The stars come to Cuffe Parade

When we spoke to him yesterday awardwinning architect Ashiesh Shah named as one of an architecture magazines Top 50 Architects of Asia whose Mumbaibased architecture and design firm has become the Holy Grail of Indias well heeled and design conscious had just arrived at his own sundowner at Cuffe Parades Mittal GrandeurSameer and Ritika Dattani with Ashiesh ShahldquoIm hosting it along with Sameer and Ritika to showcase the penthouse Ive designedrdquo said the cherubic architect ldquoSonam Kapoor is coming and were going to be cutting a cake for the success of Neerja Jacqueline Fernandez will be here and Ayaan Mukherjee just called to say that he and Ranbir Kapoor will be dropping in soonrdquo he said adding ldquoBut where are yourdquoJacqueline Fernandez Sonam and Ranbir KapoorAt work writing this we said to Shah who is known to have been the designer of Ranbir and Katrinas Pali Hill home ldquoI will try my best to be there to witness Bollywoods visit to visit Cuffe Paraderdquo we said What we didnt say is that like Parmesh Godrej all those years ago Shah just might be the one who brings on another great confluence of the best of SoBo and NoBoTeachers PetOne of the sweetest sights at Shobhaa and Dilip Des daughter Arundhatis wedding to Sahil Sheth that occurred this weekend and saw the whos who of the city converge on the NCPA lawns was that of BJP spokesperson Shaina NC walking around the venue with Ranadeep the Des dashing Singaporebased sonShaina NC and Ranadeep DeMore than the matching colours of their attires we were intrigued by the obvious bonhomie ldquoWe were in the same class in schoolrdquo explained De ldquoBut of course Shaina would always be at the front of the class helliprdquo he said teasing the politician who appeared chuffed by the descriptionShaina NC as the teachers pet answering all the questions in the front row Somehow were not surprisedHandsome tome on GandhiThis evening will witness the release of Delhibased author and publisher Pramod Kapoors handsome tome Gandhi An Illustrated Biography which has been receiving attractive rave reviews from scholars and lay people alikeTara GandhiBhattacharjee and Pramod KapoorldquoResearching Gandhi for the last six years I felt his story needed to be told in the style most understandable to the present generation My biography is an anecdotal rendering where ldquoimages are in continuous conversation with the textrdquordquo said ldquoIf I had not seen Pramod Kapoors profusely illustrated biography I would not have believed there was a whole treasure chest of photos yet to be discovered that were neither seen printed or published beforerdquo said director Shyam Benegal who will be discussing the book with Kapoor and Anil Dharker at the release ldquoThe accompanying text makes it a highly accessible and readable biography A rare collectors itemrdquoGenerosity and GraceGrace was the word that came to mind at Rahul Boses black tie sit down fund raiser The Idea of India held over the weekend for his NGO The FoundationNeerja and Kumar Mangalam BirlaPartnered with the Bajaj family who lent its considerable heft with the presence of both Rahul and Niraj Bajaj the evening featured some other of Indias most distinguished corporate surnames like Godrej Birla and Goenka along with the some of the countrys brightest and bestNiraj BajajRonnie Screwvalla and wife Zarina Mehta Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia Atul and Anju Dodiya Jitesh and Reena Kallat Ayaz Memon and AD Singh rubbed shoulders with the likes of Neerja and Kumar Mangalam Birla Harsh Goenka and Pheroza Gordrej for an evening that saw 11 veritable treasures being auctioned From a signed guitar of Chris Martin to the Rarest of the Rare Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasias most cherished flute to a spectacular Atul Dodiyas depiction of an imagined conversation between MK Gandhi and a child the paddles went up with enthusiastic alacrity as Mallika Advani worked the room with professional expertiseRahul Bose and Rahul BajajBut to our minds two incidents from the evening particularly deserve mention The first is Advanis innovative kickoff of the auction in which philanthropist Zarina Mehta snapped up a humble school slate for R 5 lakh transforming the proceedings from the transactional to the purely philanthropic And the second is Chemoulds dynamic Shireen Gandhy whose bidding for one of her own artists Atul Dodiyas spectacular work demonstrated her regard for the artist ldquoShireen must have a huge collection of Dodiyas from the seriesrdquo said an envious buyer ldquoAnd the fact that she bid R 32 lakh for a painting with a starting price of R 14 lakh is noteworthyrdquoTracking Ravi VarmaBy all accounts Swati and Ajay Piramals Sunday brunch hosted at their Gallery themed around Raja Ravi Varma was a jolly affair Swati one of Indias leading scientists involved in healthcare likes nothing more than bringing her creativity to her soireesAjay and Swati PiramalFrom a table that boasted dishes that marked Ravi Varmas travels to details that evoked his life and times the afternoon was marked by attention to detail and cheerUday KotakUday and Pallavi Kotak Kamal and Niranjan Hirandanani were amongst the appreciative guests spotted on the occasionAnother art scandalEvery now and then the grapevine jangles with news of the latest art scandal and now its the time for one more This time it involves one of Kolkatas most revered patters whose works are allegedly being counterfeited by unscrupulous dealersWhats got people intrigued is that not only are the accusers among the countrys most credible art and media mavens but that the casqued happens to have a giltlined surname tooNot too long ago similar stories had emerged about three other of Indias leading contemporary masters And alas ndash were found to have more than a little credenceldquoIts all a matter of interpretationrdquo as our Oolong tea favouring SoBo hostess never tires of repeating ldquoWhether the Master paints the whole thing or supervises and signs it is just a natter of detail these daysrdquoAh so