[nukkad] [Event coverage] The Bombay Times Party !

[Ninad Chhaya <ninad@bom4.vsnl.net.in>]

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Having read and heard a lot about *The event of the year*, since the 
past few years, I pounced upon, almost with a predatory glee,at the 
chance of attending the 'Bombay Times Annual Bash' that was held at 'The 
Taj Mahal Hotel' Mumbai, yesterday, on saturday the 23rd of Oct.

The chance or the opportunity was thanks to the 'Scream-O-Meter' which 
was to be installed at the venue. 

(For those who came in late - The 'Scream-O-Meter' is an interactive,
voice-module equipped, touch-screen kiosk that the developers of 
Indiagames.com, one of whom is yours truly, had created for the 
promotion of the film, 'The Mummy')

The party, scheduled to start at 8.30 pm (does any event ever start on
schedule) didn't come alive till mid-night, though one could spot some
early arrivals at around 10.30 who felt quite out-of-place because
of their 'early entry'.

The party was spread across various sections of 'The Taj' and was 
divided into divisions. There was the game room where one could play 
games like pool or air-hockey or arcade games or even have a go at the 
'Scream-O-Meter' and win prizes. 

People could hang around in the lounge section and get henna-tatoos
made on their bodies or their faces painted with bright colours or 
even watch a knife-thrower, a fire-eater and a man-on-stilts in action.


The dance room had both, a live band and a collection of hindi film
songs which had the people tapping their feet.

If music and arcade games was not your thing, you could relax with 
a round of housie too at the housie room. 

As for the people who came to the party.... they were the "who's who"
of Mumbai, right from media magnates to baadshahs of Bollywood to 
models and sports personalities.


A list of some of the celeebrities the author spotted are:

Amitabh Bachchan (who looked quite tired and old in his greying
beard but still has the 'crowd-puller' ability in him. He had
the audience around him smiling when he walked upto the man on 
stilts and tried comparing their heights and shook hands with him).

Ayesha Dharker, looking really beautiful. Amir Khan, Anil Kapoor,
Sunil Shetty, Manoj Bajpai, Ruby Bhatia, Naghma, Mahesh Bhatt 
accompanied by wife Soni Razdan and daughter Pooja Bhatt, 
Ramesh Sippy with wife Kiran Juneja, Anupam Kher and Kiron Kher, 
Subhash Ghai, Yash Johar, Sandeep Chowta, Namrata Shirodkar, 
Farah Khan, Saajid Khan, Jaaved Jaffrey and so on...

>From the world of modelling, there were the likes of Arjun Rampal, 
Dino Morea, Achala Sachdev, Anupama Verma and others...

>From the non-Bollywood part of Mumbai, there were the likes of
Prahlad Kakkar, the ad-world king, Nana Chudasama, the ex-sheriff
of Mumbai, Dolly Thakore, Pramod Navalkar, Anjali Mukerjee - the 
dietician of almost every famous personality in Mumbai and so on....

The sports-men that were spotted were 'Jimmy' Amarnath, Rohan 
Gavaskar, Mahesh Bhupathi.

Some of the Bombay Times folks that I spotted were Malvika Sanghvi
(the associate editor of BT), Anil Dharker, Bachi Karkaria, Cyrus 
Merchant and Shobha De.


Not to mention a whole lot of other guests including a number of
pretty young things in 'skimpy little somethings' (and I mean 'skimpy'
when I say it - feminists, please excuse ! no offence intended - just
an observation). 

Got almost a crick in the neck and an eye-strain observing all this !
(-8


Due to circumstances beyond the writer's control (read as the two 
friends with whom I had gone to the party, wanting to leave) we left the 
party early, at 2.30 AM, just when it was beginning to look interesting. 
The party, it is said, lasted till around 4.00 or 5.00 AM.

One couldn't help feeling guilty of being a part of such gala 
extravagance, when one sees street kids and street-side dwellers 
waiting/ living on the streets near 'The Taj'. One wonders whether the 
money spent on such shindigs could be spent more constructively in the 
rehabilitation of these people....

But that's another story....for another day..... for now.. am still 
getting over the hangover of the party and looking forward to next 
year's party and hoping to get invited again !! (-8


Ninad
ninad@mumbai-central.com


-- 
http://www.mumbai-central.com <-- Where Mumbaikars meet.


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