It had started as a high-profile engagement and so no surprises, that the wedding of Radha Kapoor (ISDI founder and daughter of Yes Bank Founder Chairman Rana Kapoor) to Aditya Khanna, was as big as they come
Aditya Khanna and Radha Kapoor
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It had started as a high-profile engagement and so no surprises, that the wedding of Radha Kapoor (ISDI founder and daughter of Yes Bank Founder Chairman Rana Kapoor) to Aditya Khanna, was as big as they come.
Rana Kapoor
It included performances by Kanika Kapoor (who sang her Chitiya Kalia number to great appreciation at the mehendi) and Sukbir, who had some of the city's top movers and shakers, moving and shaking on the dance floor on the night of the sangeet.
Amongst those who attended, were the likes of Gautam Adani, Tina and Anil Ambani, Rati and Nadir Godrej, Pawan Munjal, Rishi Kapoor, Salman Khan, Kabir Bedi, Praful Patel, Raveena Tandon, Rajan Mittal and Venugopal Dhoot.
Tina and AnilâÂÂu00c2u0080ÂÂu00c2u0088Ambani
As is the custom at these weddings the women were resplendent in their traditional silks with the bride's mother Bindu in an elegant all cream and gold zardozi lehenga, the pretty bride whose make up and hair had been done by Ojas Rajani, sticking to pastel shades and delicate embroidery, Jaya Raheja in another pastel lehenga with gold embroidery and Ramona Narang in an off white Chantilly.
With overseas guests, and mega stars, and industrialists jostling in the corridors from one event to another in their wedding outfits, the entire hotel was agog with excitement over the weekend when most of the ceremonies took place.
Rishi Kapoor and Raveena Tandon
A reminder as America unspools
Alongwith the rest of the sane world, we too have been watching in horror as America unspools, while Donald Trump rewrites some of its most cherished values and practices. Amidst all this gloom and doom our spirits were slightly elated to read a meme sent to us by Kabir Bedi on the high values and moral rigor of the former President and Vice President of America.
Former US Vice President Joe Biden and former President Barack Obama. Pic/AFP
"Immediately after Donald Trump's inauguration, the Obama family moved to a rented apartment after spending eight years at the White House. The Obamas don't own a house till date. Also, Obama paid for groceries from toothpaste to toilet papers and dry cleaning from his own pocket. Even the family vacation was not free.
Similarly, after the ceremony, Joe Biden, Obama's deputy, carrying his own brief case, took the famous Amtrak Acela Express train to get back to his hometown Wilmington," it read. "After all these years at top posts. And with heads held high, they walked out of their official residences to rented homes and public transport."
Dr SYâÂÂu00c2u0080ÂÂu00c2u0088Quraishi (Pic/Twitter) and Kabir Bedi
Did you write this excellent reminder of personal rectitude we asked Bedi? "I wish I'd written it cos I knew about it," he responded. "I received it from my friend Dr SY Quraishi, the former Election Commissioner. What a great story. And true!" he said. Indeed.
The Seventies with gusto
"We all go back a long time and coincidentally are all Bombay Gym members," says leading choreographer Rasna Behl about this picture of some particularly feisty Mumbai women, who celebrated their friend's 70th birthday this week in a most charming manner: by dressing up to resemble silver screen sirens from the Seventies.
The birthday girl Pratibha Pathak (in maroon sari) with friends
Amongst those who attended the birthday of Pratibha Pathak (whose son, the musician Ashu Pathak, is one of the founders of the True School of Music) were Koko Premnarayan, (dressed as Mumtaz), Madhu Sahgal (dressed as Mala Sinha), and the Kapoor matriarch Krishna Raj Kapoor (who came dressed as herself, utterly elegant in her forever Seventies organza and pearls). Of course there were many faux furs, outsized 'Gogo' glasses, psychedelia, headbands and bouffants, much laughter and bonhomie and good cheer.
That's what friends are for.
Same, same?
Regular readers might be familiar with my fascination for people born on the same day who appear to share traits, and what that tells us about sun signs and pop astrology (Indira Gandhi-Zeenat Aman, both born on November 19, and Nita Ambani-Aishwarya Rai, both born on November 1).
Aroon Shivdasani
So when we heard that two of the most dynamic women we know in New York, namely Aroon Shivdasani (Executive & Artistic Director at Indo-American Arts Council) and Meera Gandhi (CEO and Founder of the Giving Back Foundation), celebrated their birthday this Saturday we were once again fascinated by the outward similarities. Dynamic and attractive Indian woman? Check. Great networker who has in one way or another kept the Indian flag flying in New York? Check.
Meera Gandhi with Sadhguru
So should we say: come back Linda Goodman — all is forgiven?
Bull in a china shop
Guests at this top flight five-star Chinese eatery over the weekend were treated to a rather curious sight, when one of the country's leading industrialists left the high-profile table he'd been at suddenly, and then returned a few minutes later accompanied with Bollywood's reigning badshah, along with a crowd of nearly 30 or so people.
Apparently the superstar had been on his way to a wedding reception at the same venue, but had been ambushed by hysterical fans and had been convinced to take shelter at the restaurant by the industrialist.
"But it was difficult to tell who was more hysterical in the presence of the superstar," says a fellow diner. "The selfie-taking autograph seeking fans outside, or the industrialist inside. He was jumping up and going out every five minutes, speaking on his phone, table hopping and generally behaving in an altogether excitable manner."
As for the superstar, after the crowds had been dispersed, he managed to extricate himself from the industrialist and his fans, and made his way up to his original destination we're told.