Jaipur: A little away from the din of the crowd at the Jaipur Literature Festival, a rather “fabulous” event took place—the launch of Shalini Passi’s new book, The Art of Being Fabulous.
Passi, in conversation with Ruchika Mehta, launched her memoir, published by Penguin India. Although a little camera conscious, Passi answered every question with her usual elegance, charm and wit. This is the Delhi-based art collector, artist and philanthropist’s literary debut.
“I never thought of writing a book, but then I was approached by several publishers. I told them that I have a very simple way of speaking and that my ideas are very home-made but they persuaded me that this will work,” she said.
The term “fabulous” has become synonymous with Passi ever since her appearance on the third season of the Netflix series The Fabulous Lives of Bollywood Wives. Passi was part of the Fabulous Lives trio from New Delhi. She has since become an internet sensation and a social media favourite.
Karan Johar had once said to Passi that she is arrogant and stuck up, but despite it, she has received so much love and appreciation, Mehta asked her why that is.
“I do things for myself. Like if I want to wear something, or if I want to do something, or my love for arts, design or fashion is because I want to do it. Not because I want to impress somebody or I have to do it. Also there’s a bit of ego, there’s a bit of arrogance, there’s a bit of humbleness, there’s a bit of everything in us,” Passi responded.
She went on to say that she hates being put in a box. “I’m from Delhi, the capital of jugaad. So, we have a solution for everything. We think we are doctors. We think we are lawyers. We think we are plumbers. We are everything. If somebody can do it, a professional can do it, Delhi people can do it better,” she said.
In fact, Passi gave the example of her drinking coffee from a straw and how dentists are now adapting it worldwide: “I met Chef Vikas Khanna, and he told me that his dentist in New York showed him a video of me drinking coffee from a straw and said that he needed to start doing that, too.”
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The many stages of loving Shalini Passi
A friend once told Passi there are four stages of loving her—the first is shock, the second is denial, the third is acceptance and the fourth is that people run away.
She said that over time, he added a fifth—when they return to her—“because there is no one else like you and everyone else lacks substance”.
At one point during the question and answer session with the audience, Passi, impeccably clad in a floral print saree got out of her seat and stood nearer to the edge of the stage to better see the audience. Questions ranged from whether or not she colours her hair to what intimidates her the most. Answer: No, she doesn’t and very well-educated people.
She stressed the importance of female friendships and joked about how her husband had perfected the “art of signing the cheques”.
She advised her younger audience to “listen to your parents” and voiced her support for women choosing not to marry young or at all because they are afraid they might have to give up all they accomplished in their careers.
The audience lapped up Passi’s charm, wit and sometimes self-deprecating humour that almost always followed up with her one-liner mantra about “being fabulous”.
Passi ended the session saying, “Please judge the book by its cover. It is as fabulous as it looks.”
ThePrint is a media partner for the Jaipur Literature Festival 2026.
(Edited by Theres Sudeep)