It’s been billed as an exclusive event to promote conversations around mental health and will feature a talk by Pulitzer-winning author and renowned oncologist, Dr Siddhartha Mukherjee, and dinner with actress and mental health advocate, Deepika Padukone, founder of The Live Love Laugh Foundation (TLLLF), as the first of its fundraiser lecture series.
Set up in 2015 as a charitable trust to champion the cause of mental health in India, TLLLF has undertaken several impactful initiatives including mental health awareness programs, and the upcoming fundraiser featuring Mukherjee, followed by cocktails and dinner with Padukone was held at the Taj Mansingh Delhi on September 15, with tickets being sold at ₹1,00, 000 each. “It’s going to be an annual event, featuring the world’s foremost thinkers and influencers presenting ideas that are shaping the global mental health narrative,” says a spokesperson of TLLL. The initiative had been launched when Padukone, at the height of her career in 2014, took the unprecedented step of speaking about her own tryst with the debilitating scourge.
“I believe that Deepika sharing her personal journey was a turning point that started to normalise conversations around mental health,” says Anisha Padukone, director of TLLLF and the actress’ sister. “Subsequently, TLLLF was set up to give hope to those experiencing stress, anxiety and depression.”
Anna Chandy, chairperson of the board of trustees, assures that besides expanding the scope of their existing initiatives, there will be a focus on research going forward, so that the NGO is able to continually assess the impact and identify areas where it can intervene to shape the climate that is stigma-free.
{{/usCountry}}Anna Chandy, chairperson of the board of trustees, assures that besides expanding the scope of their existing initiatives, there will be a focus on research going forward, so that the NGO is able to continually assess the impact and identify areas where it can intervene to shape the climate that is stigma-free.
{{/usCountry}}Remembering Ram
It is a measure of the late Ram Jethmalani’s large-than-life persona and many facets that his passing was mourned across multiple cities and a wide range of people. If PM Modi had paid tribute to him in a series of tweets, in Mumbai, some of the city’s most high-profile denizens, including Randhir Kapoor along with his newly-returned after his illness, brother Rishi Kapoor and Neetu Singh, ace lawyers Shobha Jagtiani and Anil Harish, Yash and Avanti Birla and the rarely seen Maureen Wadia along with son Ness Wadia showed up to bid him adieu at the memorial organised by his son and senior advocate at the Bombay high court, Mahesh (Tony) Jethmalani, and daughter-in-law Haseena.
But it was as an affectionate family man that Jethmalani was arguably at his happiest.
“Dad showed his love with an enormous physical display of affection,” said an emotional Haseena, when we spoke yesterday. “He treated me more like a daughter than a daughter-in-law and made sure I was always smiling. He always kissing my twins and holding them close. He would come straight from the airport to see us, demanding his favourite Black Label and roasted almond ice cream, and used to regale us with stories and cases and the children used to be riveted by his narrative and grand gesticulations! And by the end of the evening, he would kiss Tony fiercely, like he was a little boy,” she said, adding, “He had the most special bond with our daughter Serena as she is his only granddaughter, and would beam with pride as we would fill him in about her time in university.”
And then Haseena sent us pictures of the late lawyer, beaming in the company of his granddaughter, on one of their travels, with a close-up from the same trip, of the fiery lawyer’s hand, clasping that of his young progeny in pride and love; the hand that had so often brought a courtroom to stand still, as it emphasized a finer point in a high profile and difficult case.
Truly, a picture worth more than a thousand words.
All work, some play
“We all won, it was a landslide and I was thrilled to receive the second highest votes, and that too in just my 3rd election to the RWITC managing committee.” It was Zinia Lawyer, reporting about the election results announced last week. Lawyer, a recent entry to the board, had trounced many long-standing members and was justifiably thrilled. Along with fellow winners and their supporters, she had celebrated the victory at Royal China that very night, but already the focus had shifted to the enormous work that lay ahead. As the newly elected chairman, Zavaray Poonawalla, who’d won by a massive lead, had emphasized in his campaign letter, the sport of racing was at perhaps at its most vulnerable and there was much work to be done.
“No more celebrations,” said Lawyer. “It’s just getting along with the grind. My marketing work is in full swing and my huge mandate has motivated me to do even harder for the club,” said the lady who, as the sole female member of RWITC’s managing committee, has been accustomed to shattering many a glass ceilings. Many decades ago, Lawyer had attracted headlines as one of the few women to head a company when she founded and ran leading beer-maker London Pilsner. No article on women in India Inc could be found without a reference to her. Now retired and a doting grandmother to boot, the daughter of an impassioned racing clan had found the ideal platform to channel her experience. “I will be going to Pune over the weekend to attend the Poonawalla Million on Sunday,” she said in her plummy accent.
Taking a bite of the Big Apple
He’s known as one of the most powerful denizens of India’s burgeoning fashion industry in his role as head honcho of Reliance IMG, but we were impressed to hear about how much Jaspreet Chandok managed to fit in on his recent week-long trip to New York City to attend the on-going New York Fashion Week. Chandok, who was spotted at the shows of popular designers Bibhu Mohapatra and Prabal Gurung, later dropped in at Anita’s Dongre’s store in SoHo. But apart from fashion, he also attended the US Open Women’s Tennis Final; a New York Met’s baseball game and a WWE wrestling match at Madison Square Garden (where wrestler ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin made his comeback). If that was not enough, he also managed to visit the UN General Assembly during the same week! Mixing work and fun has never been easier.