Sonali's Society: Jasprit Bumrah’s “kidney-touching” milestone, and more

Silver liningThere is a quiet power in authenticity With a simple wave and silverflecked hair Manisha Koirala turned a Wednesday salon run into a celebration of the natural self mdash proving that grace doesnrsquot really need a filterFandom FallacyFor a man expected to be articulate author Chetan Bhagat sometimes struggles to make sense A podcast and column from last year now going viral post Indiarsquos T20 World Cup win suggest that Indians are ldquoobsessed with cricketrdquo and that the ldquocountless productive hourshellip our youth spend glued to screensrdquo could cost an entire generation dearlyChetan BhagatldquoWhy are you watching other men achieve excellence and not trying to achieve it yourselfrdquo he asks But does fandom inherently ruin productivity Reducing millions of passionate cricket fans to braindead spectators ignores the cultural communal and motivational value sports bringBlaming ldquoobsessionrdquo for societal issues oversimplifies complex problems turning entertainment into moral panic Bhagatrsquos argument at its core reads less like insight and more like condescension While I rant out loud Irsquom still trying to wrap my head around thisAre diehard cricket fans like Ranveer Singh Shah Rukh Khan and even Daniel Radcliffe not productive Itrsquos a false dichotomy to say that you are either a producer of excellence or a consumer of it with no room for both To suggest otherwise is to ignore that the inspiration we find in othersrsquo greatness is often what fuels our ownAfterhours art ritualNot nearly enough people are talking about Art Night Thursday mdash arguably one of the coolest things to do in Mumbai mdash which unfolds on the second Thursday of every month Orchestrated by the Mumbai Gallery Association this freeforall experience throws open the doors of select galleries after hours giving the public a rare chance to mingle with artists engage with the exhibitions and chat up the gallerists themselvesAahana MillerAnd then there are the regulars whorsquove turned it into something of an artworld ritual Case in point Aahana Miller The daughter of artist Brinda Chudasama and architect Alfaz Miller Aahana treats Art Night Thursday like a wellplanned marathon mdash clocking anywhere between three and ten shows in a single evening usually with an entourage in tow Her mother often joins alongside a rotating cast of artworld friendsBy the end of the night Aahana distils it all into a single verdict mdash her top pick mdash posted to Instagram Tarq and Chemould often claim the crown And while her following may be modest donrsquot be fooled her stamp of approval is quietly becoming currency in the cityrsquos art circlesAs for how she chooses Itrsquos sixth sense over science ldquoI canrsquot explain itrdquo she shrugs ldquoItrsquos just a reflection of how I feelrdquo And does her mother mdash also the curator of the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival mdash agree with her calls Not always ldquoThe decision isnrsquot democraticrdquo Aahana laughs Whatever it is itrsquos clearly workingMoney TalksSo herersquos some backroom chatter thatrsquos quietly rattling the foundations of a legacy construction company For a while now insiders have been whispering about a fallout between two brothers mdash a rift that by all accounts has everything to do with their wives One has long been the public face of the company while the other in a manner of speaking holds the purse stringsWhat began as hushed speculation has now escalated enough to land on my desk The tipping point A recent familyhosted soireacutee that drew Mumbairsquos high and mighty mdash conspicuously excluding one brother and his wife Are the parents taking sides It certainly appears so And if the chatter is to be believed theyrsquore siding with the moneyKidneytouching milestoneMirroring his lethal precision on the pitch pacer Jasprit Bumrah kept his anniversary Instagram tribute short and sharp on Sunday posting a simple lsquoHappy anniversaryrsquo caption alongside a few candid photos However it was his wife Sanjana Ganesan who stole the digital show Playfully trolling his brevity she dubbed it a ldquokidney touching captionrdquo mdash a hilarious nod to the hearttouching clicheacuteJasprit Bumrah and Sanjana GanesanBeyond the banter this couple remains a masterclass in the public conduct of power pairings Celebrating five years of marriage alongside the glow of a recent T20 World Cup victory they prove that while the world gets loud a ldquohug that feels like homerdquo is the ultimate victory