Cards, crackers and olives

Night after maniac night, to the cacophonic beat of crackers, the high rollers of the city gathered to gamble.

As the tradition of Diwali embraced the citizens of Mumbai, night became day as the night watchman held a lonely vigil for his employers. The king and queen of hospitality, Queenie and Raja Dhody, hosted a small intimate circle of friends to a Diwali evening that started with the squeals of children dressed to the nines, but quickly settled into the five tables of hard core card aficionados, gambling each other with gripping intensity.

The non-playing group included Rhea Dutt, Sharmila, Anju and Farhad Taraporevala, Aarti and Kailash Surendranath, Meera Zaveri, Esther and Raju Daswani and a few glamourous young ones like Kavita and Chirag Doshi, Nirmal Zaveri, Champa and Chakor Doshi. Arjun Mehra, Rima Jain and a host of others revelled on lady lucks capriciousness, as they gambled.

Having done my Diwali card party I chose to go another low key baby shower for the actress Madhu Shah, due to have her Scorpio baby this month, hosted by my neighbour Rajyalakshmi Rao. As it was to be a surprise event, Madhu was taken aback when she walked through the door, albeit an hour late, as there were almost forty of us at the door to greet her.

Her gasp of astonishment and her repeating `I don't believe this' showed us that she had been truly surprised. Juhi Chawla, herself pregnant, Suman Ranganathan, a bride to be come December, Suneeta Rao, Meera Zaveri with her lovely daughter-in-law and little grand child, Chaaya Momaya, Simi Chandoke, Queenie Dhody, and Rajya's lovely daughter Shravania, who turned 21 yesterday, and son Hemant were all part of the fun group.

A music troupe with two singers singing all-time favourites capped a fun evening of laughter, love, and gaiety. `Ab Jane ki zid na karo' won in the pop music stakes hands down as we had them repeat it for well over an hour. Lakshmi Puja at Mr and Mrs Manoj Kumar's home with their sons Kunal and Vishal, his wife Priya and kids Vansh and Muskan, extended family of their Pinku and Kitty with their children, made the religious and prayer element of Diwali a rare treat. Having decided on a low key Diwali due to a recent bereavement, I felt blessed that I had been invited to partake of these three close gatherings.

On Friday, Meena and Rajan Raheja had a screening of the film Mission Kashmir at Starcity, their new theatre near Shivaji Park. They had waiters with snacks and popcorn and wine cruising the lobby and ensuring everyone was well taken care of before the film started. The film was unbelievable -- it was gripping from beginning to end, each of the characters were well-caste and delivered as true blue actors.

Hrithik Roshan has prove beyond the shadow of a doubt that he can emote and act like a seasoned star, Sanjay Dutt gave powerful yet controlled performance which electrified in the scenes between Hrithik and Sanjay.

Priety Zinta, Jackie Shroff, Puru Rajkumar and the new actress who plays Sanjay's wife all turned in performances that were top notch. A must see film, the audience was varied and fun. Spotted Lakshmi Nair, Dr and Mrs Narendra Pandya, Ramona Garware, Mr and Mrs Rama Narang, Chirag Doshi, Shiamak Davar, Gaurav Ghai and other movie buffs.

The opening of the restaurant Olive on Saturday was a fun-filled lively event. The restaurant has a Mediterranean ambience with white walls and tented outdoor spaces, cool and inviting. The shangria had everyone in good spirits and the host Henry Tham, AD Singh, Anupam Mayekar, Martin da Costa and Sagarika ensured everyone was well taken care of with celebrity guests like Ayesha and Anil Dharker, Sophiya and Julles Fuller, Bachi Karkaria, and Dolly Thakore, Mehr and Arjun Ramphal, Mel D'souza, Suchitra Pillai, Kishen Mulchandani, Rahul Akerkar, Rachel Reuben, Rahul Bose, Neerja Shah and a bevy of other lovelies. We ate and drank soaking in the ambience of a South of eateries and watering holes where the city can show to advantage her people and their graciousness.

The Bombay Times party was indeed a treat last Saturday and I marvelled at the concentration of glamour, beauty, talent and wealth assembled there, the fact that a lot of these exclusive people are internationally travelled, lends to a voice crying out for more places to eat and socialise at. Olive fills that space nicely.