The party secrets.
[Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi]
He was gentlemanlike, with unaffected manners, and since he was an MA from the Columbia Journalism School, he was looked at with great admiration. The tide of Vinod K Jose’s popularity did not recede for a minute as more and more guests recognised the young founder-editor of The Caravan, that venerable political and cultural journal often sighted on Khan Market’s bookish Front Lane.
One evening The Delhi Walla attends the launch of The Caravan Book of Profiles at the palatial Bikaner House. The hall is teeming with India’s best journalists, who, as we all know, write only for The Caravan.
The most radiant smile belonged to journalist Ellen Barry of the unfailing New York Times.
Journalist Sonal Shah was dressed in a teasing pink sari that was excellently paired with a playful sling-bag. Alas, Ms Shah’s sartorial thunder was stolen by journalist Supriya Nair. She was in a gleaming white sari (do not get me started on the lace of her blouse*). Alas, Ms Nair’s sartorial thunder was stolen by Jaya Jaitly, who is not a journalist. Ms Jaitly made a spectacular impression with her sari–a most fragile shade of grey.
Also spotted: social theorist Ashis Nandy, who arrived with his wife, and social essayist Mukul Kesavan, who, mysteriously, arrived alone.
The other important presence was John Mohammed Butt, the hippie of Central Delhi’s Nizamuddin West, who, years ago, surprised the beautiful people by becoming a long-bearded imam.
The evening, however, ended on a regretful note. An acclaimed Indian-Kashmiri journalist–I’m too frightened to disclose his name–very, very, very gently told me not to take his photograph without his permission. When I requested for the aforementioned permission, he refused, very politely. See picture 13 below.
*Ms Nair insists that her blouse had robot print and no lace.
The world of Caravan subscribers
1. (Vinod K Jose)
2. (Anant Nath and Sonal Shah
3. (Supriya Nair)
4. (Tanvi Mishra)
5. (Jaya Jaitly)
6. (Ashis Nandy)
7. (Ellen Barry)
8. (Mukul Kesavan)
9. (Atul Dev)
10. (John Mohammed Butt)
11. (Ratan Kaul)
12.
13. (The Indian-Kashmiri journalist)
Sorry, too scared to put up his pic!