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Home > News > India News > Article > Kabir Bedi and the might be miracle

Kabir Bedi and the might-be miracle

Updated on: 03 May,2017 06:00 AM IST  | 
Malavika Sangghvi |

We count ourselves happily among the spiritually muddled and perennially agnostic, and pride ourselves on possessing a healthy dose of scepticism

Kabir Bedi and the might-be miracle

Kabir Bedi and Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Kabir Bedi and Sri Sri Ravi Shankar


Kabir Bedi and the might-be miracle
We count ourselves happily among the spiritually muddled and perennially agnostic, and pride ourselves on possessing a healthy dose of scepticism. But when no less than Kabir Bedi texts about a 'miracle', one has to take note.


Kabir Bedi
Kabir Bedi's 'miracle' picture at the event


"Just saw your piece on Sri Sri. I was there too, but not in the VIP box, in the middle of the hall, to be the observer and not the observed," wrote the actor, with the second-most famous baritone in the country, adding, "I'd never met him before and wanted to understand him better. But what blew me away was a picture I took of him meditating on stage. Inexplicable! You can still see the outlines of his face within the blaze of light."

"No photoshop or filters of any kind. Is it a miracle?" he said.

Now, not being experts in either photography or miracles or stage lighting, we tried for the life of us to come up with an intelligent response, but couldn't.

So, we present his picture as evidence to you, gentle reader, for you to decide. Bedi signed off with, "I finally met him too, a wonderful experience. He's the real deal."

Had the man, who describes himself as a spiritual seeker, the son of spiritualists and having had close encounters with the likes of HH Dalai Lama, Osho, J Krishnamurti, UG Krishnamurti and Maharishi Mahesh Yogi amongst others, experienced miracles before?

"That's another topic," said Bedi and added, "Wait for my book."

Biki Oberoi
Biki Oberoi

The Oberoi opens its doors
When Biki Oberoi, widely acknowledged as one of the hotel industry's tallest leaders, had taken the unprecedented decision to close down his entire flagship hotel in Delhi during its renovations, in order to shield his patrons from any disturbance, thus forgoing all the revenue and affording his competitors a window of opportunity, the move had attracted widespread applause.

Udiksha Mehta
Udiksha Mehta

After all, very few in the trade are known to go to such lengths to ensure the comfort of their guests. "The chairman of the Oberoi Hotel group was very clear that his guests would not be made to walk through a construction site," says an insider. And now, word comes in that the revamped hotel is all set to open its doors in the first week of December, and that Udiksha Mehta, (voted F&B person of the year at the recent EazyDiner awards), a familiar face and the current EAM at the hotel's Mumbai branch, will move to Delhi to oversee the much-awaited new property as its general manager.

In addition, we hear foreign expansion is also on the cards for the group, which recently opened its luxury beach resort Oberoi Al Zorah in Ajman (outside Dubai) and has signed MoUs to open one in the Maldives shortly.

Priya Kapoor
Priya Kapoor

Jailhouse rock
"If you steal Rs 1,000, the hawaldar will beat the @#$% out of you and lock you up in a dungeon with no bulb or ventilation," says the jacket of a newly published book, Behind Bars: Prison Tales of India's Most Famous, authored by TV anchor and journalist Suntera Chowdhury.

"If you steal Rs 55,000 crore, then you get to stay in a 40-foot cell, which has four split units Internet, fax mobile phones and a staff of 10 to clean your shoes and cook your food (in case it is not being deliv-ered from the Hyatt that particular day)." This and other shocking truths, garnered after extensive interviews with some of the country's most high-profile jail-birds, can be gleaned from Roli Books' latest offering.

(L) Peter Mukerjea; (R) Somnath Bharti
(L) Peter Mukerjea; (R) Somnath Bharti

"Who came to visit Amar Singh during his four-day incarceration in Tihar? How does Peter Mukerjea keep himself occupied all day at Mumbai's Arthur Road Jail? And what about the hundreds of under-trials getting crushed under the slow wheels of justice until their cases get heard?" says Priya Kapoor, director of Roli Books.

"The book includes remar-kable revelations of how the system is misused."

And with chapters on A Raja, Sushil Sharma (who is the notorious Tandoor murderer) and Somnath Bharti, the tome lying on our bedside at the moment, promises to be a scintillating read.

The Bong connection
Word comes in that yet another oriental cuisine restaurant is set to open its doors shortly in the already crowded Kamala Mills (where else?). But the restaurant, currently known by its acronym 'POH', has two elements already going for it, which are clutter busters. It's head chef Vikramjit Roy is said to be one of the country's most talented oriental chefs, having worked for the Taj group's Wasabi in Delhi, before spending many years with the ITC and opening the successful molecular Tian-Asian Cuisine Studio in New Delhi, besides winning the 'Pan Asian Chef of the Year', awarded by Chef Sanjeev Kapoor, along the way.

The second element is that the restaurant has been conceptualised by the speciality restaurant group and the company behind the successful chain of Oh! Calcutta, Mainland China, and the recently opened Gong in Pune. We are informed that the project is being overseen by young restaurateur Avik Chatterjee, and that tasting has already begun for friends and family.

And when Avik was asked how he managed to convince a reputed high-profile chef to leave the comforts (and perks) of a big hotel group in Delhi and make the move to Mumbai, to start from scratch in the stand-alone space, he responded with three simple words: "The Bong connection." Nice!

Counting his weddings
This garrulous event organiser, known as much for his interna-tional swagger and running with the fast crowd, as for being responsible for some of the most grandiose jamborees in recent times, has been even more pleased with himself than usual.

The reason? He might have just landed himself the biggest assignment of them all - the upcoming nuptials of one of the country's most eligible bachelors. The smooth talker, known to have the gift of the gab, was recently overheard boasting about "retiring in style", after the successful execu-tion of this one.

"It's huge," he said, already a few beers down at the bar of his favou-rite watering hole. "They are thinking of booking either New York's Central Park or Disney World," he added. The mind boggles.

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