Two weeks, two thanks-givers

Im just happy he will read it and happy too to see him supporting indie bookstores said Salman Rushdie when we asked him what he felt about POTUS picking up a copy of his latest book Two Years Eight Months and TwentyEight Nights A Novel this SaturdayObama a supporter of small business Saturdays a movement to support indie local retail had dropped in at the Upshur Street Books in Washington with daughters Sasha and Malia Some of the other books bought by the first family were Purity A Novel by Jonathan Franzen A Snicker of Magic by Natalie Lloyd and Dork Diaries 1 Tales from a NotSoFabulous Life by Rachel Reneacutee RussellUS President Barack Obama with Sasha and Malia at the Upshur Street Books store PicAPAll things considered it had been eventful weeks for both POTUS and Rushdie The former had forgiven the Thanksgiving turkey and volunteered at a community Thanksgiving kitchen Rushdie meanwhile on a leg of his book tour had found himself in Guadalajara Mexico where no one had shown up at the airport to receive him and where hed had to hitch a ride off a fellow flyerSalman RushdieHis gratitude to this kind stranger had been amply expressed on social media Thank you Germaacuten Koller Hernaacutendez hed posted In contrast were his succinct words in response to former Fin Min P Chidambarams admission on Saturday that the ban on Satanic Verses had been wrongThis admission just took 27 years How many more before the mistake is corrected Rushdie had tweeted about a move that had more or less destroyed his entire life Not every one was in the mood to forgive and forget this ThanksgivingBurning Man in Lutyens DelhiOne thing is clear no one likes fancy dress and theme parties as much as Delhiites This was demonstrated quite emphatically recently at Vivek Goels birthday bash when the likes of Tarun Tahiliani Sumant Jaikrishnan and Nikhil Khanna went to extraordinary lengths to get their turbans yarmulkes and tuques just right to adhere to the specified dress codeMalini Ramani and Gautam KalraThis weekend too more or less the same crowd showed up in extravagant splendour to bring in Vivek Samas 50th And so you had Kalyani Chawla Pia Sharma Pauro Aparna Bahl Bedi Manish Arora and Gautam Kalra amongst others turn up in what looked like the whole nine yards on their headsMy dress was by Amit Aggarwal and I was wearing a wig and then a turban and silver jewellery over the turban said the ravishing Malini Ramani about her ensemble Move over Burning Man Lutyens Delhi is here to stayExtraordinary excitementEven on ordinary days his exuberance levels are above average so it does not come as a surprise that Shailendra Singh Percepts excitable head honcho was positively bouncing when he called to tell us about the Worlds Biggest Guest List featuring World Number One DJ Hardwell in the second week of December at the DY Patil Stadium that hes spearheadingDJ Hardwell with Shailendra SinghThe event has become a rage on social media with over 50000 registrations already in he said My own NGO United Trust Foundation is also taking part actively in the fund raiser The cause we are supporting is Magic Bus which will operate at a ground level extending education to over 18000 children across the country Barclays Spaces for Hope the BMW Foundation Herbert Quandt have joined the campaign along with Indian corporate giants like Bharti and Hero Motorcorp he saidWhats amazing is that the world ranking No 1 DJ Hardwells tour is kickstarting in India with this gig and he is not charging a penny for it With over 100000 fans in the stadium its going to make it to the Guinness World Records he added See what we said about excitement levels at an alltime highShowcasing mens fashionThe week will witness a unique initiative to spotlight mens fashion Hosted by a magazine the event is called Fashion Nights and will be hosted on Tuesday and Wednesday evening at a midcity five star to showcase the creations of the likes of Raghavendra Rathore Shantanu and Nikhil and Rajesh Pratap SinghRajesh Pratap Singh and Raghavendra RathoreIts a celebration of fashion and style over two evenings in Mumbai and aims to put the mens fashion and designers firmly under the spotlight said the magazines publisher Almona Bhatia You see two shows break for drinks and see another two each evening she said adding And we have a few surprises tooTellall timesThe Young Presidents Organisation YPO that international confederation of upscale businessmen has hitherto prided itself on its low profile With the likes of Mukesh Ambani Anand Mahindra and Azim Premji as members this is no mean featP Chidambaram and Deepak Chopra PicAFPAfter all what men of that calibre think and do and say is always news making especially when its behind close doors and to each other but such has been the YPOs insistence on secrecy that we recall even when we had attended one of their offsites in Goa many years ago which had featured the likes of P Chidambaram Salman Khurshid and Deepak Chopra it had passed under the radar and no one had been any the wiser for itHowever in todays era of social media and selfies these Charter House Rules are somewhat archaic This weekend for instance a whole lot of fashion luvvies from Delhi and Mumbai were invited to address YPO members in Goa and the former could not help sharing their pix and flattering comments on the extravaganza in lurid detail Perhaps a revision of rules is called for