@ Verve Lounge

Verve Lounge is cocktail salon that Verve magazine organizes each month at its office in Bombay. The idea is that a magazine doesn't just exist between its pages, it exists as a mindspace, as a community, and as a conversation between its producers and readers, and Verve Lounge is one of the offline manifestations of the Verve idea. So each month, the magazine team assembles an eclectic guest list of people from Bombay or visiting Bombay, and this could span the arts, the sciences, the creative and business worlds. Then they think up a theme - either related to the forthcoming magazine issue or not, and plan the whole event around it. There's usually a speaker, or a show and tell, and the decor, food, drink, music, etc. all revolves around this theme. I've been a part of several Verve Lounges and it's always interesting to see how the concept gets executed into reality and then the actual lounge itself, with the conversation and energy. This month's Lounge centered around my book. We kept the book reading part of it shorter than book store readings, but that worked, I think, given the nature of the event, and people seemed to connect with what they heard. I had several one-on-one interactions with a range of people later on. It was also great fun to hang out with other authors like Manil Suri and Tara Deshpande - both of who have written about Bombay so evocatively and beautifully. In the pictures, please don't miss the red Rooh Afza cocktails, served with exactly one rose petal in each glass. (Those of you who've spoken to me recently might have discovered my Rooh Afza obsession, it's pretty close to my Tashan craze :-)