May 23, 2000

Life’s Simple Pleasures

A powerfully introspective mood with emotional swings and seesaws being par for the course, hardly makes for a sociable woman about town. Yet Monday night was extraordinary in more ways than one. Being a tad late may be fashionable in certain quarters but for me it almost is the inevitability of juggling my various roles as best I can, with punctuality perhaps being the casualty. On Monday though, a deliberate attempt at being socially correct and making it on time to the dinner in honour of Prince Edward, hosted by Star TV, paid rich dividends, as I met some wonderful people that I have in my own way admired for daring to break out of the mould that life had cast them in. The first of them being Edward Wessex (as he insisted on being reffered to that night), Nina Gupta, Soni Razdan, Rathikant Basu and Peter Mukherjee. Admittedly, the Prince, by choosing a career in television, had put paid the notion that the royals were just good at officiating at pompous, archaic, ceremonial functions mainly as ribbon cutters but a definite drain on the exchequer. By starting his own production company and creating the series Crown and Country, Edward has proved beyond doubt that he had a talent, albeit exploiting his royal connections somewhat, that had caught the attention of Star TV. That evening the Prince was the centre of attention and showed impeccable grace and charm by mingling and chatting with as many of the city’s movers and shakers as he could. Prominent amongst them Munira Chudasama, elegance itself in an orange sari, with her oh-so-erudite husband Nana, Sunil Gavaskar, Ronnie Screwvala, Imtiaz and Anil Dharker, Gita and Dilip Piramal, Anu Ansari tres chic in black, with her dapper other half, Tariq, Dilip De, Bachi Karkaria, in a beautiful family heirloom — to name all of the ‘A’ list would take reams so I will proceed with the evening instead. Raj, the dynamic head of marketing at Star, ensured that almost everyone was introduced to Edward.

For the few who perhaps missed out on a one-to-one his speech more than made up for it, packed as it was with witticisms and a dry, self-deprecating sense of humour that won him admiration and genuine applause. I was personally thrilled to have met Edward as he was so genuine in his curiosity about our nation and in a delightful way made me feel that our conversation was for my ears only, when I am indeed sure that he was as attentive and charming to each and everyone of the guests present. Peter Mukherjee, the head honcho at Star, was informality itself in his brief introduction which in itself seemed to set the tone for an unforgettable evening. Rathikant Basu, the suave ex-CEO of Star, who has since launched two regional channels, in Bengali and Marathi, was sandwiched between Nina Gupta and myself with Soni Razdan, Jimmy and Ranjan Kapur and a lovely English couple making up the rest of the table. We ate, drank and collectively set up a mutual admiration society that had us take the party to my home with Miriam and Akbar Khan joining in the merriment after we had called it a night at the Taj. To Star and its CEO Peter must go the credit of putting together an evening of simple understated elegance, to the Prince must go the accolade of a programme well made and Nina and Soni I salute as women of substance. In the final analysis an evening can only raise itself to a threshold of perfection if it has a unique, one-of-a-kind, never-to-be-repeated aura to it and that this evening had aplenty. It is against the backdrop of this blissful evening that I measure life’s simple pleasures. In that new friendships are as important as new beginnings as it reaffirms our faith and belief in the meaning of life itself.

This past week has been a trying one and as I am a true blue fatalist, I couldn’t quite pull myself out of my blues and the rest of the week I gave the social whirl a deliberate miss. In the process I missed out on, for the second time, the launch party of Rathikant Basu’s Tara channel. My loss I am sure. On Sunday, after virtually a week in social hibernation, I went to a brunch at Indigo to celebrate Jules Fuller’s birthday. The afternoon provided the light relief I desperately needed. Including my sons, Krish and Shiv, there was the dapper diplomat Sheldon Austin, Peter Mukherjee, Jules and I, yet we connected on a high plane of thinking and sensitivity which, despite the absence of the gorgeous Sophiya and her lovely sister Ayesha, made for a memorable day. Despite a renewed attack of Monday morning blues, I am quietly determined to tackle the week a day at a time and if indeed a knockout punch awaits take it squarely on the jaw. In the art of positive thinking lies the solution to most of life’s dilemmas. I rest my case with a truism ‘live life a day at a time, as though your last’.

On that note I say, ‘goodbye blues! Hello sunshine...’

 

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