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Unmasked!

Published: Volume 14, Issue 4, July-August, 2005

Masquerade balls, high profile auctions, cosmetic swoops, luxury reinvented…. Verve keeps pace with the global go-getters.

As Aparna Piramal – daughter of Dilip and Gita Piramal, readied for her June nuptials with Amit Raje, her aunt, Swati and uncle, Ajay Piramal, hosted an innovative fun-filled ‘Venetian Masquerade’ for the young couple, family and close friends (some of whom jetted down from Harvard and Oxford Universities for the occasion). Plans for the big night began well in advance as a blueprint was carefully crafted to create a carnival atmosphere studded with masks and capes, costumes and colour, sweet dolci and cioccolatta. Music and drumbeats reverberated in the Piramal households as the ladies choreographed a dance routine. A visit to Beijing for a conference threw up traditional Chinese outfits – the Emperor Ming and the Empress Bling costumes – spotted in display windows of stores…and they were promptly picked up as perfect attire for the bride and groom.

Back home in Mumbai, an old motorised bicycle was transformed into a royal Chinese ‘rickshaw’ to be driven by a small boy in costume. And all that was remaining was the dreaded dragon – a 15-foot balloon creation with huge eyes and teeth. Streaks of light that changed colour and lasers running wild, mimicking the movements of a gondola gently flowing down a canal, completed the picture.

So, guests walked into the venue – an office space (at Nicholas Piramal Towers, Peninsula Park) abandoned on the weekend and borrowed for a night – to be greeted by acrobats, jugglers, fire-eaters…and a picturesque parade. As the tapas bar, serving tiny starters from Spain and Lebanon, was thrown open, it was time to eat, drink and...be merry. The magnificent table with a hundred different desserts prepared by the family was unveiled – profiteroles and cheesecakes, strawberry and chocolate cakes, Italian sorbets and gelatos to bring down the temperature.

Guests rocked to the beats of salsa and Spanish ballet, jazz and romance, later moving to a quieter, more private place to savour pistachio biscotti with Venetian coffee or hot chocolate.
Overheard: “This is a rocking party; we want to dance all night.”

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