Love and Light this Diwali...

This appeared in B.T. yesterday....Diwali is quieter this year. More sober, too. As for me, I am very happy with my Krishna Padam (Amprapali). I wore them around my neck last night and felt strangely,sublimely at peace. Lots of diyas and flowers at home. Fragrant agarbattis and delicious 'faral' ( bakar wadis with coffee... what a combo!).
Tomorrow is Padwa. This evening's Laxmi Pujan will be very special - our first with Anansuya Devi - our ghar ki Laxmi!
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Let there be light… but less noise…

Happy Diwali, BT readers! All set? Taash-vaash? Kapda-shapda?Mithai-withai? Good, good,good. Enjoy it while it lasts – the euphoria during the festive season, I mean. It was obvious from the gifting-shifting this year that the insane prices of silver seriously inhibited even the most generous hamperwallas, who were reduced to sending wonderfully packaged nuts and choccies( not the same thing as chandi-sona). And of course, the very welcome and exquisite CPAA ‘Saloni’ diyaas that lit up so many homes every year (plus, help a worthy cause). Gold prices went through the roof as well, and perhaps for the first time in the history of the metal, platinum dipped and was cheaper than white gold! The brief buoyancy in the markets is misleading, so don’t get fooled by it for a minute! Given the dismal news from European economies, chances are, India will soon be adversely impacted as well. If I am sounding like Montek Singh Ahluwalia giving an expert’s economic view on the current situation, let me just say I met a whole bunch of really, really smart bankers at Uday and Pallavi Kotak’s spectacular Diwali party. Of course, it was exceedingly hard to concentrate on their analyses and forecasts, with all that razzle dazzle floating around. Any foreigner sticking his or her neck into the Crystal Room that night, would have believed it was a royal function hosted by a Maharajah given the jewellery on parade ( Kya emeralds! Kya rubies! Kya diamonds!). In a way, the person would have been right. Our successful money men are the new Maharajas. That night they were all there in full force, given the collective net worth of the people assembled in the aesthetically decorated ballroom. Shall we peg it at a few billion ?
Perhaps Shekhar and Neelam Gupta’s Diwali Party in Delhi this week will have the requisite Neta Power… but hello! In Mumbai , we look out for the glam wattage! Come on guys, be honest. Would you rather gawk at a gorgeous Kangana in a slinky gown…. or a Chidambaram in a starched ‘mundu’? I guess that pretty much says it all about the difference between Mumbai and Dilli!
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I just love Farah Khan ( the talented movie director) for being upfront , cheeky and honest. Who doesn’t like receiving ( and ahem, re-cycling) Diwali gifts? Farah sent out a straightforward sms ( I smiled when I got it) stating clearly that all Diwali gifts should be sent to her new address! Practical pointer… and I really don’t know what recipients are getting all huffy about! Why would any sensible, successful woman want pricey gifts to go to someone else?
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But this Diwali greeting goes out to Rockstar Ranbir Kapoor for his honesty. First, he clarifies he is single and not a ‘horny rabbit’ (which may be good or bad news for his countless female fans). Then he gets candid about the stormy relationship between his parents , Rishi and Neetu Kapoor, during his formative years. It is a pretty grim picture he paints. Most Bollywood types, the Kapoors in particular, have gone to great lengths to perpetuate the myth of perfect marital bliss ( come on… Raj Kapoor??). By going public about his trauma as his parents battled it out, Ranbir proves he is so today! He deserves his success ( he is hugely talented). But he deserves our praise for being completely transparent and telling it like it is …. or was.