Shalini and Dilip Piramal celebrate Prasoon Joshi's Padma Shri win

An eclectic guest list, a sumptuous spread and gracious hospitality marked Saturday night's intimate party thrown by Shalini and Dilip Piramal at their Worli residence. The celebration was in honour of the Padma Shri bestowed on poet-adman Prasoon Joshi. "Prasoon is one of the most interesting men I have met in the last decade," read the invitation of the chairman of VIP Industries. "Apart from heading one of India's largest advertising agencies, he is also a sensitive Hindi poet and one of the leading lyric writers of our film industry."

Piramal's invitees included Swati and Ajay Piramal, Harsh Goenka, Niraj Bajaj, Alka and Atul Nishar, Nirav Modi and Amit Jatia among others. The evening gathered momentum as steaming trays of assorted starters and summer coolers went around. Conversation ebbed only when music and poetry took over. Piramal, well-known for his love of Hindi poetry and songs, sang a duet with wife Shalini and the man of the evening, Joshi, recited poetry and then bowed to popular demand by singing 'Ma'.

"When you receive a hug by respected people in the industry, you are humbled," said Joshi. "You don't often see senior corporate people coming together discussing things other than business." The party went past the witching hour, winding down at 2.30 am.

(L-R) Dilip Piramal with daughter Aparna Piramal Raje; his other daughter Radhika with Prasoon Joshi