The art of the master blaster

Sachin Tendulkar fans have one more thing to look forward to the National Gallery of Modern Art NGMA is planning a show in tribute to the master blaster in which ten leading artists have collaborated with him to create art works commending his legacyTo be held at the gallery at the end of the year and curated by the lovely SoBobased independent curator and art writer V Solanki word has it that Tendulkar has met and ideated with all the artists and has contributed many of his own ideas to the project ldquoHersquos been totally involved in itrdquo said a sourceSachin TendulkarNiceMany notches on many beltslsquoIndia amp Pakistan brought together by the former First Lady of France With exFM Shah Mehmood Qureshi amp Carla Brunirsquo tweeted the ever ebullient Shashi Tharoor about a picture featuring two rakishly handsome men and the beautiful international supermodel and former First Lady of Francefrom left Shah Mehmood Qureshi Carla Bruni and Shashi TharoorThe company may be heady we understand but Tharoor might want to keep in mind Adam Gopnikrsquos brilliant profile in the New Yorker on lrsquoaffaire BruniSarkozy which had appeared at the height of that lsquomade for tabloidheadlinesrsquo coupling lsquoWhat is particularly pathetic is his delusion that Bruni is a notch on his Sarkozyrsquos belt when he is so obviously a notch on hersrsquo wrote Gopnik alluding to the modelactresssingerrsquos fulsome roster of rock and movie star former loversAs for the picture one has to admit that it wins the contest for the three bestlooking people in contemporary politics hands downMumbairsquos half MaharanisOur friend who favours little known and very expensive teas was beside herself She had only just returned from what was either a FUN trip lsquolotsarsquo white wine and shoppingrsquo or an international peace mission to save a country village school a few meetings with the local sarpanch and Maharajahs organised by an enterprising friendOur friend hadnrsquot made up her mind which of these necessary and very invigorating excursions it had been mdash but it had been life enhancing and here she was back in Mumbai sipping her favourite tea and quite beside herselfldquoThere he sat all evening puffing on a cheroot his sad eyes peering across the palace grounds to where his subjects were sleepingrdquo she was saying as she lay elegantly propped up on her bed by a few cushions pouring hot water into a teapot ldquolsquoAnd how are South Mumbairsquos three famous Maharanis doingrsquo he boomed We nearly fell off our chairs laughingAs it is wersquod drunk too much Prosecco all day But we all knew who he was talking aboutrdquo said our friend mischievously ldquoHe called them lsquohalfMaharanisrsquo you know like in Bhagatrsquos new bookrdquo she cackled ldquoHe was having a good laugh at their expense mdash how tenuous their links with royalty are and how they play them up to the hilt lsquoNot even a fourgun salute statersquo he said about one in particular lsquoand yet so much nakhrarsquo he grumbled as he sat with a few of us ladies over coffee and liqueurs after the formal dinner lsquoMaharaj bhaiyarsquordquo she yelledAh so you call him Maharaj bhaiya like all his close friends do we commented hoping to impress our friend by sounding familiar with the ways of her friend the grandee MaharajahldquoHuhrdquo said our friend reaching for the bell ldquoNo of course not I call him Your Highness as every one bloody well should lsquoMaharaj bhaiyarsquo is what I call my cook Where the hell is he I need more hot waterrdquo And so it goes and so it goesYoung and RestlessSo this Friday night SoBo and NoBo officially flagged off the party season as the young and restless headed to Li Bai at the Palladium for the JBL Just Be Loud party which featured family alert our nephew Karan Bhojwani and Vishal Shetty on the decks and where the petite and ubiquitous Gabriella Demetriades had organised a fashion showShraddha KapoorThe highlight of the evening undoubtedly was the presence of French national football champ and former Arsenal player Robert Pires and his FC Goa teammates who entered late and stayed till the very end The next evening the action moved to the other side of the Sea Link to the exclusive champagne launch of lsquoARKrsquo the new nightclub at the Courtyard Marriott HotelAshish KanakiaEnvisioned by the young Ashish Kanakia scion of the business family ARK are his initials it featured a large party zone adjoining the hotelrsquos lobby where the likes of Haiderrsquos attractive actress Shraddha Kapoor her brother Siddhant HNYrsquos Vivaan Shah and Sunny Deolrsquos soon to be launched puttar Karan Deol danced the night away to top Bolly hits making the place live up to predictions that it will become the de facto hangout for Stars and their CubsTHINK againHersquos been through a media and societal trial by fire and those whorsquove met him say that Tarun Tejpal has been pretty singed by it He is out on bail finally and mercifully he was allowed to grieve the tragic demise of his mother in relative freedomTarun TejpalAnd whereas we are not condoning what he is alleged to have done and we are keen that the law takes its own course after the heat and dust of that heady cause ceacutelegravebre have settled somewhat it does appear that Tejpal was punished for a lot more than what he did or did not do in that Goa liftBe that as it may sources say that Tejpalrsquos rehabilitation in his old Delhi circles is more or less complete through the efforts of a few of his feisty and loyal mostly female friends ldquoHersquos also said to be working on the next THINK festivalrdquo we were informed by one such ldquoI think it will be announced soon Yes it could be in Goa Why notrdquo Indeed