Twitter and social media these days have become so toxic that it often appears the only things more polluted are the ocean and the air we breathe! Truly, so filled with trolling and hatred has the micro-blogging site become, that it feels like fools rush in where angels fear to tread and often the best response is no response. This is not always the case though, and our attention was drawn to a post recently, tweeted by an account that describes itself as “writer. renaissance woman. romantic and realist’ (but that doesn’t use its real name or photo). “I feel bad for the kids in these big business families in India,” it reads. “They are not taught to do anything, their lifestyle is so heavily monitored that they don’t even have fun or go wild a la Paris Hilton (Er, surely that’s a good thing? -MS),” the writer stated, adding, “They don’t develop a talent for the arts or anything creative…” Now, usually, random tweets like these pass ignored, but for some reason, this one was responded to by pop musician and feisty Birla scion, Ananya Birla who, unlike her media-shy and reclusive parents Neerja and Kumar Mangalam Birla, took the opportunity to deliver a right hook: “I feel so bad for you that you have such horribly incorrect notions. I wish you all good things in life. Just remember. We don’t know anyone’s full story. So we shouldn’t judge :),” the pop singer signed off. What’s more, Ananya’s (who apart from starting multiple businesses that include an NGO to champion mental health and a micro finance bank for rural women) mature response seems to have touched a chord with other users on social media too. Last seen, it had elicited a fair amount of likes and retweets most notably from Paytm big boss, Vijay Shekhar Sharma, amongst other business leaders (but surely, the tweet does not refer to him, being a self-made billionaire?) commending her for the manner in which she gave as good as she got.

Overheard

“According to govt, supreme court’s English is weak. It does not understand the difference between ‘is’ and ‘was’ and ‘version’ and ‘portion’. God help India.”

--- Tweet by former finance minister, Yashwant Sinha, on the recent Rafale judgment

WTSWTM:

WTS:

“Rocco, an African Grey parrot, knows how to interact with Alexa and uses the device to play songs. It has also begun ordering gifts for itself and in the past, these have consisted of water melons, raisins, broccoli, ice cream, a light bulb and even a kite.”

-- Recent reports in British tabloids

WTM:

“Currently, her ministers are trying to hire Rocco to give the beleaguered Theresa May lessons, next on the list is said to be President Trump.”

Yuletide, in the Heart of Bandra

(From left) Kailash Surendranath, Beverley Soares, Aarti Surendranath and Sonal Dabral

What better way to bring in the Christmas season than in the heart of Bandra’s Hill Road, at home with the Dabrals? The vice-chairman and chief creative officer of Ogilvy India, Sonal Dabral, and his attractive wife, Beverley Soares, an erstwhile model, have a strong Bandra connection. Soares is a Bandra girl, a Goan-East Indian combo who grew up a stone’s throw away from her current home in one of those ginger-bread fairy tale cottages that you and I fantasise living in every time we’re in Bandra. “My mum used to cook earlier, but since she passed away, we’ve kept the tradition of a Christmas lunch going,” said Soares about her Sunday brunch repast. “Even when we lived in Singapore, we used to host a brunch every year,” she said, adding, “It’s the time of year where everyone’s in great spirits and work winds down, so we always have it before everyone heads off for their holidays.” And, to be sure, the guests at the Dabrals’ — old friends from their shared lives — were in good spirits with many adhering to the stated dress code of red, white and gold. We spotted Jimi Kapur, Nita and Piyush Pandey, Aarti and Kailash Surendranath, Gayatri and Prasoon Pandey, Nandita and Sanjeeb Chowdhury, and Jaya and Sanjeev Lamba, amongst the happy crowd. And, with a table groaning with traditional Christmas goodies like mulled wine, pepper lamb chops, honey-roasted ham, roast chicken, marzipan fruit cake, milk cream and kulkuls, and a Christmas tree all lit up, the season of yuletide and ho ho ho appeared to be certainly upon us. “Bandra is at its best during the Christmas season, with decorations and lights all over,” said the exuberant hostess. “There are carol singers at the Bandra Gym, and you can get the most yummy food at the Xmas bazaar. It’s so festive!” she said. And, as a once Bandra girl ourselves (we attended a convent school there), we cannot agree more. “Deck the halls with boughs of holly… Fa la la la la, la la la la…’

First Published: Dec 18, 2018 00:47 IST