Anushka Ranjan celebrates birthday with Lindsay Lohan

Word comes in that international girl interrupted and troubled singer and actress Lindsay Lohan, flew in from Madrid to Dubai this week, to attend a pre-birthday party for her friend Anushka Ranjan, whose big day falls on October 1.

Lindsay Lohan, Daks and Anushka Ranjan

"Lindsay and Anushka met last year at an awards function in Dubai and have been friends ever since," says a spokesperson of Ranjan's. Others present at the party were Shereen and Noureen Morani.

Ranjan with LiLo and friends

The party was held at the Shanghai Maiden restaurant on the terrace of the V Palm Jumeirah, we are informed. Incidentally, only a few days ago, Anushka's sister Akanksha had flown in with a group of friends to bring in Alia Bhatt's birthday in Srinagar.

An auspicious date
It stands tall and stately in South Mumbai, attracting curiosity and comment; and so, when word comes in that JK House, Gautam Singhania's palatial high-rise, with its commanding and incomparable view of the Arabian Sea, is all set to host a very special puja soon, there is considerable excitement.

Gautam Singhania

This week, many of the city's prime movers and shakers received invitations to a Maha Sudarshan yagna aarti to be conducted in the presence of the high priest of the Tirupati Mandir. Of course, the Singhanias have been hosting smaller informal soirees at the high-profile address over the past few months, but given the auspicious personality presiding over this puja, many wonder, if this, in fact, the landmark's official housewarming.

Mickey's mantras
For the past few years, we have woken up to leading holistic health guru and corporate life coach Mickey Mehta's catchy WhatsApp messages, encapsulating his philosophical urgings. 'Mickey Mehta says ghosts of your past, feed on fear/ Confront them and they disappear,' went one.

Mickey Mehta

'Mickey Mehta says if only we knew how big is this universe, we would bless life and never curse,' went another, while a more recent one began 'Discotheques are dizzy, sodas are fizzy...' What's more, all these bon mots end with the same catchy couplet: 'Share this to start a wellness revolution/ for human evolution."

Mehta's felicity with words is evident, when he speaks about his latest enterprise, his new book titled 'The Shoonyam Quotient'. "Life swings between polarities. We are constantly pulled and pushed against our will. The hustle and bustle takes its toll on us. Being subjected to the forces of nature and weathering them turns us into exhausted and emotionally fraught people," he says.

The Shoonyam Quotient was written to help people simplify their lives and discover what he calls 'their zeroeth state'. "It is your inner source of infinite potential," says the man, who personally trains some of the city's most celebrated blue chip industrialists and politicians.

"I wrote the book to guide people on how to discover their minds and bodies, so that they introspect about the different facets of their life, from breathing to sleeping," he says. "The unique and inspiring catchphrases, and deep philosophical thoughts encapsulated in the book will make you energised, fulfilled and peaceful."

Mehta, who was invited to speak at IIT Bombay in 2015, and Harvard University this year, says one of the most fulfilling initiatives in the wellness space he has undertaken recently is Yoga by the Bay. "It has impacted over 1,50,000 people by initiating them into the world," he says. And then, he adds, "It is one of my dearest social initiatives - to get India harmonised and Indians, Mickeymised!"

Women on top
Next month will witness a unique coming together of some of the country's most celebrated female musicians in Mumbai. The festival, called Paddy Fields, to take place in Goregaon, is spread over two days and boasts renowned musicians, such as Shubha Mudgal, Susheela Raman and Sunita Bhuyan amongst others.

Shubha Mudgal, Sunita Bhuyan, Susheela Raman, Kalpana Patowary and Sona Mohapatra

"Eight women performers will present the folk music of their state in a contemporary style at this unique folk fusion festival," says violinist Bhuyan, one of the driving spirits behind the festival, who we had first heard at Goa's THINK festival.

Others performing are Sonam Kalra, the Nooran sisters, Kalpana Patowary, Tipriti Kharbangar and that feisty, fiery, firebrand Sona Mohapatra herself. "Assamese folk dancers shall be joining me for my ensemble," says Bhuyan. Nice!

Friends in high places
The media grapevine can't stop buzzing about the amount of money this top-line media man has raised to get his newly launched enterprise up and running. "Easily around a hundred crores or more," says a source.

"What's more, all this done without any projections or plans, just on the man's personal equations with some blue chip business leaders, including a highly regarded female entrepreneur, and one of the country's most formidable financial statesman."

Of course, what the source does not add is that more or less confirms all those stories of the media maven's close connections with certain powerful business groups. As they say, the proof of the pudding is in the eating...

Mumbai to Dubai
This weekend will see the dhoom-dham of a recently concluded shopping extravaganza, and the women behind it move from Mumbai to Dubai for the second leg of the enterprise. The event will open with a fashion show by Manish Malhotra and an after-party at the Emirates Towers Hotel.

Kaykasshan Patel and Manish Malhotra

And, we hear, preparations are already underway - Malhotra landed in Dubai yesterday along with pal Kaykasshan Patel, who owing to an injured leg, was wheeled out of the airport in great style on a wheelchair. The designer is said to have posted a video of this captioning it #dramaticentry. Indeed!