BIRTHDAY KISSES, CHAMPAGNE DREAMS

AFTERNOOON DESPATCH & COURIER, 09/03/00

MEERA Gandhi has a very arresting face - it makes everyone turn around for a second glance. Of mixed parentage, an Irish mother and a Marwari father, her stunning looks coupled with brains to match, single her out as a very special person. And the other day, an eclectic mix of friends kept pouring in to her spa- cious apartment at Carmichael road, to celebrate her birthday.

The invite itself was a smasher - announcing her gorgeous husband Vikram Gandhi (MD of Morgan Stanley NYC) as the 'Toastmaster' for the evening. But of course the Godrejs, the Ambanis, the Deoras, the Dubashes, the Zaveris, were all there. One cannot forget to mention 'Sunny' Gavaskar, the UTV team, the entrepreneurial Ronnie Screwalla, Zarina Mehta and Devan Khote, Chinoo and Rahul Mehrotra (both architects with a mission), the genial film producer Viveck Vaswani and Meera's very close friends Aloise (gee! what a dancer) and her hubby Dominic Price, President of J.P. Morgan Bank. As for Vikram, he was happiest on the dance floor, swinging away to Sharmila and Monty's melodies. Mischievous son Kabir pranced around the rooms before settling into his doting grandma Ellen's' arms whilst their lovely daughters Kiran and Kanika made brief - appearances.

As for the food, it was formidable 'fusion cuisine,' Yet another feat by the indefatigable duo Amrish Arora and Farrokh Khambatta. There were unique starters: crevettes de printemps, in an orange and cointreau coulis. Caribbean chick on a stick, wontons exotique bursting with crackling spinach and pinenuts and entrees like paella precioso and roulade de poulet avec prunes et pistache, ending with an enormous chiffon cake made specially by pattisseur Chef Ralph of the Oberoi.