Photograph: Masaba Gupta, Daughter of Sir Vivian Richards and Neena GuptaIn the glitzy din of the Regal Room at the Trident, which was hosting the IPL after party and a fashion show by Rocky S, Late into the Night India’s first celebrity lovechild, Masaba, made a wary entry in an electric blue dress, accompanied by a fashion designer friend Nishka Lulla. But there was no missing the guarded aura and the irony - Masaba was after all India’s first love child, the product of a stormy affair between West Indian cricketer Sir Isaac Vivian Alexander Richards and veteran Indian television actress Neena Gupta.
Yet, for all her cricket pedigree, the young fashion designer was disapproving of cricket Matches in its present avatar, the IPL. “I am not very comfortable with this side of cricket, this new version of it. I know I am in no position to speak for my parents, and I rarely do, but I know for a fact that dad would never have approved of this. In his time, cricket was a lot more conscientious, a lot more principled. How do these players perform if they party so hard? When dad went on tours, he tells me that all players would be in bed by 9 pm sharp, every night, for as long as the tour lasted. I think it was a matter of principle. So this is new to me.”
As for herself, Masaba claimed she was not comfortable with the vibe she was getting from the over-glamorised IPL, but she stuck to her stand: “I am only here to support my friend Rocky S, because I have always admired his creativity. I do get awkward with weird men who keep staring at me, but I don’t let that bother me, because ultimately I am merely here to celebrate my friend’s fashion show since I too am from the field,” said Masaba.
Speaking of her mother, Masaba added, “Mom is happy. She’s flitting between Delhi and Mumbai now that she is married to a chartered accountant based out of Delhi. I am settling into my fashion designing. On the whole, life goes on.” Masaba, who graduated in fashion design from SNDT, recently debuted at the Lakme Fashion Week 2010. This was her first IPL sighting.
Yet, for all her cricket pedigree, the young fashion designer was disapproving of cricket Matches in its present avatar, the IPL. “I am not very comfortable with this side of cricket, this new version of it. I know I am in no position to speak for my parents, and I rarely do, but I know for a fact that dad would never have approved of this. In his time, cricket was a lot more conscientious, a lot more principled. How do these players perform if they party so hard? When dad went on tours, he tells me that all players would be in bed by 9 pm sharp, every night, for as long as the tour lasted. I think it was a matter of principle. So this is new to me.”
As for herself, Masaba claimed she was not comfortable with the vibe she was getting from the over-glamorised IPL, but she stuck to her stand: “I am only here to support my friend Rocky S, because I have always admired his creativity. I do get awkward with weird men who keep staring at me, but I don’t let that bother me, because ultimately I am merely here to celebrate my friend’s fashion show since I too am from the field,” said Masaba.
Speaking of her mother, Masaba added, “Mom is happy. She’s flitting between Delhi and Mumbai now that she is married to a chartered accountant based out of Delhi. I am settling into my fashion designing. On the whole, life goes on.” Masaba, who graduated in fashion design from SNDT, recently debuted at the Lakme Fashion Week 2010. This was her first IPL sighting.
