JADE JAGGER On rocks and rock’n’roll

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One of India’s leading fashion designers, Payal
Jain, made her UK debut last month at Le Meridien
Piccadilly, at a fundraiser hosted by Friends of
Pratham. The event was in aid of Pratham, India’s
largest education NGO, which works to improve
learning levels among underprivileged children.
Television presenter Tasmin Lucia-Khan hosted
the afternoon. Also pledging their support at the
event were Bollywood stars Poonam Dhillon,
Jacqueline Fernandez and British comedian
Sanjeev Bhaskar.
Bhaskar, who has recently come on board as
an ambassador for the charity, told Mayfair Times:
“Education is an incredibly passionate subject with
me – I’m chancellor of Sussex University – and I
think that any project that focuses on education,
particularly children, rings a lot of bells for me.
“I think that young people, if they are educated,
apart from bettering themselves in society, are the
people who will become the adults who are
involved in corporations in the future. They are the
ones us Brits want to be doing business with, so if
there’s any degree of self-interest, there’s a longterm
benefit.”
Bhaskar praised the charity, saying he admired
its approach to doing things. “They get in and
educate,” he said. “The fact that they are doing it
from here, are small and target specific projects, is
all music to my ears. It all makes sense to me.
“The admin costs are among the lowest I’ve
ever experienced in any kind of organisational
charity, and that means the money is going
straight there.”
The event, which raised £42,000 for the charity,
was attended by a 350-strong audience of mostly
Designed to help
young women. Guests were treated to drinks and
canapés, while enjoying Payal’s spring/summer 13
catwalk show, jewellery by Neety Singh and an
exhibition by SA Fine Arts.
Pratham has reached almost 500,000 children
in 43 cities, and 33 million children in 305,000
villages, through its wide range of programmes –
and has taught children to read in nursery, primary
and secondary education and beyond.
Bhaskar urged people in Mayfair to show their
support and told guests: “These are the people
your husbands are going to be doing business
with in the future.”
Visit www.pratham.co.uk
BOLLYWOOD STARS,
COMEDIANS AND TV
PRESENTERS TURNED OUT
FOR THE UK DEBUT OF
FASHION DESIGNER PAYAL
JAIN AT LE MERIDIEN, IN AID
OF FRIENDS OF PRATHAM
TOP: TASMIN LUCIA-KHAN, SANJEEV
BHASKAR, JACQUELINE FERNANDEZ AND
POONAM DHILLON
MIDDLE: PAYAL JAIN SPRING SUMMER 13
LEFT: PAYAL JAIN (MIDDLE) WITH MODELS