Zia Mody, Subramaniam and Mala Ramadorai attend a talk at CSMVS

While most of the city’s literati was talk-hopping this week at Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (CSMVS), between historian Ramchandra Guha and Harvard University professor Diana Eck — both held in next-door rooms, we spotted Zia Mody arriving a tad late for Eck’s talk at the packed Coomaraswamy hall. Even as she tuned in to the speaker, the legal consultant multi-tasked by occasionally using her Nokia communicator (the flip phone) and her tablet, browsing and writing on both. She had to make do with a chair at the rear, almost close to the door.

Also spotted at the event, in the standing crowd, were Subramaniam and Mala Ramadorai. When they did find a seat, Ramadorai, the former TCS CEO who is now the chairman of National Skill Development Corporation, gallantly offered it to his wife and found another for himself later.