Amole Gupte channels his inner child at the launch of a project to provide learning opportunities for street children and those involved in child labour.Gul Panag may not have got enough votes to silence her critics. But she gets our vote for being the coolest girl and wife. Away from the heat and dust of the political summer, Panag took a flight to Paris before taking off on a solo European holiday. But she was not alone on the way. The craft was being piloted by her husband, Captain Rishi Attari, who works with a leading airline. But Gul, who could have availed of the discounted fare meant for family members, paid for her business class ticket in full. During the flight, the loving husband kept checking on the wife, with a little help from his colleagues, who kept him updated about every little thing she ordered and enjoyed on board. It was only when the flight landed that the two met for a two-night holiday in the romantic city, before Gul carried on with the rest of her trip.T he onus of introducing touring Sacramento Kings player Isaiah Jamar Thomas, to modern Indian cuisine was on Rannvijay, who seemed to do a swell job at Jiggs and Zorawar Kalra’s restaurant in BKC. The affable anchor got along with the equally affable sports star as they chatted over khandvi sphere, jaggery and green chilli chutney and sev puri ‘on the go’. They also tried the curry leaf and pepper prawns, thayir sadam and banana crisps, with Thomas asking pointed questions about every dish while voting for the prawns as his favourite. With all the love that the American showed for desi khana, Rannvijay returned the favour by taking off his workday shirt and posing in his jersey. The food seemed to have hit the right spot, boys?I t seems Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi has still not come to terms with the worst-ever performance of his party—a Lok Sabha seat tally of 44. That’s why while chatting up with NCP MP Supriya Sule in the Lok Sabha even as discussion on Motion of Thanks to the President’s address was on, he served her a shocker: “By how many votes did you lose, Supriya?” A surprised Supriya gathered her wits and shot back, “If I had lost the elections, I would not be here, inside the Lok Sabha, sitting next to you.” Quickly making amends, the Gandhi scion asked her about the margin of victory but the exchange became the buzz in at the Central Hall of Parliament. Have the devastating results changed Rahul’s style of functioning?Not one bit say UPA leaders. The other day at the lunch Sonia Gandhi hosted for UPA MPs, the mother and son simply refused to mix with their guests. While Rahul kept talking to Shashi Tharoor, Sonia stuck to Congress MPs, giving a cold shoulder to Sharad Pawar and even Dr Singh.The diarist mourns the demise of poet, art critic and curator Keshav Malik. He was 80. The venerated scholar was awarded the Padmashree for his contribution to literature and conferred the Lalit Kala Akademi fellowship. The last rites were performed at the Lodhi crematorium in Delhi in the presence of his friends and family. His towering presence will be deeply missed.We all know the perils of being an honest biographer when one is writing about a family member. Om and Nandita Puri’s public spat over the latter’s disclosure of the inconvenient truths of his private life, is a case in point. We were thus amused to know that the long-time companion of a celebrated photojournalist is allegedly in the process of publishing a book that is a thinly disguised retelling of their love affair. A gifted writer, she was introduced to the Capital’s highbrow life by her lover, and has apparently been inspired by her own journey from being a relative nonentity to the muse of the eminent photographer to write the book. Last heard, she had signed up with a top international agent, while he is wary of talking about it.