Two peas in a London pod?

The similarities between Vijay Mallya and Lalit Modi are uncanny Both are known for their jet setting hedonistic lifestyles their penchant for glamour and glitz and their ownership of IPL teams not to forget thier runins with Indian authoritiesAnd ever since Mallya made his escape to London recently even as creditors unpaid employees and the media were baying for his blood there are many who believe that given that they have both allegedly made off with unaccountable millions mdash their patronage flows from the same sourceVijay Mallya and right Lalit ModiWhy so Well the modus operandi bears too much similarity to be just a coincidence Or how else would you account for not one but two highflying Indian biz men ensconced in luxury homes in London while the powers that be twiddle their thumbs No doubt about it mdash therersquos more to this than meets the eyeKapoor and SonsShersquos regarded as the matriarch of not only the Kapoor clan but the entire film industry such is the regard and affection that Krishna Kapoor wife of the late showman Raj Kapoor is held inArmaan JainWhich is why news of her recent hospitalization was received with concern and distress and saw her children rallying around But we are happy to report that Mrs Kapoor is back home and doing well We bumped into her handsome grandson Armaan Jain recently and the smile on his face said it allldquoMy Nani is home nowrdquo said the lean and handsome young actor ldquoMy masi Ritu Nanda had also come down to spend time with her and insisted that Nani stay closer to all of us and her doctors in South Mumbai itself so in fact shersquos at Altamount Road these daysrdquo he said NiceBig ticket engagementThis Saturday will see the betrothal of Kaviraj Bhandari to Tehzeeb Moolobhoy both residents of SoBo who grew up not even a stonersquos throw from each otherKaviraj Bhandari and Tehzeeb MoolobhoyThe Bhandaris are a distinguished family Kavirajrsquos grandfather the late Romesh Bhandari was one of the brightest sparks in the Foreign Service and had a highflying career serving as ambassador around the world before his appointment as Foreign SecretaryHis wife the statuesque Kumdesh a daughter of the Patiala royal family has lived in Mumbai for many years and is something of an urban legend When we met Kavirajrsquos pretty mother Vanita herself the daughter of a popular SoBo clan we told her about our piquant connection with the familyApparently our parents along with the Bhandaris Romesh and Kumdesh had gone to see a movie in Delhi on March 10 along with their dear friend Krishna Menon the former Defence Minister in what happened to be the ninth month of our Mumrsquos pregnancyAnd as it happened she had experienced her labour pangs while in the cinema And to cut a long story short she was rushed to hospital where she gave birth to yours truly We would have spared you these details but it occurred to us that though this happened many years ago it was exactly on this dayAnd no we are certainly not going to tell you how many years ago We wish the young couple the very bestIndia is no country for segregationWersquove said this before and wersquoll say this again Indians donrsquot take kindly to waiting in queues or sitting at designated places at formal dinners or attending two tiered parties where segregations between VIPs and nonVIPs existAnd so when recently a glittering and highprofile reception was held in Mumbai there were quite a few ruffled egos when it was found that a few ropes and well placed bouncers separated the celebs from the hoi polloi allegedly on the insistence of the event organizersldquoThere was this one unsuspecting lady who spotted one of her star friends across the large hall and wanted to go up to say hello when she was stopped by a beefy bouncerrdquo said a source ldquoBoy you should have heard how angry she wasrdquo IndeedAll quiet on the cricket fieldAccording to our cricket source therersquos been a diktat thatrsquos gone out from the PMO that therersquos going to be zero tolerance for any controversy involving the NDA and its ministersclockwise L to R Sushma Swaraj Smriti Irani and Arun JaitleyldquoEvery thing is thanda every thing is quiet and no one wants to attract any more controversiesrdquo said the source adding ldquoAfter Smriti Irani and Sushma Swaraj have been mired in various controversies Arun Jaitley former president of the DDCA and one of the big wheels of Indian cricket has been told to proceed with utmost caution and thatrsquos what hersquos doingrdquo Softly flows the JaitleyA starry breakldquoI think it is absolutely amazing how Lakme Fashion Week has opened a window of light and a road to success for upcoming designers like myself giving us a chance to get out there and showcase facets of our design philosophiesrdquo said Agrima Batra who has been chosen as the youngest designer at LFW this seasonAgrima BatraldquoItrsquos a dream come truerdquo said the designer who recently graduated from Parsons School of Design and who will present her SummerResort 2016 line lsquoTo The Stars and BackrsquoldquoIt is by the oracle of the night mdash the stars and I bring to you a modern twist on highly sophisticated and chic day to eveningwearrdquo she said adding ldquoI left it to the stars to show me the way and it was only then that I realized that when you do get lost which is rather often you will find solace in the realms of the starry eyed skiesrdquo