happened to be on the same plane as the CM Goa CM Manohar Parrikar ldquoHe walked into the aircraft like any average passenger almost unnoticed and well in time Like everyone else he queued at the gate boarded the bus and climbed into the plane when his turn came He didnrsquot sit in the first row which has become the exclusive preserve of the high and mighty on flights that have no first class He quietly slipped into row three or was it row four and sat there without any fuss I think most people on the aircraft didnrsquot realise who he was and therefore no attempt was made to mob him or try and catch his attentionrdquo wrote the fellow traveller more in wonderment than awe ldquoWhen the flight landed in Delhi he wasnrsquot the first to get off it Usually it is only when the VIP is ushered into a special car with a suitable red light mounted on the roof waiting for him at the tarmac that the other passengers are allowed to deplane In this case neither was he the first to disembark nor was there a car waiting Nobody came to receive him on the tarmac and he boarded the same bus which took all other passengers to the airport terminal Again he carried his own luggage two pieces right up to the car which came to fetch himrdquo We have been on similar flights with many high and mighty personalities and we have observed their highhanded and objectionable behaviour You can tell more about a person observing them on a twohour flight than most places Actresses who walk up and down the aisle trying to get attention Top CEOs who have no manners and of course politicians who embarrass themselves and others with their ways So when we hear about Manohar Parrikar we canrsquot help but wonder if a fine education is what makes the difference Whatever it may be we like Donrsquot do it Tiger Woods Lance Armstrong Oscar Pistorius Three men three scandals u00a0 Oscar Pistorius Tiger Woods Three soaring careers brought down to naught Wonder if the men behind the famous Nike tagline and swoosh will change the legend to Donrsquot do it Just saying Lance Armstrong Motorcycle diaries Hersquos always been something of a maverick marching to his own drum beat eschewing the beaten track and spending quality time pursuing his interest in vintage motorcycles travel and Goa Designer Arjun Khanna Which is why when designer Arjun Khanna won the prize for the best maintained classic postwar pre60s machine at the recent VCCI rally in Mumbai it was a moment whose time had come With his grizzly salt and pepper beard his leather jacket and his beads and belts Khanna optimises the easy rider We like his clothes too