Malavika’s Mumbaistan: Crazy Rich Asians…Who Meditate

Crazy Rich Asians…Who Meditate
Every now and then, we catch a glimpse of the dashing Dr Deepak Chopra, one of the most influential voices of India’s soft power, internationally. The best-selling author and new-age guru, who counts amongst his friends the likes of the late Michael Jackson, Demi Moore and Madonna, is also a loving family man, and we recently saw him wave cheerily at legions of his followers, through a web cam, surrounded by his daughter, the US-based Mallika Chopra Mandal and his three grandchildren, endorsing the former’s latest book, “Just Breathe: Meditation, Mindfulness, Movement and More’. Described as a ‘go-to meditation guide for kids, ages 8-12’, Mandal says her latest book is about empowering kids to live a happier life and techniques to relieve stress. Mandal has previously written, ‘Living with Intent: My Somewhat Messy Journey to Purpose, Peace and Joy’, besides being the founder of Intent.com. Like her father, she is a much sought-after speaker at seminars and symposiums for well-being. But, it’s not all meditation and no fun that she endorses. This week saw her catch one of the first shows of the runaway hit, ‘Crazy Rich Asians’, along with her teenage girls. “It was so much fun! We loved Crazy Rich Asians,” she said, when we texted her yesterday. “And, we had Kevin Kwan, Awkwafina and others from the movie surprise us in the theatre!” Popular entertainment, family time and fun, coupled with phases of silence and introspection, is a mantra that even her dad, who often describes the world as ‘a spiritual playground’ would approve of.

True Lies
“I saw it! You saw it? She was flashing it when she waved ya. It was huge. Def an engagement ring! See her older pictures na? There was not that ring. I recognised it when she came out of the car. She was trying to make it catch the photographer’s flash. Like this, she did.”

“No ya, why would she do that? She doesn’t want anyone to know. She took it off at the airport. It’s on YouTube, Google it. She was trying to hide it from puppy-ratsies.”

“No ya, she DOES want people to know! She’s trying to make, you know who, ‘J’. She’s hoping this will shake him up, like proving her point. Giving him an ulti-mating.”

“Arrey ya, she’s forgotten him completely! She’s very happy with this one. She told my sister’s bua’s neighbour’s cousin sister, who sometimes goes to do her waxing and all, that she was very happy. Only some date issue for him still.”

“Too much excitement then! You know that filum writer for some net magazine, I was telling you about? She was telling someone in the compartment today that ‘bahut tension hai aaj kal, sab star wedding dates ka.’ Meaning, too many weddings these days, Dips and Rans too na? They have to work overtime. Some get to go to Italy too! Means, public wants to know, no? To the last second they want to know. Everything!”

“That way our Neha girl was clever. She toh made overnight wedding! And, still got viral pictures and all. Same thing these days. Why to make big-big wedding and spend so much money and fly? These people are cleverer. They will make abroad plans. They only will enjoy! And they will send the pictures all over.”

“I think that’s why she’s doing it. She wants to make viral picture of her wedding and make it go bigger than Deepika’s, no? It’s all competition. So she is getting married quickly before. Simply.”

“Ya simply. She’s going to make a wedding. To break the nets.”

Tweet Nothing
“Have never understood the logic of TV anchors wearing Indian attire on I-Day & R-Day, while rest of year its western attire. :) why not Indian attire thru year?”

-Tweeted by Sanjaya Baru

RIP: Atal Bihari Vajpayee (1924-2018)

The late Atal Bihari Vajpayee. (REUTERS)

Like so many others, we received the news of the passing away of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee with sadness. No, we had never met the charismatic leader, celebrated for his powerful oratory and penchant for poetry, but we knew many close to him and he always struck us as possessing that one quality, so rare in politicians: human decency. Human decency might seem too slight an attribute to begin a tribute, to a man who’d served as India’s prime minister three times and had received the country’s highest civilian order, the Bharat Ratna, in 2015, but its value cannot be underestimated, given its rare occurrence in our leaders these days. Time and again, we’d heard of instances, when he had demonstrated simple acts of human decency, whether it was to afford dignity and respect to his political opponents, no matter how deep and fierce the political battle with them raged; or to show genuine empathy and kindness to strangers and children, who he’d meet along the way; or to set standards of courtesy and etiquette. Vajpayee showed that one could be a leader of men, without being rabid and acute and vindictive and that moderation and measure can go a long way in winning friends and influencing people. Yes, he’d been ailing for a long time and perhaps, the time for his kind of leadership had (unfortunately) passed, but we feel, the greatest tribute to him will be witnessed over the next few weeks, when he is genuinely mourned and missed, not only by people of his own political party, but also by those who sat across from him in Parliament and opposed him tooth and nail, on politics and policy. Yes, we received news of the passing away of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, with sadness. It brought to mind that lovely line of Rumi’s, “Out beyond the ideas of right doing and wrongdoing, there is a field. I will meet you there”. May he spend the rest of his days in that field with others of his ilk. RIP Atalji. India will sorely miss you and your brand of leadership going forward.

First Published: Aug 17, 2018 00:26 IST