25 October,2016 06:00 AM IST | | Malavika Sangghvi
To say it was long coming would not be incorrect. For months rumour mills had been churning about the growing chasm between Tata Sons Chairman Ratan Tata and its current head honcho the affable billionaire Cyrus Mistry
Cyrus Mistry and Ratan Tata
At first the whispers had been easy to dismiss, as they dealt with minor matters such as slights and snubs, the usual kind of corporate skullduggery. Soon the stories increased. How the old guard was being snubbed, loyalists isolated and new brooms sweeping.
Things came to a head when the new chairman's celebrated family had hosted a very important event, which had been the cynosure of the city's eyes. The absence of the outgoing Chairman first reported on this page had created notice. Matters were made worse when it was revealed that he'd not only stayed away, but worse, had his dinner at a public place not even half a kilometre away.
After that the floodgates opened and camps started to be formed, which for want of better terminology were divided between the Traditionalists and the Young âUns. But the brutal finality with which Cyrus Mistry has departed from corporate India's most hallowed and significant perch yesterday is unprecedented.
The news, as we write this, is still breaking and still sinking in. âNon performance' is being cited as the reason, but over the next few days we will know the answer to one of the biggest conundrums of corporate India: Why did Ratan say tata to Cyrus?
The snakes and ladders of Bollywood
It would make a wonderful little cameo in a short story about the ups and downs of life and the vagaries of fate. This high spending, hardnosed social mountaineer had all but bought herself a cushioned perch at the heart of Bollywood by befriending one of its most powerful matriarchs and her family.
From dabbas of their fave foods to dashes on her private jet nothing had been too much in comparison to the affection and access the SM received in return. Until, the snakes and ladders checkerboard, which is the Bollywood box office, rolled its dice and the matriarch and her clan did not command the same position any more... You would think the SM would wait a little before moving on.
Or that she would choose her next BFF more tactfully... after all the new matriarch she befriended belonged to a family with legacy issues with that of her previous friend's, having grown up in its shadow. But no, the SM appears to be well ensconced in the heart of a successful film clan once again, and the dabbas and plane rides continue. As we said, it would make a wonderful little cameo in a short story about the ups and downs of life and the vagaries of fate.
How fragile we are
"Our lives are so fragile and everything so temporary except the memories we keep close to us. Always tell people you love, you love.
(From L-R) Sama, Badriya Abdul Karam, Farrah Khan Ali & Ameera Bin Karam
Always hug them tighter." With these poignant words, jewellery designer Farrah Khan Ali reminisced about the tragic death of Sama, Ameera and their mother Badriya, who comprised her Dubai family, in a fire at their home over the weekend.
"Their dad Abdul Rahim Karam had met my dad years ago. He had four children Sama, Ameera, Reem and Khalid Bin Karam. They were all close to the royal families of Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah. Ameera was a top official to the Sheikh of Sharjah and very involved in empowering women and helping people with cancer.
Sama had worked with her dad in his construction firm. Only two of them have survived," said a palpably emotional Khan Ali. "So let's express our gratitude for all the people in our lives that make our lives happier and show each and everyone of them how much you care," she sighed.
High flying into Goa
When Amit Bhosle, scion of the family that has interests in the Palladium hotel, which is in partnership with Mumbai's newly opened St Regis, does things, they sure are in style.
To launch the hotel's sister property the âW', the young Bhosle is said to have invited a group of his friends over the weekend to experience it. But so high powered was the group that not one or two, but six private planes flew in to Goa's tiny airport bearing his guests. Two of the planes are said to have belonged to Adar Poonawalla and Rewant Ruia. The identity of the other owners is yet to be ascertained. Goa Going Gone...
Giving back in style
The Doon School Old Boys - Class of 66 (COS66) celebrated its Golden Jubilee this weekend and it was by all accounts a grand affair. "The challenge after a gap of decades was to relate first to the now much-aged face and body with the name and the school pet names that embraced almost the entire avian and mammal kingdom," says the Mumbai-based management guru Uday (Bunty) Pasricha, about the happy occasion.
But it was not only fun and games and nostalgia. "While for every 25 and 50 year jubilee we alumni collect funds for the school, COS66 decided to go the extra mile," he says, adding, "We spent more than two years in identifying the most-deserving NGOs and then slowly raising the funds from our colleagues.
The first NGO choice was easy The John Martyn School, which had been set up by the then principal received '35 lakh. The second NGO, IIMPACT, was given '39 lakh and the third, the Dehra Dun-based Aasra Trust was given '29 lakh," he said adding, "Our fervent hope, prayer and appeal is that this now becomes a ready platform of support for donors of not only the future Doon old boys, but extended friends too." Nice!
