The Bhabha bidders

Now it can be told at the celebrated auction for Bhabha house recently which was won by Smita Crishna of the Godrej family whereas the person who stopped just short of the Rs 372crore winning bid was leading city industrialist Ajay Piramal with plans of building a residential highrise on the property hersquod stopped at Rs 371 crore the name of the other gentleman equally highprofile is known to only a handful of peopleAnd yes though we know who it is that story is best told another day preferably after dinnerMore on the PreityNess messGiven that not much of consequence takes place over the weekend we are inclined to believe our source a lady with impeccable credentials and a hotline to the men in khaki who says that an outofcourt settlement is expected in the PreityNess mess on TuesdayPreity Zinta and Ness WadialdquoWhat is particularly alarmingrdquo she said as she waited patiently for the ash on her cigarette to coalesce before flicking it into her silver ashtray ldquois that the cops are treating it as no more than a lsquoloverrsquos tiffrsquo that could be brushed away lightlyrdquo If this is indeed true and an outofcourt settlement does take place then this episode will undoubtedly go down in history as lsquothe case that never happenedrsquo aka lsquothe storm in Mumbairsquos champagne flutersquoLove me love my PunjabOn the looks of it they come across as a cosmopolitan urban couple comfortable in any of the worldrsquos hotspots So who would have imagined that hunky star Kabir Bedi and his attractive partner Parveen Dusanj have a relationship thatrsquos predicated on their shared and deep roots with the PunjabParveen DusanjKabir as is well known traces his lineage to a clan of renowned Sikh spiritualists And now we learn that Dussanj is something of a daughter of the same soil ldquoMy family and I have land and property in the depths of rural Punjab in the Doaba regionrdquo she says about a recent trip where these pictures were taken ldquoMy Nana and Nani were both land ownersKabir BediThis time of the year the fields are ploughed the seeds are planted and the fields are wateredrdquo says Dussanj who incidentally met Kabir in London where she grew up ldquoI go back as often as I can And yes I can drive a tractor But Irsquom not great at ploughing a fieldrdquo she laughs ldquoGive me some time and Irsquoll master that toordquo Who woulda thunkClowning around seriouslyldquoPhotographer Abner Fernandes was trying to make me laugh and to break away from the self conscious tryinghardtobeseductive poses that fashion shoots typically demandrdquo says the lovely actor and cultural warrior Leeza Mangaldas about these recent picturesLeeza Mangaldas PicAbner FernandesldquoSo he said make a funny face and I thought Irsquod try and look like a clown for a secondrdquo says the leggy alumnus of Columbia from where she graduated in Visual Arts And whatrsquos on her mind besides theeroccasional clowning ldquoLately alongside modelling Irsquove been painting and drawing exploring ideas of love sexuality and consumptionrdquo she says NiceSaving the bulls of SpainEven though itrsquos a bit distant geographically we canrsquot help but commend Kavita Khanna wife of sitting BJP MP from Gurdaspur Vinod Khanna for her concerted efforts to save the bulls of Spain from imminent suffering ldquoPLEASE SIGN THE PETITIONrdquo shersquod written to friends recentlyKavita KhannaldquoThe purpose of this petition is to protest against the annual Fire Bull festival in Spain specifically in the Soria province Before being released the bull is forcibly tied down and balls of flammable material are attached to his horns which are lit and can burn the horns body and eyes causing terrible sufferingrdquo said the lady known for her commitment to vegetarianism and spiritualitylsquoPLEASE GO TO THIS WEBSITE WHERE YOU CAN SIGN Several times the bull may try to kill himself against the walls due to his terrible pain This happens annually at the end of the second week of Novemberrsquo And yes we take a dim view of punsters on the subjectNaughty juxtapositionThe art world is abuzz with talk of the soontobeheld auction by an Indian house in the Capital ldquoThere are bets going around about how many fake Husains are going on salerdquo said an aficionadoM F HusainWhatrsquos got all in a tizzy is the bid brochure which in a jab at credibility has cleverly alluded to the late artistrsquos proximity to a Hyderabadi family whom he would stay with while in the city and who have a collection of over 500 Husain canvassesldquoBy publishing pictures of the patriarch of the family they have subtly tried to establish the provenance of the fakesrdquo we were informed ldquoBut when contacted the gentleman in the picture said hersquos suing the auction house over his picture being usedrdquo NaughtyDaughter by Court OrderAccording to our source more than the chatterati in Delhi are talking about Nalini Singhrsquos daughterrsquos book lsquoDaughter by Court Orderrsquo which was released this week by Kiran Bedi in DelhiKiran Bedi andNalini SinghAnd thatrsquos because its author Ratna Vira who holds a masterrsquos degree from the London School of Economics and Political Science as well as a masters in English Literature from St Stephenrsquos College has written a novel about a daughterrsquos fight against her familyrsquos hypocrisy power money deceit and treachery and her right to be recognised as an equal which is closer to the bone than people imagineldquoBesides the important issues it brings up it also is a devastating insight into one of Indiarsquos most powerful media clansrdquo says a source