Welcome another generation of Hiranandanis!

gtgt There are some families in Mumbai whose lives are inextricably enmeshed with those of the city they dwell in The Hiranandanis are one such Patriarch of the family Padma Bhushan awardee LH Hiranandani the celebrated ENT surgeon like the gynaecologist Mumbairsquos legendary Dr Shirodkar was one of Mumbairsquos most loved doctors In fact a whole generation of Mumbairsquos kids had their tonsils removed by him mdash this diarist included The kids loved him because he recommended ice cream for postop healing And their moms loved him too because of the twinkle in his eye and his charming bedside manner His son Niranjan inherited his fatherrsquos outgoing manner and penchant for public life A thorough gentleman Niranjan acquired the reputation for being a business leader and a pillar of Mumbai society Parties at the Hirandanani home at Malabar Hill were a congregation of Mumbairsquos movers and shakers and people who made the city tick That Niranjan and his brother Surendra also changed the Mumbai skyline with the world class Hiranandani Garden at Powai and then went on to establish a billion dollar real estate empire is credit to their hard work and entrepreneurial zeal And yesterday we learnt therersquos one more reason for the community to celebrate with the Hiranandani when we received an exquisite pink package containing a miniature bottle of rose bubbly and chocolates Niranjan and Kamalrsquos son Darshan and his wife Neha announced the birth of their daughter Zoya ldquoThe birth took place six months ago but itrsquos never too late to share joy with peoplerdquo said the dapper Niranjan with the familyrsquos trademark twinkle in his eye We agree Schoolrsquos in gtgtu00a0u00a0We bumped in to Lina Ashar recently and were gobsmacked to learn that Tina Ambanirsquos lovely niece her elder sisterrsquos daughter has established an educational empire that boasts of around 170 schools across the world in less than 18 years ldquoI established my first preschool Kangaroo Kids in Juhu in 1993 when I came to live India from Australia and saw the need for childcentric schools that made learning fun and gave children freedom from the assembly line rote system that was being practicedrdquo she told us u00a0Lina Ashar ldquoNext on the insistence of the kidsrsquo parents who saw the change in their kids we started the Billabong High schools that took their education all the way to the Std XII But these schools could not be massmarketed and there was an urgent need to have excellent schools for Indiarsquos growing middle classes and so we started the Brain Works institutionsrdquo she says Asharrsquos passion stems from the year which she spent in India while in college ldquoAny one can see that as a country India is miles ahead of any otherrdquo she says Tina Ambani ldquoWhich is why it saddens me to hear of its corruption and underprivileged masses If we can give a great education to even two or three generations of its children think what we can achieverdquo she says What drives her She smiles ldquoI grew up being known as Tina Munimrsquos niece and vowed that some day Irsquod be known in my own right for my own achievementsrdquo she says ldquoBut the ironyrdquo she smiles ldquoIs that I am now known as my son Drishrsquos mom mdash given that when we go out hersquos asked for his autographrdquo For the uninitiated Drish is a TV anchor and an aspiring actor in his own right Cell phone scam gtgtu00a0u00a0Something weird is happening to all our friends theyrsquore receiving from numbers in Belarus code 375 and Romania code 40 One such person says itrsquos a hacking scam and any one who answers the calls will have their contact list stolen Another refers to a newspaper article that says if you call these numbers back you get charged And if you receive the call it is a collect call And a third asks what the business model of the scamsters behind the calls could be who benefits since were paying for these calls mdash unless itrsquos the service providers themselves One service provider has put out an advisory that itrsquos a lottery scam and yet others say you catch a virus if you answer Whatever it is we think itrsquos times like this when we ought to remember what our elders told us donrsquot talk to strangersespecially not from places you cant pick out on a map Wedding News gtgtu00a0u00a0A little bird tells us that the fantastic wedding that was to be held this weekend at an exotic European capital and had the upper echelons of Mumbai society in a tizzy has been postponed as a family elder has suddenly taken ill But a bigger bird tells us that the marriage has been called off completely due to reasons unknown Then a mediumsized bird tells us that the wedding had already taken place a month earlier and attended by witnesses and so it makes no real difference if celebrations are not held at all as they were a formality Which bird to believe We have no idea yet but only pray that at such sensitive and significant times good sense prevails and that things go off exactly the way the young couple desires Big fat Indian Weddings gtgtu00a0u00a0Ok So herersquos the thing about big fat Indian weddings The pecking order is the highflyers conduct theirs in Istanbul The Allanas Venice The Mittals and Mauritius The Piramals the more budget conscious ones are held in Udaipur and Goa where the experience is just as great but the rates better and for the allout fun in the sun crowd Bangkok is the place to go And now that everyonersquos sorted which place gets our vote as the best place to tie the knot in Ah gentle reader mdash the moment we get some lsquogyaanrsquo on that mdash yoursquoll be the first to know u00a0