The art of the first names

At the magnificent reception thrown by Mukesh and Nita Ambani along with BPrsquos Bob Dudley for a team of very senior British delegation led by British PM David Cameron at the CST Museum we like that formalities were set aside by Mukesh Ambani In his easy laid back witty speech he addressed the Right Honourable David Cameron Prime Minister of the United Kingdom First Lord of the Treasury Minister for the Civil Service and Leader of the Conservative Party as ldquoDavidrdquo and then went on to use the nomenclature a couple more times The warmth was reciprocated in right measure On his part Cameron afforded the senior Ambani with praise referring to him as the leader of one of the worldrsquos best companies First name terms never sounded better British PM David Cameron at a reception thrown by Mukesh Ambani What Cameron didnrsquot eat Alert readers who read what lsquoCameron ate at the Indigo on Tuesday nightrsquo on this page pointed out that they are still waiting to know what he ordered for dessert Truth be said gentle reader we had to go to press before the dessert course David Cameron with Rahul Akerkaru00a0 But now it can be told the relaxed and shirtsleeved Cameron whorsquod walked across to the restaurant from the Taj with his security cover and endeared himself to the Indigo staff had lsquono dessert or coffeersquo ldquoHe was tired and wanted to call it a dayrdquo says our source Friends across the board We met our old friend and Congress leader Rajiv Shukla on Tuesday in Mumbai Shukla belongs to that rare breed of journos who put their knowledge and address book to use and made something of their careers in politics u00a0 Rajiv Shukla and Arun Jaitley Of course itrsquos not the easiest of things and many have failed in the attempt Perhaps what went in Shuklarsquos favour was his affability He has rarely been heard to speak ill of any one And his connections cut across party lines The leader of the Opposition in the RS Arun Jaitley is a close friend And of course the BJPrsquos Ravi Prasad is his wife Anuradharsquos brother Ensconced in a deep discussion with local industrialists Shukla was no doubt being grilled about 2014 and how the cards will fall Good to have friends in all parties when the goingrsquos tough we say Is this bud for me People do the darndest things The last person yoursquod associate with beer let alone a Czech one is Rashmi Jolly the wife of my golfing pal Arvind whorsquod penned an edifying email about his community recently Arvind with wife Rashmi Jolly And yet when we met her at a high society wedding reception on Tuesday night she invited us in her capacity as Honorary Consul General of the Czech Republic to a party for Budweiser Budvar a brewery founded in 1895 by Czechspeaking citizens To be held soon in Mumbai the party will attempt to clear the cloud of confusion around the legendary Budweiser name But herersquos the gist and it will make IP lawyers pull their hair out in frustrationWhereas beer brewing in Ceskeacute Budejovice or Budweis began in the 13th century Two breweries in the city began marketing their produce under the name lsquoBudweiserrsquo a century later To compound matters in 1876 the US brewer AnheuserBusch began making a beer which it also called lsquoBudweiserrsquo Of course we understood none of this when conveyed in Rashmirsquos whispery tones but we are looking forward for the bud which says itrsquos for us Oscar time At the Mahindra Blues Fest we ran into our dear friend Biren Ghose country head Technicolor India who informed us that he was packing his bags for LA soon because three of his studiorsquos movies had been picked by The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as frontrunners for this yearrsquos Oscars for Best Picture Lincoln Life of Pi and Silver Linings Playbook ldquoTechnicolor served in various capacities in all three projects and six of the nine films nominated for the yearrsquos best picturerdquo said our ebullient friend Biren Ghose will be attending the Oscars in Los Angeles ldquoThe nomination for Ang Leersquos Life of Pi for visual effects achievement is particularly sweet for Technicolorrsquos MPC VFX division which contributed to a large block of shots for the film along with also being nominated for MPCrsquos contribution to director Ridley Scottrsquos Prometheusrdquo he said Er now we didnrsquot ask whose clothes Ghose would be wearing on the red carpet though Capital namecalling The art of the put down is an understated one Calling for more subtlety than sledgehammer And more often than not we find Delhi has the upper hand in this department Herersquos an example on spotting a sharp tongued and sharper penned Indian born jet setting lit grande dame the darkly handsome literary cub said ldquoAnd here comes the lsquoprofessional Indianrsquo See what we mean Short Sharp Devastating Marmalade eyed muse Word has come in that Trishla Jain the talented daughter of TOIrsquos Samir and Meera Jain fresh from her triumphant debut as an artist will now be muse to Delhirsquos iconic FabIndia that legendary incubator of third world chic ldquoItrsquos our attempt to marry utility with artistic expression and to connect with young artrdquo said a spokesperson ldquoTrishlarsquos work is very vibrant and imaginative and wersquove used it as a metaphor in our product line for this yearrdquo This Thursday FabIndiarsquos Bim Bissell Delhirsquos cultural czarina will be hosting a soiree at the store in Delhi to showcase the result of the collaboration Nice Dilli door nahin So this weekend we had planned to be in Delhi to celebrate the conferring of the well deserved MBE on author foodie and restaurateur Camellia Panjabi and to attend our friend the soft spoken and exquisitely mannered Derry Moorersquos the 12th Earl of Drogheda if you must know exhibition of stunning photographs of India u00a0 Derry Moore and Camellia Panjabi And if time permitted to drop in for the opening match of NDTVrsquos Toyota University Cricket Championship on Saturday at the Feroze Shah Kotla Stadium But of course all plans are on hold now as family festivities have been announced to celebrate a very happy and much awaited betrothal Watch this space