Lifestyle Babes

gtgt Trendspotting is a cherished occupation of this column and herersquos one more close on the heels of the lsquoHoney Moneysrsquo that claque of TVrsquos twice born who combine glamour with financial flair like Shereen Bhan Menaka Doshi Mitali Mukherjee and Shailee Chopra come the lsquoLifestyle Babesrsquo a pride of former TV and film actresses who having retired from their earlier callings have gone on to carve out careers in lifestyle shows and endorsements Gul Panagu00a0Sushma Reddyu00a0Shenaz Treasurywalau00a0Mandira Bedi Of these the prime examples are Gul Panag the Twitter face for the Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week Sushma Reddy presenter on the Indian Fameu00a0Gurukul and travel presenter on TLC Shenaz Treasurywala VJ on MTVrsquos Most Wanted and Mandira Bedi hosting duties for ICC Cricket World Cups the Champions Trophies and the IPL Former modelsactresses donrsquot die they only go on to a lifestyle show near you Cosmetic giants face off gtgt Now it can be told for long the mystery of why Lakme Indiarsquos strongest cosmetic brands which had been built up assiduously by Simone Tata and Anil Chopra and which was being wooed by the worldrsquos largest cosmetic and beauty company LrsquoOreal did not bite the bait and merge with the international conglomerate Anil Chopra After all with the market share that both companies commanded in different regions and with their combined expertise their consolidation would have been a winwin for both But on Thursday night when we ran into Anil Chopra who was in a particularly garrulous mood at a hip SoBo watering hole we finally learnt why hersquod chosen Hindustan Lever over LrsquoOreal ldquoThe negotiations were done the papers almost signed and sealedrdquo said the suave executive credited with bringing fashion week culture in to the country ldquoAnd then I was invited to a dinner in Paris with my counterparts to get to know them better After all it was a marriage of sortsrdquo he says grinning ldquoThatrsquos when one of their head honchos said something to the effect that they were expecting Lakme to fall in with their company culture and embrace their ways completelyrdquo he says adding ldquoSo I went home sent off a few mails and called the whole thing off It took one dinner conversation for me to realise they were looking at us only as a junior ally and that in a few years our company would have been submerged within their identityrdquo Who said casual dinner party conversations are casual Mumbairsquos Mad Men gtgt Mad Men may have captured the collective imagination of the current generation with its depiction of the over thetop antics and extra curricular activities of advertisingrsquos top brass across the shores But if an insider is to be believed our local Mad Men were no slouches when it came to the double martini life Mad Men ldquoThere was this gang of ad gurus who came up with the idea of a weekly single malt Wednesday lunch at the SoBo sports club they were members ofrdquo says our source ldquoThe rule was that each week it was up to one member to invite one drop dead attractive guest so that the rest of the afternoon could be spent savoring her companyrdquo we were informed Er how did any work got done we asked remembering the iconic campaigns of that era Ahh that was our inspiration we were informed Balihigh gtgt And come rain or shine the party crowd can be counted on to party on As a little bird texted ldquoSome of Mumbairsquos leading party hearties are in Bali as we speak for Ashish Goelrsquos big birthday bash including Nandita Mahtani Surily Goel and Renu Chainanirdquo lsquoTis the season to be merryhellip Enter the luxe multibrand giant gtgt He was emblematic of the first wave of the post reform globalisation boom in India and as managing director of Zegna Rahul Prasad the smooth talking motorbike racing luxury marketer from Stern and Parsons was responsible for putting his suits on some famous backs But following that Prasad kind of dropped off our radar resurfacing last week when he told us of his latest incarnation this time as MD of Pike Preston Partners Limited a corporate advisory and MampA firm with a core competence in the luxury sector and with a client list that includes Saks Fifth Avenue Galleries Lafayette and Harvey Nichols Rahul Prasad So whatrsquos on the cards now we asked ldquoPlentyrdquo he said ldquoWith changes in FDI norms for multibrand retail in India one of the worldrsquos leading luxury department store from New York is closely monitoring the Indian market and my colleagues and I will be spending most of this year in India as we develop and structure a partnership between it and a local partner However due to the confidentiality considerations we cannot disclose the names yetrdquo he smiled ldquoBut what I can speak about is my BMW S1000RR the only one in Mumbai that I shipped from Munich to keep me sane on weekends while I spend 18hour workdays on this projectrdquo Nice Novel business enterprise gtgt As a business enterprise itrsquos unbeatable And trust a member of Mumbairsquos oldest and most venerable club to hit upon it Apparently said gentleman a septuagenarian who measures out his life in coffee spoons in the verandah of said club has struck upon a novel way of generating income he rents out his residence by the hour for other members in need of privacy when they require a place for undercover assignations ldquoAt Rs 2000 an hour with drinks thrown in itrsquos a steal and far more private than a fivestar hotelrdquo says our source So even while he sits and watches the grass grow his bottomline increases u00a0