As we had written earlier, the rules of the big-fat Indian wedding are being rewritten and nothing demonstrates this more emphatically than Deep-Veer’s nuptials, which concluded yesterday at Lake Como. Conducted with what appears to be military-like precision with maximum secrecy and away from not only the enthusiastic eyes of their frenzied fans, but also the prying lenses of the world’s media, eager to score some big money by turning their clicks into celebrity fodder for the media machine, the past few days have been an exercise in exuberance and restraint with the couple managing to keep their most precious moments private. This keenness to cherish what is true and meaningful in a couple’s very public lives is not a new phenomenon. With the proliferation of destination weddings and social media platforms, it has become usual for hosts to request guests not to share any pictures or details from their weddings. Thus, the Isha Ambani and Anand Piramal engagement celebrations at the same location, a few weeks ago, came with a sweetly-worded request from the couple to all attendees, to respect their need for privacy and not post the details publicly. Of course, not all couples opt for this private route, when it comes to the happiest days of their lives. As was witnessed earlier, Sonam Kapoor and Anand Ahuja went in for the full nine yards and then some, with their band baaja and wall-to-wall Bolly superstars dancing their nights away and 24x7 wedding. And by all accounts, Priyanka and Nick are said to be looking forward to a dhoom-dham affair too, which see stars from both sides of the pond fly in and make merry, later this year. Meanwhile, big or small, private or public, destination or home-based, India appears to be gripped in shaadi fever!

Cathedral Founders’ Day Service

Anita Jean Captain (right) with and husband Rusi Captain.

Having grown up in NoBo, it was only when we enrolled in a college in South Mumbai in the mid-70s that we had brushed up against that creature called the ‘Cathedral school alumnus.’ Also known as the ‘Cat’s Whiskers’. This was a young person who had recently emerged from, what for decades had been, the city’s premier school (all that’s changed now). To be sure, with such luminaries as the father of India’s nuclear program Homi Bhabha, the creator of Pakistan, Mohammed Ali Jinnah, the Cambridge-educated scientist and philanthropist Yusuf K Hamied, and the Booker prize-winning author Salman Rushdie, as students of the school at one time or another, there was no question that its alumni considered themselves the best of the best, and in most cases, that happened to be true. No surprises then, that this Wednesday, the school’s Founders’ Day celebrated with pomp and solemnity as always at the beautiful St Thomas Cathedral, one of the oldest churches in India, saw many amongst the faithful gather and that the occasion carried even more significance as it marked for some, the 50th year reunion of their Class of 1968! “I was filled with pride to be part of the history of this wonderful school, and even more proud of my classmates, meeting some after 50 years. I am grateful to count them as friends,” said Anita (Khambatta) Captain, daughter of one of the city’s leading cinema and aviation families, who had attended the service on Wednesday.

True Lies
It’s not easy being a member of India’s small, but booming wine industry. High duties, red tape and stiff competition make it viable for only a few to reach the top of its pyramid. Expectedly, this challenging environment is made even steeper for those who are arrogant and harbour a sense of hubris as this moustachioed grandee, in many ways been a pioneer of the industry has come to realise. The vertically-challenged gent seems to have rubbed a lot of people the wrong way. Earlier, stories were rife about his fallout with an old-time Delhi-based media personality with strong political links, who had ensured that laws were tweaked to make the gent’s business more challenging and eventually led to one of his company’s going under. Recently, the maven has re-emerged after laying low for some years. But if murmurs are to be believed, the man has once again landed himself at the bottom of a wine barrel. This time, he has been accused of daylight “loot and scoot” by a prominent industrialist, who has no qualms about calling him out. And it looks like the gent will be laying very low for some more time if the grapevine is to be believed.

Easy Riders

Boman Rustom Irani with the all-new Jawa.

Straight back from a family vacation in the US, chairman of the Mahindra Group, Anand Mahindra, attended the relaunch of the cult motorcycle brand Jawa, along with its other two promoters Boman Rustom Irani, chairman and MD of Rustomjee group (and son of Rustom Irani who had launched the brand) and Anupam Thareja, founder, Classic Legends, and founder and managing partner, Phi Capital. Owen Roncon, who works closely with Mahindra on the Mahindra Blues Fest and an avid motorcycle enthusiast, who was present on the occasion, posted some drool-worthy photos of the event, certain to make any easy rider weak in the knees. Now it remains to be seen if the Jawa can outrace the Siddharth Lal’s equally-celebrated cult, Royal Enfield, in the cool motorcycle stakes.
Vroom Vroom.

First Published: Nov 16, 2018 00:54 IST