Being Salman

>> Perhaps because the other Khan and his alleged nemesis isn't on America's most favourite person list the organisers of the Indo-American Fourth of July celebrations held this year at the Regal Room at the Oberoi, invited Salman Khan as one of the chief guests.

An industrialist, who met the star on that occasion came away singing his praises. "He has a nice line on self-deprecating humour," says the tycoon himself no slouch in the wit department.

"Unlike most other stars, he doesn't take himself too seriously. In fact, he likes to send himself up on every occasion," he said. And what did they talk about. "His Being Human watch, which he wants to price at Rs 1,000," said the industrialist.

Salman Khan

"It's quite a good looking specimen," he said. And for the record, Nargis Fakhri, who was also present at the occasion, is apparently not a special friend from the body language on display.

Nargis Fakhri

More from the Great Divide
>>u00a0u00a0In response to popular demand here's more on the great divide that separates what lies north of Haji Ali with the swathe of area known as South Mumbai:
1South Mumbai kids refer to their elders as Aunty Kusum and Aunty Persis. In North Mumbai, they invert the title as in Kusum Aunty and Persis Aunty. Small nuance but completely different connotation. One sounds international and jet set, the other Dadar Parsi Colony.

Dal Chawal and bhaji. People dancing at a wedding baraat. u00a0A cheese platter

2 In South Mumbai girls wears ‘dresses', in North Mumbai it's "frocks", (Bandra excluded)
3 In South Mumbai eating ‘home food' is Kahu Suweh. In a North Mumbai home, food is daal-chawal and bhaji.
4 Childhood buddies in South Mumbai are referred to as ‘building buds'. Childhood buddies in North Mumbai are ‘colony friends' or ‘chuddi friends'.
5 In South Mumbai hip hosts invite you to ‘brunch', in North Mumbai, it's to ‘pot luck'. No one on both sides knows exactly what these terms mean.
6 In South Mumbai, a bridal shower is when the girlfriends of a pregnant woman throw champagne and chocolates and dress code beige linen party for her. In North Mumbai a bridal shower is when the baraat gets drenched walking from Juhu to Vile Parle during unseasonal rains. And finally.
7 In South Mumbai, cheese goes ‘off' , in North Mumbai grandparents go ‘off'. This means very different things in both places.
(Readers are invited to send in their own Great Divides.)

Foot in the mouth disease
>>u00a0u00a0What on earth has happened to our Dilli friend, the suave Oxford don Salman Khurshid? Has he been infected by that awful Congress ailment: footinthemouthtitus?

Salman Khurshid

No sooner had he committed professional hara-kiri by criticising both Rahul and Manmohan to a political daily recently than we heard him digging the knife in even deeper trying to extricate himself from the situation at a press conference. Praising Singh profusely Khurshid said, "And we are lucky to have had him!" Past tense? Good gracious! That means Future Imperfect for poor Salman we imagine.

South Mumbai's silver spoon
>>u00a0u00a0For a certain kind of South Mumbai lady their quota of happiness just doubled when the legendary antique gold and silver and diamond jewellery store at Colaba market known as The Silver House expanded its premises. Run by the amiable and every enterprising Shah trio of father Hashmukh and sons Kunal and Pratik, the store has been operating from the same premises for the last 80 years. "We began as a cloth and jewellery store but focused on jewellery from I967 onwards," says Kunal, who has graduated from the IGI in diamond trading.

Silver House's jadau work and a silver fountain

With a client list that includes some of Mumbai's best-heeled women, and international stars like Demi Moore, Naomi Campbell and Freida Pinto to boot, the Shahs have corned the market in antique jadau, and tribal jewellery. "We source our pieces from Hyderabad, Southern India and the interiors of Maharashtra," says Kunal, "And the demand for this seems to be on the rise."

Perhaps, that explains their expansion, and fancy new and larger interiors. Clients were surprised to receive a cheery SMS from the trio that read ‘Something just get (sic) Bigger, Brighter, Better! You are invited to celebrate the re-opening of your favourite shop.' Please write "Now Silver House has become a landmark of Colaba market," says the ebullient Kunal. We have sir, we have.

Charge-sheeting Ashok
>>u00a0u00a0Our political jassoos informs that the Maharashtra Cong legislative party meeting held on Monday to discuss the issue of presidential elections saw a fair share of fireworks when party MLAs Abdul Sattar and Sunil Kedar demanded to know why the CM could not ensure Ashok Chavan's name could not be kept out of the Adarsh charge sheet.

Ashok Chavan and Sonia Gandhi

Apparently, Prithviraj Chavan explained as best as he could that it was an independent probe and out of his jurisdiction. This explanation is reported to have cut no ice with the incensed party men and they were not threatened to take up the matter with high command. But their ire is said to have been stonewalled by Delhi, which is alleged to have said that entertaining such a request would send the wrong message to party workers. "After all, the change of CM is because of the Adarsh scam and hence protecting any accused would be a bad move," one insider explained about the snub. Reportedly, some 10-odd MLAs had sent a request to meet with Sonia Gandhi and Ahmed Patel on Tuesday. "The threat of cross voting in the presidential elections is very real," says the same insider. u00a0