The invitation came in the shape of a perfume bottle. It promised an evening of dance, music and a chance to meet the three new Miss Indias. The occasion was the launch of a perfume, 'Amouage', by the House of Tribhovandas Bhimji Zaveri & Sons. At Oberoi's Regal Room, the ambience was that of the Arabian desert. There was a backdrop of stars, a crescent moon, tents, and lilting Arabic music. Boys dressed in harem pants and vests guarded the entrance. With the Zaveri family personally welcoming the guests, a live band playing and the dance floor all ready, the party looked like it was going to be a whole lot of fun. By 2200 hours murmurs of "Arre, kab shuru hoga?" had begun. Then Sophiya Haque, former Channel (V) veejay walked in with a sheaf of papers in one hand and boyfriend Jules Fuller on the other. Sophiya, I learnt, was to be the emcee for the evening. The party began. "Do you know what 'Amouage' means?" Haque crooned. "Waves," shouted a lady from the crowd. "Yeah. Amouage means waves of emotions in Arabic. It is like a dream come true... a dream in which I am free to use all the essences of my experiences, thoughts and imagination, no matter how expensive," Haque waxed lyrical. Conceptualised by an aristocratic family in the Sultanate of Oman in 1983, 'Amouage' is a mix of floral and fruity scents. So said the release given to us. Also that the top notes of 'Amouage' were made of "rose, jasmine and lily-of-the-valley mingled with apricot, lime and peach." These, the release continued, were accentuated by "the middle notes of silver frankincense, rose flower, patchouli and sandalwood and bottom notes of civet and musk." Wow! "You know what the most valuable ingredient is? It's silver frankincense. Silver frankincense is brilliant white and gathered at dawn in drops or tears in the shape of pearls. Welcome to the launch of the most valuable perfume in the world," Haque said, her voice a low whisper as if she was in awe of the ingredient. Discreet enquiries revealed that the gold crystal range for ladies eau de toilette is priced at Rs 7,500 for 50 ml while the men's toilette costs Rs 6,500! The "most valuable perfume" naturally comes in containers that are equally valuable. The 'Amouage' flasks had been commissioned to Asprey's of Bond Street, London. Each bottle is handcrafted using solid sterling silver and gilded with 24-carat gold... so we were told. Just as the audience was getting restless with all this talk about perfumes and handcrafted bottles, a quick audio-visual presentation clamoured for attention. Then it was fun time. The band, Aquaflow, kicked off with Ginger's Spice's single, Mi chico latino followed by Enrique Iglesias' Bailamos. The first to take to the floor was the Zaveri family's youngest heir. Haque, unable to resist the urge to belt out a song or two, jumped on to render a foot-tapping version of Sheryl Crow's All I wanna do is have some fun with Jules playing the guitar. You bet the crowd loved it! And Haque was having fun! Suddenly the lights dimmed. Soft Arabic chants wafted through the room. A horde of photographers who had been nursing beer dropped their glasses and rushed to one end of the room. "The Miss Indias are coming," whispered a lady to another. As I joined the photographers, Miss India-World Priyanka Chopra and Miss India-International Diya Mirza emerged from the wings. Both were holding bottles of 'Amouage'. The buzz grew louder as attention shifted towards a palanquin being carried towards the centre of the room. "Ladies and Gentlemen, Miss India-Universe, Lara Dutta," announced Haque. As Dutta stepped out the paparazzi started clicking away... Till the organisers sent a team of PR agents and a few hefties to rescue Dutta. The launch finally came at around 1115 hours with Dutta spraying a few mists into the air to the sound of incessant click of cameras and soulful Arabic music. "The perfume's too intense... too strong," former Miss India and model Shika Swaroop wrinkled her nose. The audience seemed more interested in the Miss Indias onstage than the perfume itself. The cameras continued to click away till Nirmal Zaveri, host for the evening, announced that the press could have an exclusive photo session later. But a PR agent warned: "You can't talk to them! They have been brought here by the Times (of India) guys who are managing them. So you need to first fix it up with them first." The party continued. Pop star Sooraj, who recently cut his first album Musafir, took the stage for an impromptu gig. Spotted in the crowd were celebrity chef Sanjeev Kapoor with wife, Nina Manuel, the long-legged VJ of Channel [V], Anish Trivedi, former VJ, model Fardeen Khan and a host of the city's movers and shakers. Close to midnight when the party still showed no signs of getting over, I decided to slink out. My last glimpse was of people rocking to Sooraj's rendition of Elvis Presley's Let it rock. Engineer-to-be Priya Ganapati has a nose for news -- and perfumes!
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