Three good men

Dad and Alan are very strong individuals with a strong sense of self In a world full of interior decorators its heartening to find architects who structurally redesign spaces and use them effectively keeping nature and clean lines in mind said actor producer John Abraham about his father and brother whose awardwinning firm Abraham John ARCHITECTS a multidisciplinary architecture interior design landscaping and urban planning firm founded in 1967 was recently the subject of a long profile in a prestigious design magazineJohn AbrahamldquoEvery space they create is used functionally and so well thought out that the complexities of their job look so simple because they make designs look simple and beautifulrdquo said the beatific actor adding ldquoIrsquom so proud of dad and AlanrdquoWe like6 degrees of separationIn which we join the dotsKamaladevi Chattopadhyay Recipient of the Ramon Magsaysay Award the Padma Bhushan and the Padma Vibhushan freedom fighter and social reformer Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay is renowned for her contribution to the Indian Independence movement and for being the spirit behind the recognition and revival of Indian handicrafts looms and theatre Several cultural institutions in India like the National School of Drama Sangeet Natak Akademi Central Cottage Industries Emporium etc trace their roots to her vision and foresight Asha Puthli Very much part of Andy Warholrsquos celebrated gathering of artists intellectuals drag queens playwrights and Hollywood celebrities Asha Puthli is an Indianborn singersongwriter producer whose unique singing style straddles genres as varied as blues pop rock soul funk disco and techno who shot to fame with her pathbreaking albums such as The Devil is Loose CBS 1976 and 1001 Nights of Love Polygram 1980 Historian Robert Palmer described her voice as ldquoA sound like Raga meeting Aretha FranklinrdquoHow they are related Two of Kamaladevirsquos sisterrsquos sons were married to Asharsquos motherrsquos sistersOther relatives of this highly talented and unlikely duo are Indiarsquos nightingale and freedom fighter Sarojini Naidu Indo English poet dramatist and actor Harindranath Chattopadhyay model and 1976 Miss India title winner in Naina Balsaver rocker Neel Chattopadhyay actresses Shobha Khote and Bhavna Balsaver and Congressman Akbar Dumpy AhmedStill crazySeparately and together their contribution to Mumbai a city they live and work in has been celebrated and so yesterday when artist and Kala Ghoda festfounder Brinda Miller and husband the noted restoration architect Alfaz celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary we couldnrsquot help asking them what it was like all those years agoBrinda and Alfaz Miller 25 years agoldquoI met Alfaz at my art exhibition mdash he wanted to buy a painting for his client from Grindlays Bank as a wedding gift It was the last day last hour and all was sold so he commissioned merdquo says Brinda ldquoIn a few ways we are alike our professions complement each others but in most ways we are abs oppositesrdquo she laughed ldquoBut we donrsquot feel its 25 years as we lead such busy lives and we give each other SPACErdquo she said adding ldquoAbove all we are both concerned about the city we live in and though we come from diff backgrounds and religions it never gets in our wayrdquoThe couple celebrated their 25th anniversary yesterdayRemembering Salim AlildquoToday is the 118th birth anniversary of my greatuncle Salim Ali Indiarsquos much loved Bird Manrdquo wrote the Delhibased aesthete and cultural warrior Laila Tyabji chairperson of Dastkar which has empowered the lives of craftsmen across India ldquoHe was my motherrsquos fatherrsquos brother and married my fatherrsquos motherrsquos sisterlsquoBird Manrsquo Salim Ali andLaila TyabjiDoes Tyabji subscribe to her grand old unclersquos passion ldquoThough Salim chacha infected many of his cousins and nephews and nieces with the birdwatching bug our own immediate family were not birdminded though we loved the outdoors flora and fauna Nevertheless we adored Salim Chachardquo she says ldquoThe last time I met him was when he was dying of cancer in hospital aged 91 Emaciated and gaunt as an El Greco drawing he could still wink at my father and whisper pointing at the extremely plain Kerala nurse lsquoThere are some pretty fine birds around herersquo Courageous and a joker till the endrdquoAll that glittersOh dear This handsome SoBo hunk scion of an established family whose fondness for glam girls has got him into trouble before appears to be in a bit of a soup again No sooner had the dust settled on the last bit of scandal than his name had been headlined in a tragic episode involving a wellknown ramp scorcher when the grapevine began jangling again This time itrsquos to do with the breakup of his marriage and its collateral damage Apparently after much backing and forthing and sundry wrangling when his wife successfully won her claim on her jewellery as part of her lsquostree dhanrsquo you can imagine her shockhorror when she took the precious pile to have it evaluated by a jeweller and was informed that most of it was fakeOh dear and oh woe all that glitters just ainrsquot goldKoirala in MumbaildquoTEDxGateway 2014 speaker Anuradha Koirala will be conferred the prestigious Mother Teresa Global Awardsrdquo texted our friend the indefatigable and ebullient Yashraj Akashi Senior Ambassador for the region for TedXAnuradha KoiralaldquoAnuradha who was one of our speakers this year has rescued and rehabilitated over 12000 girls from flesh trade from India and Nepalrdquo he said of the noted activist from Maiti Nepal ldquoOnly last Sunday she was on stage presenting at TEDxGateway at the NCPArdquoYashraj Akashi at TedxGateway