Malavika’s Mumbaistan: Wearing Their Art on Their Sleeve
Friday evening saw Delhi’s creamiest layer gather at a sumptuous art-and-sculpture-filled mansion in south Delhi’s Golf Links
Friday evening saw Delhi’s creamiest layer gather at a sumptuous art-and-sculpture-filled mansion in south Delhi’s Golf Links, where art patron and collector Shalini Passi hosted a joint event with the Kochi Biennale Foundation, to launch the Shalini Passi Art Foundation and an associated arts blog. Seen on the occasion were president, Kochi Biennale Foundation, Bose Krishnamachari; artist and curator for Kochi-Muziris Biennale 2018 Anita Dube; founding patron of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, Feroze Gujral along with her architect-husband Mohit Gujral, whose Gujral Foundation funds public projects on art, architecture, design and culture; noted curator Dr Arshiya Lokhandwala; head of the Asia Society, India Bunty Chand; art photographers Dayanita Singh and Parul Sharma; and cultural activist Sanjna Kapoor, amongst others. Besides announcing the launch of Passi’s foundation and blog, Dube presented a note on her approach to the Biennale. “My earliest intuitive vision for this edition of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale to explore the possibilities for a non-alienated life has remained with me. The need to listen, think, and learn with each other, particularly voices from the margins,” she said. As for Passi, looking very much like a work of art herself, clad in an all-black ensemble, there was no doubt that she wore her art on her elegant sleeve. “I am excited that, through the foundation, I will be able to play a significant role in developing the much-needed ecosystem for arts and support a new generation of artists and cultural practitioners, not only in the arts but also design, architecture, crafts, and fashion,” she said.
True Lies
Obviously, the syndrome of being one up on one’s neighbours is not restricted to the middle-class alone. But, the super-rich and stratospherically wealthy take it to another level. Not for them the scoring of incremental brownie points with a new AC or a bigger TV, in the pursuit of neighbour’s envy, owner’s pride. In the big boy’s league, the status symbols are far more serious. Take the case of this high-flying, young and restless bon vivant, the resident of a swanky new tower in the city. According to sources, his every waking hour is spent thinking up ways to outdo another residence in the vicinity. “Not only has he fashioned his structure to resemble the more celebrated one, but his latest endeavour is to get permission to build a helipad on its roof,” says a source, adding, “something that not even his much more powerful neighbour has been able to do yet.” Apparently, so adamant is the gent about obtaining this most ultimate of status symbols that he has even found a caveat in the existing civic body laws that allows for private helipads if the structure happens to be near a medical facility or hospital. “He has been pursuing this route with vigour, even approaching a hospital in the vicinity to join forces to bolster his case,” the source said. And, has he been able to convince the hospital to come aboard in his campaign to acquire a helipad on the roof of his skyscraper? “No,” said the source. “It looks like the hospital’s board has seen through his ploy and is not going along with it.” What can one say? Obviously, amongst the super-rich, one man’s roof is another’s helipad…
Modern Dictionary
Nana (noun): A negative answer, a refusal, a rejection, a veto or dissension (eg: Tanushree kept saying Nana, but the senior actor just would not listen)
No Sugar Please
Who knew that India’s External Affairs minister, the fiery Sushma Swaraj, was a foodie? Word comes in that this Sunday, after Swaraj’s rousing address at the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, the diminutive minister organised a Michelin-starred Indian-inspired meal for her diplomatic colleagues. And, the chosen chef was none other than Punjabi boy Vikas Khanna who is based in New York and has earned a coveted Michelin star for his Indian eatery Junoon. “Humbled to be cooking every year for the UN General Assembly’s permanent mission of India to the UN. Always an honour to cook for Sushma Swaraj,” Chef Khanna posted on social media. “The menu was modern Indian, and the two courses that were a big hit were the pumpkin coconut soup with pickled purple cauliflower and the fresh avocado fruit salad,” informs a source. Incidentally, this is not the first time Vikas has cooked for Swaraj. Last year, during the same event in New York, he had prepared a Navratri -inspired menu to great acclaim. “It is always amazing to serve Sushma Swaraj,” he’d said on that occasion, adding: “Whenever she comes to America, I try to prepare a meal for her at least once. I feel very honoured...Since she doesn’t take sugar, I have made small packets of natural sugar so that she can consume it in limited quantity.” Fortunately for India, the sugar has not sweetened Swaraj’s words, especially on the subject of Pakistan.