Rewriting his story

Whoever it is, he certainly has a sense of twisted literary humour. Yesterday when Manu Joseph, author (Serious Men and The Illicit Happiness of Other People) and columnist for the International New York Times, posted a wry comment on an online hoax, it elicited an expected share of chuckles.

"I just got to know a) There is some site called OK Cupid or something like that, b) That a fellow, even though he wished to attract women, has used my photograph on his profile on the dating site and flirted well. He was, or is called "LoveHarmony 2015."

Manu Joseph

How was the ruse discovered? "I got to know all this when I received a message from a good lady, slightly wounded, who introduced herself as "ghost from the past," or something like that and she said, "why did you leave without saying goodbye"," said Joseph adding, "I am informing all I can, ("I hereby declare..." as the suckers of FB hoaxes would say) I am not LoveHarmony2015."

What can we say but that even serious men face such frivolity in the cause of the illicit happiness of other people.

Epic sea voyage
"It all started in South Africa from Cape Town. Brijesh Hari bought the boat and sailed from Cape Town in two months to Mumbai through the treacherous waters of Somalia and stopped over at Madagascar," said our friend Maleeka Lala, who along with skipper Hari, two friends, naval Captain Sandeep Mhatre, and wealth manager Ravi Jethani, and a couple of tindals, is currently on an adventurous sea voyage from Goa to Mumbai, taking advantage of the last of the season's South Westerly monsoon winds.

Brijesh Hari and Maleeka Lala on the boat

They are aboard the 40 feet award-winning catamaran, Tara. "As we speak at 7.35 pm on October 4, sitting on Tara in the estuary of Jaigarh, we have been sailing since 2 am on October 2 from Morjim, in north Goa," said Lala, who helps with the administration at her family's Jaslok Hospital when her adventurous spirit does not propel her in the direction of out-of-the-box experiences.

The catch of the day makes a dish

And as is to be expected, this ocean adventure has resulted in a haul of delights. "We went fishing this afternoon and caught red snappers and barramundis," said Lala, adding, "The boat has three bedrooms and two toilets with showers, a gas cooker with an oven in the kitchen, and a built in dining room."

And what's most amazing, is that even while sailing on the high seas, so close to nature in all its glory, communications between us and the adventurers was as crystal clear and smooth sailing as the voyage itself.

Big fat LA wedding
It's official: the big fat Indian wedding gets bigger, fatter and more Indian when it leaves the country's shores. For the past couple of weeks our timeline has been buzzing with pictures of ultra glamorous men and women dressed in designer bling from head to toe.

Alex gets a hug from his mother-in-law and Deepika's mehendi

From fashionista Surily Goel to former actress Poonam Dhillon to finance whiz Harsh Fabiani and blade tycoon Rocky Malhotra, they have been partaking in much band baaja and baraat over the nuptials of Deepika, daughter of Nandini and Deepak Chopra, founder and chief executive of OSI Systems Inc, the global airport security equipment giant, with beau Alex.

Guests including Poonam Dhillon, Harsh Fabiani with Nandini and Deepak Chopra

Described as a marathon celebration of epic proportions, this ‘Hinjew' wedding spread over some of LA's most glittering venues, has been the toast of the NRI community. And the high spot? When the very American groom serenaded his blushing bride with a sonorous SRK ballad. See what we mean by band baja and baraat?

In the service of Mumbai women
Saturday evening saw a flurry of activity in Colaba, when Annie Chen launched her bright and sparkling state of the art beauty salon, opposite the Radio Club.

Annie Chen

"This is mainly for my Colaba-Cuffe Parade clientele," said Chen, whose earlier establishment is situated beside Metro cinema. Chen, an industry veteran with 30 years of experience is one of the reasons why a slew of Mumbai women manage to look good, despite the city's many challenges.

Starting out as hairdresser to stars like Parveen Babi (yes, she was responsible for the late actress' famous ‘silky hair' look for that iconic cover of Time magazine), Reena Roy and Sarika, Chen worked in Dubai with Shahnaz Hussain before training with Tony & Guy in London and then in Japan where she learnt ‘rebonding'.

"I was the first person in the country to offer rebonding services," says the intrepid salonist married in to a well-heeled Chinese restaurant-owning family. And yes, rebonding is another reason why the heads of so many of Mumbai's women look like a million dollars. Er, given the humidity in the weather, make that a million rupees.

Kicking butt seriously
Which Bollywood hero has quit smoking and become a proponent of this radical three injection above the ear from a German hospital above? Apparently so successful has been the result, that the young star has been trying to convince all his smoker buddies to follow suit.

"It only costs 100 Euros," he was overheard telling some of his colleagues recently on the sets of his location shoot. "They locate a place just above the ear lobe. It's been six months since then and I haven't touched a ciggy since," he swore. Cool.