Seventeen-hour days

Those who know him say that Mukesh Ambani the 58yearold chairman of Reliance Industries a man legendary for his business foresight and work ethic has never worked harder in his lifeHes putting in 1718 hours a day said an insider giving his all to the highly anticipated telecommunications and digital venture Reliance Jio And according to her this means that the tycoon is cutting back vastly on his only indulgence the evenings spent with his family and close friends watching a movie typically Bollywood to unwindMukesh AmbaniAs it is his two elder kids Akash and Isha are working with him and wife Nita is spending regular hours at the office he gets to meet most of his family at the office But weve never seen him work this hard she said And to think that he doesnt even need to The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little extra as a wise man once saidKabaddiKabaddiKissKissWe never thought the day would come but this Sunday saw us making our way to the NSCI stadium in Worli to watch Mumbai vs Bangalore in the finals of the Pro Kabaddi league in its second seasonMS Dhoni Nita Ambani and Abhishek Bachchan at the final of ProKabaddiOn entering we bumped into Charu Sharma cofounder of the league who along with brotherinlaw Anand Mahindra and a little heft from friends like Stars head honcho Uday Shankar exUTV Boss Ronnie Screwvalla also owner of team U Mumba mdash the leagues new champions and Abhishek Bachchan owner of Jaipur Pink Panthers last seasons winners has managed to get the putative moneyspinner many eyeballs traction and a newfound cool factorSaif Ali Khan and Katrina KaifThe last time we had visited the NSCI stadium was when wed attended a wrestling match dont ask decades ago and so we were struck by the transformation of the premises In what could only be called a cosy familyfriendly housefull audience we spotted the likes of Abhishek Bachchan Katrina Kaif Saif Ali Khan and Alia Bhatt Nita Ambani came in later and was seen exchanging cricketing notes with MS Dhoni Anu Mahindra looked resplendent in ruby red and others in the box included team owner Rajesh ShahSo much like a Sunday SoBo party was the ambience in the audience that it could be said that whereas the pit resounded with Kabaddi Kabaddi the stands were awash with Kiss Kiss as stars industrialists and other famous faces threw airkisses across the aislesGreat to see how youve gentrified kabaddi we said to Uday Shankar pointing to the wellheeled audience Not too gentrified I hope said the downtoearth media maven who backed the league from its inception As for us what next A football matchCurry night for David and GeorgeWord comes in that in the finest British tradition of Friday curry night PM David Cameron and Finance Minister George Osborne two of Britains most powerful men went off to Namita Panjabis Chutney Mary to satiate their need for curryGeorge Osborne and David CameronAnd whereas the restaurant was tightlipped about the cabinet visitation and refused to divulge details fellow diners said that the ultimate power diners ate a good fusion Indian meal while engaged in deep discussion perhaps they too were discussing the price of onions paid their bill quietly and left without a fussAnd whereas their accompanying detail requested delighted fellow diners to delete the pix theyd taken this one seems to have slipped through the netThe jokes on fashionAnd whereas over the next few days a slew of designers at Lakme Fashion week will be attempting to convince us that fashion is no laughing matter the countrys pioneering standup comic and actor Vir Das will demonstrate how the joke in fact is on themA tshirt by DasDas we believe has just turned designer and is all set to showcase his collection of boxers and tees called Pretafunny by Vir Das at Lakme Fashion Week 2015Vir DasFor the first time in LFW theres a show with multiple showstoppers along with a bunch of 10 to 12 celebrities walking the ramp in boxers and tshirts a rare sight at any fashion show said a spokesperson Like a Victorias Secret Fashion Show mdash upside downWe dont need no thought controlWhen we read about textbooks filled with regressive nonsense that encourage parochialism misogyny racism and ignorance about the world we cannot help thinking of the The Queen Mary School founded in 1875 and run under the management of the Christian Medical Educational Fellowship CMEF TrustShobhaa DeLying cheekbyjowl with the notorious Kennedy Bridge the two factors that contributed to its vantage perch amongst the elite educational establishments of its time were the fact that it had teachers of mostly British origin and that too all of them female except for a grand old gentleman who taught Persian and that its fees were higher than those of other city schoolsIt was the go to place for the citys upper echelon to be schooled in science and history of course but the fact that alumni consists of the likes of iconic actresses Nargis Dutt and Shabana Azmi columnist Shobhaa De art historian Saryu Doshi to industrialist Sharayu Daftary designer and society hostess Sunita Pitamber and award winning scriptwriter Sooni Taraporewala speaks of its education in character building sense and sensibility What kind of women will our current education turn out No dont even bother answering that oneCelebrating her birthdayThis weekend was witness to a scorching rocker of a party at Chez Sanjay Khan to bring in daughterinlaw Malaika Khans birthdayMalaika and ZayedWith its masked banquet theme and music by inhouse DJ Aqueel who took over the console by popular request it saw the likes of actress Dia Mirza and designer Ana Singh bopping till the wee hoursThe Khans celebrate Malaikas birthdayIt was completely organised by Zayed for his wife said a guest He oversaw every detail personally so that Malaika could relax and let her hair down