Mega weekend party

>> So, Mumbai's party-hearty season is about to start and kicking off the season will be a mega one this Saturday hosted by the Sterlite Agarwals en famille.

Group chairman Anil, his brother Navin, their wives, kids and other members of the family have sent out invitations for the same and have told their wide circle of friends from the world of business, society Bollywood and politics that this promises to be an affair to remember. As someone close to the family says, "This year, special celebrations are called for as Anil won the prestigious ET businessman of the year award."

Pet puja
>> Two celebrated individuals. At the top of their game. Both retiring this year to much media attention. And what's more, both making animal care a big part of their future plans.

Much is known about Ratan Tata's love for dogs and his plans to devote some of his post retirement time to set up a world-class veterinary hospital in Mumbai. Lynn de Souza, the charming chairman and CEO of Lintas whose resignation recently caught many within the industry off-guard appears to be following in Tata's footsteps. A long time lover of animals, those who know the soft-spoken dynamo say that animal hospices and welfare homes will be very much part of her future plans. Would be nice if more such towering individuals made retirement plans of this kind.

Shocking behaviour
>> Not nice. At a very high profile wedding in Delhi guests were shocked to witness a flagrant instance of child abuse when the father of the bride who was using the occasion to make friends and influence people slapped one of his children in full view of the gathering. Not only that but apparently, the next day a member of the staff was also meted out the same treatment.

On condition of strict anonymity, an insider who had worked hard to ensure that the wedding was one of the most talked about in the capital said, "It's well known that the patriarch can't hold his drinks especially when he's under stress and we had even warned him about this …" No amount of money, success, splashy events or status symbols can make up for a lack of basic decency. We don't like!

Guess who came to dinner
>> He is a retired boxer and the current undisputed world heavyweight champion, winning a gold when he represented Canada at the 1988 Olympic Games, But he's also Mumbai's top party animal as this picture demonstrates. Ladies and gentleman, Lennox Claudius Lewis, who dropped in to wish Queenie Dhody at her birthday celebrations at Tote on Monday night.

Queenie Dhody with Lennox Lewis

Super model, marathon runner
>> She comes from a family deeply involved with philanthropy and so, when supermodel and actress Lisa Haydon sent out an e-mail to her friends and family, (we belong to both categories, we think) it didn't come as any surprise that the lissome lass had signed up to run the whole length of the 42 km Standard Chartered marathon, this Mumbai in January to raise money for the NGO Magic Bus.

"In the aim to help this incredible NGO as much as I can, I ask all of you to be as generous as possible this year. It is for underprivileged children who also deserve a future." Anyone familiar with Mathew Spacey's outfit knows the work that Magic Bus has been doing to teach and empower underprivileged children through sports and outdoor physical activities since 2001. To her credit, this is not the first time Lisa has taken time off her busy schedule to help the underprivileged. Fundraisers, donation drives and visits to orphanages and old people's homes are all part of her upbringing. But still, waking each morning at 6 am to run at the racecourse calls for a social kind of determination.

Careful with those kitchen knives!
>> We have been watching the latest season of Bigg Boss with more than a certain amount of concern. Being long time voyeurs of this tawdry window into the fascinating world of low life, we must admit that never before have we felt this level of alarm as some of the most desperate loonies on the planet rub their neurosis and ambitions against each other.

‘Will Urvashi's manipulation be exposed? Will Delnaz explode? Will Imam implode?' are only some of the questions that this season's antics give rise to. But what's most alarming is that a participant from a few years ago, who I happened to meet this week revealed that none of the antics are scripted. "We weren't told what to do or how to behave other than what the public knows," says the pretty lady. More cause for alarm. Especially when they have those catfights while wielding sharp kitchen knives!

Spreading Christmas cheer
>> On Tuesday, inmates of the children's observation shelter home in Dongri were in for a treat when an ample (and uncannily familiar looking) Santa distributed woollen blankets, sweets and snacks and went ‘ho ho ho'.

It was an initiative of the NGO Lifetrust, which extended some Christmas cheer to the home's young inmates many of them runaways, and the victims of abuse and mistreatment. "The police round up an average of eight children daily from railway stations and other places around the city," an office bearer informed us. "And the home works dedicatedly to assesses their plight and take the necessary action in rehabilitating them." As for Santa, didn't we hear him bopping to a jazz tune before he invited all to Cool Chef? u00a0