Wilfully flamboyant in Monte Carlo

Therersquos a limit to how thick onersquos skin can be Even after reports that the beleaguered State Bank of India with a staggering unrecovered loan of Rs 1600 crore to the grounded airline Kingfisher is exploring ways to declare its Chairman Vijay Mallya a lsquowilful defaulterrsquo the former King of Good Times saw no irony in parking his yacht at Monte Carlo and throwing a party to celebrate Formula One racingHeld last Thursday at the billionaire resort it featured all the trappings of his legendary flamboyance we are toldVijay Mallya PICGETTY IMAGESAnd this coming on the heels of the anguished letter of complaint sent to him in March by his female employees who had been unpaid for 18 months makes us wonder what the disconnect between reality and delusion might beldquoDo you even understand what it means being mother and how we feel when we have to deny our kids even the most genuine demandsrdquo theyrsquod written adding ldquoWe wonder at times how a person can be so insensitive to human feelings and emotionsrdquo Well perhaps theyrsquoll just have to go to Monte Carlo to be heardThe view from GoregaonLast week not heeding the dire predictions of our Sobo friends we shifted to Goregaon to be near Film City where we were attending a fiveday workshop at Whistling Woods InternationalNishant AgarwalHaving grown up in Juhu we have always had a fondness for Mumbairsquos northern suburbs and we looked towards the shift with a sense of excitement and wonder regardless of the fact that we had been urged by one Sobo friend lsquoto carry a tube of Odomosfor the mosquitoesrsquoTo discover new facets of your own city is a rare privilege and we did not allow traditional insular snobberies to curb our enthusiasm Friends had recommended we stayed at the Westin Mumbai Garden City owned by Starwood Hotels one of the leading hotel companies in the worldAnuraag BhatnagarldquoStarwood owns many other celebrated brands like St Regis W Le Meacuteridien and Sheraton amongst others and its new Mumbai property is set in a campus of greenery overlooking the National Park and boasts every five star luxury and then somerdquo they insisted ldquoA first rate spa a great Italian eatery and excellent inroom dining and other facilitiesrdquo they saidAnd you know whatthey were right Staying at the Westin we had to often especially at nights while overlooking the sleek skyline outside remind myself that we were in Goregaon Mumbai and not in Dubai or Paris or SingaporeFrom little details like the high speed internet the ergonomic workstation the super luxury bed and bath amenities the hotelrsquos attractive restaurants and the stunning view from my room afforded by floortoceiling plate glass windows that allowed in natural light we were gob smackedBut in retrospect we ought not to have been surprised after all the Westin is run under the leadership of industry veteran and awardwinning hotelier Anuraag Bhatnagar Area General Manager of the MumbaiPune region and it was to his hotel that we would return to each evening and wonder how our city had changed so dramaticallyNishant Agarwal the hotelrsquos Executive Assistant Manager noted our surprise with bemusement A friend from his days at the Oberoi where hersquod served as FampB manager before this stint Agarwal was used to the exclamations of delight and surprise his hotel evokedldquoOur proximity to Film City makes us a convenient pit stop for the starsrdquo said the urbane executive an aficionado of fine malts and cigars ldquoThey come for meetings photo sessions and of course our Executive Chef Ajay Choprarsquos outstanding cuisine especially his kebabs at the lsquoKangnarsquo acclaimed for its breathtaking northwest frontier food and the authentic Italian fare at Prego fast earning the reputation of being one of the best Italian eateries in the cityrdquoSo all in all we were happy to make acquaintance with Goregaon in general and the Westin in particular and we are happiest to say that contrary to all spurious Sobo snobberywe didnrsquot have to use our Odomos tube even onceA model citizenA glance at former IPL commissioner Lalit Modirsquos Twitter account reinforces his reputation as an International playboy Modi who is active on Twitter usually attacking Sreenivasan or Arun Jaitley with around 17000 tweets to his name has a large following on the social networking site with his follower count at 725000Lalit Modi PICGETTY IMAGESBut while he only follows 517 people it is interesting to note that a large amount of these are international models and modelling agencies in New York London Miami and Europe At last count it was observed that there are 36 accounts of International models not including their Indian counterparts and 21 Modelling Agencies Could it just be aesthetic interestDown and out and offSad news that one of Mumbairsquos most prominent young couples the gold standard of its nightlife is reported to have finally split Rumours of trouble had been circulating ever since their business ran aground and had to be soldldquoWe had heard that she was dating a younger guyrdquo said a source about the wife ldquobut no one thought it would come to this and that she would leave him when hersquos at his lowestrdquo Tch Tch