Delhi’s Belly by Malavika Sangghvi | Your weekly round-up of the Capital’s cabbages and kings

Old ties

We have been fortunate to have received so much love from Amitabh uncle and Jaya aunty,” say brothers Amaan and Ayaan Ali Bangash about the launch of their newest album Journey: Rabab to Sarod by the megastar on Thursday evening in Mumbai. 

The close ties between the families of Ustad Amjad Ali Khan and the Bachchans span many generations. It had been the late Harivansh Rai Bachchan who marked out the young Amjad Ali, the sixth in the generation of renowned musicians from Gwalior, with his affection. Jaya Bachchan’s family in Bhopal had also known the practitioners of the Bangash tradition. These bonds were further strengthened when Ayaan married the daughter of former actor and producer Romesh (Billoo) Sharma, one of the Bachchan household’s oldest friends.  No surprises then that the star had demonstrated his delight by posting many pictures of the occasion on social media the next day. “Amit uncle’s love and affection for the fine arts is a testimony of his keen and diverse interests in music,” says Amaan. “In fact, Abhishek bhai learnt the sarod too!” says Ayaan.

If the walls had ears...

The Hall of Nations was completed in 1972 as the main exhibition building complex for the Asia 72 Trade Exhibition marking the 25th year of India’s independence. A radical structural concept, this was an audacious structure with a conceptual basis in the Mughal plans of Humayun’s Tomb and the Taj Mahal,” says photographer and cultural activist Ram Rahman, whose name itself is a flag-bearer for the secular traditions of India. Rahman sees the proposal to demolish the structure, following a recent Cabinet-approved order for the restructuring of Pragati Maidan complex, as the dismantling of that tradition. 

The fact that the Heritage Conservation Committee is said to have been curiously lax in deciding on the heritage status of 62 buildings constructed by noted Left-leaning or liberal intellectuals like Rahman’s own father, Habib Rahman, and Joseph Allen Stein, Charles Correa, AP Kanvinde, and  Raj Rewal, might have something to do with it. “Built completely with manual labour, the Hall of Nations is the largest column-free structure in India and an iconic example of how handcraft and technological sophistication could be seamlessly combined,” he says. 

Recent stories alleging that the initiative to demolish the iconic structure comes straight from the PMO are making many ask if this is not ‘another brick in the wall’.

Have mask, will party

Looking like a cross between a sci-fi fantasy and a BDSM accessory, the vog mask introduced by Delhi’s Gaurav Gupta at a high profile Anti-Pollution Riot Party this week caught the imagination of the Capital’s beautiful set. Three hundred masks were dispatched and flaunted on social media by the likes of models, publishers and the design fraternity. 

From next week, another batch will make its way to Bollywood. No liplocks then? The mind boggles. 

Unintentionally funny

Congress leader P Chidambaram is known for his dry wit and droll sense of humour, but perhaps even he was surprised to draw a guffaw from the packed hall that had gathered at Mumbai’s Nehru Centre for the release of his latest book Fearless in Opposition. Talking about demonetization, the former finance minister was intently making his point on how the least Prime Minister Narendra Modi could have done was to take former finance minister Yashwant Sinha and former PM Manmohan Singh into confidence about his intent. “I cannot believe that both these men would not have kept a secret,” he exclaimed to a politically savvy audience comprising of the city’s best and brightest. 

“After all, Dr Singh has been privy to, and has kept so many secrets during his time,” he said, unprepared for the sudden laughter that erupted from the audience. However unintentional his remark, when you come to think of it, it was funny. 

All guns blaring

What’s a royal wedding without some palace intrigue? Even as the Capital gears up for the mother of all royal weddings between the progeny of two important clans, word comes in that there have been a few ruffled feathers among some other blue-blooded families, and a fair amount of consternation about ‘monarchial protocol’ being breached. “Look, we’re all modern and international and in step with the times,” said the garrulous former ruler of a minor state. “But when it comes to marriages, especially alliances between important states, then everyone expects the whole nine yards,” he adds.

According to the leader, the problem lies in the fact that a few elderly members of erstwhile 21-gun salute states may have felt slighted on receiving invitations to fewer occasions than their brethren from lesser gun salute states,” he said, adding: “But in today’s day and age, with so much changing and new generations having their own ways of wanting to do things, it’s a toss-up between tradition and modernity.” Indeed. 

Realpolitik and the usual suspects

One of the first lessons in realpolitik is that the usual suspects are just that — the usual suspects. Thus, it is that in the much-talked of case regarding a beleaguered meat exporter and his alleged proximity to a former intelligence head. The three top ministers who are alleged to be under the scanner are the ones whose names usually turn up in such matters when things are not too kosher: the suave public school-educated loyalist; the wily old-timer from the West and ‘He Whose Name Cannot be Mentioned’ (but who enjoys his leader’s utmost confidence). According to sources, all three have been named in an FIR regarding a money laundering case. Will the story break any time soon? Watch this space.

To give your feedback about this piece, write to malavikasmumbai@gmail.com