Page 3 Exclusive : ” It’s the Prawns…”

It’s the Prawns! It’s the Prawns… wailed the lady in pink brocade as she clutched her flaming red cheeks. Her French manicured hands tried their best to cover her freshly over-botoxed face. I gasped in mock horror while trying not to estimate the weight of her solitaire. The host and hostess of this much-hyped gala opening of a new restaurant looked a little offended. But not for long. The press reporter and photographer had finally arrived!
The event with a little over 50 guests was to be given a boost with page 3 newspaper coverage. Society events do hold a special spot in many publications and why not exploit that option when you have some excess Vitamin M (also known as Money)!

The newly done décor and wall art faded into oblivion as the fashionably late guests breezed in, donning designer ensemble. As drinks and finger food flowed into the evening, conversations were laced with talks of travels across the globe along with newly acquired farm houses in Mulshi and beyond. The man of the day was clearly the press photographer who went about doing his job. Couples inched closer to him and smiled in unison as they tucked their bellies in for the perfect picture. Guccis, Loius Vuittons and Salvatore Ferragamo took a backseat until their target shot was done!

Whew! Once this was done, they let their breath out revealing their real smiles. And a few extra inches. All this making the plastic surgeon guest happy with potential clientele.
Gym talk, beau talk and botox (oops botox is secret!) took precedence while some rolled their R’s in western drawl. Conversations ranged from home-managers (house help is a redundant word I learned), to their children in colleges overseas.

This is Pune! Hip Happening and as designer as you can imagine. As cosmopolitan and as heady as the cocktail mix! Society parties in ever-changing Pune and new product launches can be fun and dropping intellectual conversation for an evening is a treat. To be seen at such events is a matter of “having arrived” for many.

Who cares if you don’t really know the host, after all you just may be a newsmaker the next day! Free flowing booze, fancy finger foods and money talk can be a high that successfully drives these events.

Music and top ranked city DJ’s have the art of getting even the behenjees to unwind. As strobe lights electrify the evening, guests let their hair down and rub imaginary balm on their sides while lip synching Munni Badnaam Hui. The “Fevicol se” moment lasts just a fleeting moment but very few lose the opportunity to miss the “sticky” situation. For an observer, it is comical to see lips pursed, hair tossed and hips swaying even after the sounds of Baby Doll have dimmed.

The guest of honor at the inauguration of a watch store in Eastern Pune was a popular Bollywood heroine. The actor was late by a few hours and the guests were getting impatient. They waited, retouched their make-up, and perhaps even glad to hang on for bonus time gup-shup. With news of the celebrity appearance, local crowds had gathered at large. But when a loud commotion disturbed the otherwise peaceful setting, all heads turned to the entrance thinking that the actor had finally arrived. That’s what the crowd outside had thought too. So, when the doors of a spanking new Land Rover opened and it was just another guest who walked out, the crowd went wild! The poor lady who stepped almost tripping on her pointy heel was booed and near to tears. She wiggled her Michael Kors purse that contained only a lipstick, in self-defense at them.

As the sounds of mwah-mwah and air kissing rent the air a few hours later with tired guests leaving after a drink too many I knew it was time to head back home.
Oh yes, and wait to read the news in the papers!

Nikhila Deo
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