Yoga Day Event
This desire to urge my peers to avoid FOMO simmers inside of me. Social media has caused illnesses that have hurt so many of us and driven us to feelings of inadequacy, rejection, and unnecessary anxiety in our already stressful lives. It takes seeing each other’s social media to cause so much anxiety and feelings of inadequacy to get divorced.
It has been my observation that when I speak to friends and acquaintances, they are suffering from some sort of anxiety or stress. Many of them are also on medication but this often ends up making the problem worse. So, a wise approach is meditation and a digital detox. When Rekha Chaudhari, founder of Digital Detox Day, asked me to speak on mental health at her International Day of Yoga celebrations with Sonam Gupta, I readily agreed.
My answer to stress and anxiety is to share, to connect with caring and positive people, to build meaningful one-on-one relationships for mental health, to spend time with my family and not take them for granted. My answer to stress and anxiety is to call a trusted friend and have a positive conversation, the kind of conversation that relieves stress.
I was talking to a famous philanthropist in his 90s, and he said that the greatest satisfaction and joy comes from giving, and the greatest legacy that helps individuals grow is sharing compassion and giving back. There’s no rocket science there.
Celebrate your success
I hosted a dinner for my long-time friend Moin Baig to celebrate the story and screenplay of Heera Mandi and his new found phenomenal success as the architect of singer Barnali, attended by some of India’s most renowned doctors and surgeons. Absolute celebrities who have been the architects of India’s successful response to COVID-19 include Dr. Shashank Joshi, Dr. Nandita Parshetkar, Dr. Sailesh Raina, Dr. Karishma Bharani and ophthalmologist Dr. Sanjeev Bharani. Moin regaled us with stories of how he grew up living in such a neighborhood in Lucknow at the age of eight and how he had nurtured a “tawaif story”! He had written about the courtesans of Lahore and their crucial role in the independence movement, some 14 years before Sanjay Leela Bhansali brilliantly brought it to life. Madam M had suddenly risen to unprecedented glory.
He proudly touted that Heeramundi had broken OTT viewing records. And to top off the evening, Barnali entertained us with exquisite renditions of songs she had sung for Heeramundi, so much so that everyone at various tables in the restaurant rose to their feet and applauded her music. Oh, such talent!
Almost every dinner or evening event I attended this week has followed the current trend of having a “themed” event, and it’s not hard to guess what the theme was. I dropped by Keibaa x All Saints last night for my restaurateur friend Neeti Goel’s birthday and found myself in the midst of women in maang tikkas and ornate jhumkas bowing with adab to men in equally ornate achkans and zari-lined nawabi topis, current socialite Taha Shah Badussha swarming for photos and selfies. The lead actor, who played Tajdar Baloch, was a star-studded presence, full of humility and delight in the attention.
Garras, shararas and dupattas stuffed with zardozi, which would have come from a dowry trunk, were swung over the shoulders of society ladies, and lively conversations in out-of-place Mumbai English echoed through the hall.
Heera Mandi is now the party place of Mumbai (not Lahore anymore!!) and Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s magnum opus Opus has been a huge success despite receiving mixed reviews. I must say it was a joy to watch the leisurely unfolding on some truly mind-blowing luxury sets that SLB has lavished millions of rupees on at Film City.
The general public of the society was there, carrying the society’s favourite collection of bureaucratic jewellery, including actor Sonu Sood and his lovely wife Sonali Sood, Abhijay Rajpurohit and Faisu Shaikh.
Published on: Sunday, June 23, 2024, 12:00 AM IST
