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scoop of summer thrillA torrent of off-the- beat summer camps has flooded the city. So, forget those cliched art and craft classes and be ready to dive deep into adventure, says Anandita Gupta A bunch of happy faces huddled up together, experiencing it all. Rain showers buffeting against their excited faces, ripples of water lip lapping as they row away in their little boats, low-roofed tunnels stooping into ivy-gripped caves and majestic scenery welcoming them as they pitch their tents to camp on a river side. JUMPING JACKS: Youngsters experiencing the high of adventure in their summer vacations YOGA Gardens: fence in, fence
out
Mmmmm: That’s so cool and refreshing Satire at its best Zesty tang
COME TO MY PARLOUR: Ashi in her cafe.
— Photo by Vinay Malik Skirt around
CRISPY CIRCLES: Bhoor Singh fries jalebis in Sector 7, Panchkula.
— Photos by Pradeep Tewari COOL STUFF Yogic insights FILM & FASHION
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A scoop of summer thrill
A torrent of off-the- beat summer camps has flooded the city. So, forget those cliched art and craft classes and be ready to dive deep into adventure, says Anandita Gupta
A bunch of happy faces huddled up together, experiencing it all. Rain showers buffeting against their excited faces, ripples of water lip lapping as they row away in their little boats, low-roofed tunnels stooping into ivy-gripped caves and majestic scenery welcoming them as they pitch their tents to camp on a river side. And then, there are those little pearls gleaming in this ocean of adventure. Climbing mighty rocks, predicting the weather, survival cooking, photography, carpentry and even painting the camps and lighting up bonfires. If you are mistaking all this to be a scene from the Famous Five adventure series, we don’t blame you. For, caught up in the whirlwind of tyrannical study schedules and high-performance pressures, kids hardly get to experience the thrills of adventure. However, summer packages promising this and much more have already breezed the City Beautiful.
Chills and thrills
A trip down the wilderness lane, laced with some valuable wisdom of life experience. Well, that’s what is being offered at Negi Outdoors. Holding summer camps (5 nights, 6 days) for kids and teenagers, the programme exposes them to the thrill of adventure. Informs Tanisha Bedi, the group’s coordinator, “Besides being great fun, our outdoor expeditions hone the basic skills of children. They learn to read maps, find directions, predict weather, climbing rocks, rope management, rafting, carpentry and performing during campfire gatherings.” Open for the youngsters in Chandigarh,
Panchkula, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Amritsar, Delhi and Ambala, the programme takes the youngsters to Chail, Shimla and Morni. And being fixed at Rs. 5100,the charges remain within range.
Exciting excursions
Another exciting experience for the kids around town is the summer camp called Jack n Jill Hilltop, that takes the kids on fun excursions promising rustic delight. Informs the camp’s coordinating Manager Divya Bansal, “We make the kids experience run around in the lush fields and farms, make choolhas from bricks and figs and do survival cooking. They are also building straw huts and doing graha pravesh in style.”
And for all those who wanna go bananas during this summer, there’s the workshop called ‘Go Bananas’ by Anuvala. “From Yoga, counseling, arts and crafts to dancing and theatre, we make the kids do everything. Our USP, however is having unlimited fun and hence the name Go Bananas,” smiles the lady who started this club 7 years back.
High-voltage drama
Schools have also joined the bandwagon and unleashed a torrent of off-the beat courses. Like Saint Johns, Chandigarh is holding photography and first aid classes. Vivek High School has tied up with a theatrical group called Manchtantra to give dramatics lessons to students during the summer holidays. Chirps Aakash Bansal, a young St. Johnian; “The traditional art and craft hobby classes are passé today. Youngsters have varied options of learning theatre, adventure sports, meditation exercises, Djaying, photography and first aid.”
And guess what, the city kids can now make their own movies too. Wemakefilmz Summer camp, that’s starting in the city from 8th June, promises to hone up the kids’ filmmaking skills like direction, scriptwriting, camera handling, editing, costume making and basics of film lighting and sound. “We’ll also hold a Childrens’ Oscars at the end of this ten-day course, where the kids would be given Oscars for a number of categories like the best film and best script,” inform producers Harish Amin and Guneet Monga, the brains behind the workshop. Well, seems like the days of learning-painting-at-aunt’s-place are over. The options available today are diverse, chiseling any talent of your youngster to perfection. So youngsters, what are you waiting for? Dive headstrong and find yourself fully drenched in thrill!
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YOGA The sun is the giver of life; the energy of the sun makes it possible for all life forms to evolve on this earth. The ancient Yogis of India practised a system of yoga that allowed the practitioner to access this life-giving energy for connecting with higher spiritual energies for their own evolution. They believe the sun to be a reflection, in the external world of the splendour, of the soul within. Absorbing solar energy to heal Sit with your back exposed to the early morning sun. With your eyes closed, imagine the body absorbing the sunrays. Consciously relax the body and visualise the solar energy like liquid golden light penetrating first the skin, then the muscle, tissues and the bone. Keep sitting until your whole body is saturated with every cell radiant and the light gently flowing into your bloodstream.
The tragedy is that not many such yogis are easily accessible. So, the learner must check the antecedents of any teacher purporting to teach this powerful form of yoga that is based on the Martanda Surya yoga of Babaji Gorakhnath, who has revealed the science of all yoga practices to mankind. The exercises include gazing at the sun in tratak, channelling the solar emissions to various parts of the brain through hand movements (mudras), pranayama and chanting of mantras (powerful sound vibrations). Interestingly, while practising they even have special actions to evade the harmful emissions of the sun and to allow only the beneficial rays to penetrate the body. The yogi learns to feed on this powerful nourishment, gradually learning to do with minimal food. The benefit of sunlight on the physical body has been well documented with doctors regularly advising patients to sun-bathe themselves for better absorption of vitamin D. And on the mental body, there are records of cold sunless countries having an unnaturally high rate of depression, suicides etc despite being economically developed. The sun has a rejuvenating and exhilarating influence on the human mood. It has also been shown to effect blood pressure and diabetes. Many unrelated events have been found to correspond with increased solar activities. The results of studies by the American Foundation for the Study of Cycles show that earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, meteor showers, altered germ cell maturation and even changes in fashion trends and fluctuation in the stock market correspond to these solar emissions that extend thousands of miles into the space. The practitioners of solar meditations use the energy of the sun to eliminate physical disease. Further, by constant purification attempt to convert their physical body into a body of a fit that is light enough to be a receptacle for divine energy and then finally realise themselves to be divine.
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Gardens: fence in, fence out “But aren’t we fenced in?” I asked the karmachari. “Memsahib, of course we are! Go see for yourself.” I did exactly that and went to check on acres of barbed wire which supposedly supported the bamboo fencing. Zilch! There was nothing there! The pious karmachari and his brood of nine had systematically cut it out to sell as iron for weight. In fact, scrap iron is so profitable that I have often thought of carrying a huge magnet on a stick to entice nails and screws from roads and yards. In today’s world, the fence is a necessity to delineate property. The type of fencing can be ornamental, protective, functional or supportive. For a lawn it can also afford protection from pets and amateur cricketers. Fencing bullets
Mark out precise property lines. If there is confusion with the neighbour, consult a lawyer. Follow community/society laws regarding space between garden areas. Have your legal, property documents ready. A wood fence enhances the beauty of a bungalow. Wooden slats can be painted white or green depending on the plants you want to grow against them. They form a colorful and useful backdrop. Vinyl fencings can be bought by the meter and are weather proof. They are expensive but cheaper in the long run as they do not need replacement for many years. They are very decorative and stylish. Expanded metal sheets are a strong option but not as long-lasting as vinyl as they fall prey to rust. All fences can be used as support for grapes, flowering creepers and vegetable vines. The crucial point is that fences should be strong and have to be put up before starting a garden. The most expensive yet most decorative are dry stone walls. These allow choice of stone by color and texture and are conducive towards outdoor bars, shelves for flower pots, statuary, blue pottery and terracotta pieces. These walls have to be cemented in while building the house. A living fence is another possibility. Grow Bougainvillea and Keekar along peripheral areas. Their lethal thorns will keep all living creatures out. All the best with your fenced in garden.
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Frozen delight Break into delight with iced up wonders like malai firni, kulfi and rabri thawed specially for you in the energy-sucking summers of 2006, says Saurabh Malik after taking a round of the fast food joints Traditional icy desserts are cool in the sultry summers of 2006! Right folks, it’s not just scrumptious ice-creams, sundaes and rich chocolate brownies that are selling like hot cakes in restaurants and fast food joints across the city. Even time honoured stuff like malai firni, kulfi and rabri topped with bee wit of excitement and delight are making post-dinner rounds of dining tables, lusciously.
The whiff is unmistakable. As you repose on comfy sofa set, along with your group, around the dining table in a restaurant waiting for the summer delicacies to arrive, the lingering aroma of pistachio nuts and saffron in creamy kulfis pulled out of plastic moulds hints at the delight in offing. It mingles with the heady smell of cardamom to give you the taste of summers right there on the table. If you are hot for the cool stuff, just drive down to your favourite haunt and gratify your taste buds with an abundance of falooda noodles covering mango-flavoured malai kulfis. Or else, go in for ras malai served with great deal of tehzeeb. The choice is yours, entirely. You see, until a few years ago, one had few options. For, the restaurants and other fast food haunts across the city were not offering rich variety in desserts. Undoubtedly you could order ice-creams and sundaes in so many flavours, but hardly any other cool stuff. True, you could savour kulfis from the roadside rehri-pullers late in the evenings. But then the lurking question of hygiene was always there. But now things are different. The sweet dishes specially prepared for the summers are more and merrier. In restaurants, just pick up the menu card and you will find traditional goodies like rabri and falooda waiting to be ordered. In fact, you will find the stuff on the tables even in wedding and reception ceremonies, along with cakes, puddings and ice-creams. A word of caution here for calorie-conscious residents: As some of the dishes mentioned in the menu card are rich in cream, just do not hesitate in asking the member of the staff serving at table, lest you land up consuming more calories than you had thought of. At Copper Chimney, light music floating out of the speakers, the grand ambience capturing the grandeur of the great Mughals and the setting is fit for a perfect post-dinner sweet dish session for two. You can beat the heat with malai firni, or even ras malai. Remember to taste their malai kulfi or even rabri. The stuff is actually good, though a bit expensive. For the dishes, you will have to pull out Rs 60 or even more. So be prepared to spend more for eating lavish goodies in style. Just in case, you wish to go in for something less formal, and inexpensive, just hop into your car and reach Sindhi’s. Their malai kulfi is not just good; it’s costing something like Rs 12. You can also buy time-tested Verka kufli from their kiosk in the vicinity. Rich in dry fruits including pistachio nuts and flavoured with cardamom, it is delightfully creamy. This is not the end of the dessert menu. You can have delectable kulfi falooda from Krishan Chat Bhandar in Sector 18. Prepared the traditional way and pulled out of a matka before being offered to you, it gives you the taste of conventional richness. Happy eating, folks!
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Satire at its best “Duniyan ne tazarbaato, hawdish ki shaql mein/ jo kuchh mujhe diya diya hai, lautah rha hun mein…”—this couplet from Sahir Ludhianvi sums up emotions, urges and inspirations of noted satirist poet and fiction writer Prem Vij.
Between his last book Parde Ke Peecchhe and the maiden book Bheed ka bhughol way back in 1989 there over 10 classic creations of poetry, short stories and critical appreciation. But there is a lot more to come, promises Prem sporting the usual innocent smile. Standing tall with over two-dozen awards and honours, including the prestigious Punjab State Award for Literature, Adeeb International Honour and the Punjab Raj Bhasha award, Prem Vij retains his creative impulses. Many students from the regional universities had earned the M. Phil and Ph. D for research on his life and literary works. His versatility as a writer encompasses the realms of short story writing and poetry but humour and satire is his prime obsession. “The spirit of humour and satire is essentially a social phenomenon as it germinates from the hard realities of life experienced in the form of various episodes which keep jostling in your conscious or subconscious mind.’ observed Prem, presently the secretary of the Chandigarh Sahitya Academy, nominated by the Governor Punjab.
Sharing his first ever tryst with the ‘poet’ in him, Prem reminisced that his maiden poem in Hindi written for the school magazine was not considered which virtually dejected him. But the desperation was short lived and the entire school rose to welcome the prodigious poet Prem as the very poem, was published in the newspaper.
”Most of the writers opt for subjects like humor and satire which if clicks well ensures instant popularity but seldom it happens. It is only the intuitive wisdom, stylish presentation with the felicity of language on the themes in close proximity to realities of life which accounts for the credibility of the writer and the good literature,” says Prem.
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Zesty tang No wonder everyone appreciates his craft but one may wonder about the toil and moil he goes through everyday to prepare the khatmeetha and khatta paani. His family helps him in his everyday calling. Matriculating in 1968 from Agra district in UP, Ram Singh happened to come to Chandigarh by chance. Undecided about his future, he started selling peanuts in winters and ice-cream in summers. Two years of daily grind and grime made him take up his current chatpata vocation. Though hugely popular for almost four decades, financial constraints have restricted him from owning a shop from the time when Sector 19 market was still sprouting. Starting his day early at 6 o’clock, his whole day passes in preparing his zesty concoction and evenings flip over tickling the palates of his customers. And this continuum has carried on for four decades. Being an old hand, he knows every nook and corner of the city like the back of his hand. But unbelievably, this God-fearing man has been a permanent fixture near Government Model School Sector19 for the past 38 summers! Confirming it, he says, “Maalik ki daya se yahin man lag gaya hai.” As the Gurdwara Sahib stands across the road, it isn’t surprising to see devotees around him, holding katories and gulping down golguppas turn by turn. Despite two well spruced-up sweet shops in the vicinity, Ram Singh’s affability manages to trump up their razzmatazz. Burly uncles, old aunties, young lovebirds, chirpy children and would-be mamas too… all are smitten by his flavorous flair.
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Sip through the books Imagine starting your day with a bright bean-eyed cappuccino smiling at you and heaps of books beckoning! The new kid on the block serving ‘coffee optimistic’ is a breezy little café—Coffee needs Company—at the spiffily refurbished library/bookshop Browser—8. If your coffee sports a leaf, a heart or a smiley, think Ramandeep Singh, coffee lover and trainer at the café. In the city as the representative of the coffee machine that has been installed, Raman is crazy about coffee. Four years into the business and having worked with the likes of Café Coffee Day in Delhi, he now travels all over teaching people to mix the brew just so! What’s his poison? Pure espresso, taken black.
The epicurean splurge of charming ‘baker’ Ashi (who incidentally doubles up as an interior designer as well!) and team Browser, the café has some heavenly coffees, teas, desserts and snacks on offer, brewing deliciously, while you rummage through paperbacks galore. With a passion for baking, Ashi wanted to open a café with a bookshop and here was the perfect opportunity. For this resident of Mohali, the day starts at dot five in the morning and the oven works overtime right up to ten. This means lots of fresh cakes and bakes to choose from—muffins, pies, quiches and crepes, cookies and brownies, biscotti and macaroons, dry and iced cakes, chocolates and truffles bringing up the array. Specials every day too and today it’s the turn of the apple. Apple muffins, apple upside Down and Nutty Apple Salad with apples, grapes, grated carrot, peanuts and sesame seeds with a dressing of orange and lemon juice. From baking in cookers as a child to having her overly sweet cookies being rejected even by a cow, Ashi has come a long way to making awesome peanut chocolates to cakes (dry being the speciality) that come in any shape possible). And with the munchies, delightful sin finds homage here in the triple cappuccino, the whiff enough to send the coffee aficionado into a salsa twirl right there! What’s more, if you can figure out the three flavours used in the coffee correctly, you get a 15 per cent discount! Choose from mystique, with a twist of mint, the opera with a swirl of honey or the Exotique with a hint of hazel nut and almond. If strong is your savour, then try the Espresso (Rs 12) or a Café Americano, American drip coffee, Italian style while spry is Café Speciale (Rs 20) a speciality coffee served with heavy whipped cream and a dash of cinnamon and nutmeg. Nurse a hot tea—earl grey (Rs 12), English, jasmine, even a spiced one—but give them time to brew it for no artificial flavours here, just the real thing all the way. Since summer is blistering its way into our lives, think iced honey mint tea (Rs 15), a revitalising honey and fruit tea, a banana shake (Rs 20), guava-grape smoothie (Rs 20) or even a kiwi mocktail and a mint fizz. Of course heady cold-coffees line up the cool brigade as well but try the coffee chocolate soda (Rs 25) not to be found anywhere else. So if you fancy hanging onto a cuppa with a freshly baked slice of cake to munch into, while Calvin and Hobbes hang onto to your knee, then your coffee needs your company!
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Skirt around As the white summer heat is giving way to a sultry weather, so many damsels are giving a leg up to fashion in chic skirts, says Saurabh Malik after taking a round of arcades
If you are having any doubts about the ever-expanding status of shrinking kilts in this sultry weather, just stop skirting the issue. Hop into your jaunty jalopy and zip down the fast track of excitement, skirting the academic environs of college campuses in Chandigarh, and even the neighbouring Panchkula and Mohali. Or else, go to any upper cut cafe steaming with fashion. You will find so many damsels of the world giving a leg up to fashion in chic cotton printed short skirts with prominent borderlines. Teamed with halter knit and double-shaded spaghetti tops, the girls are actually keeping it short for increasing their cooling capacities. No wonder, there is more of less everywhere you see. Summer special
“Now that the weather has turned and jeans are no longer cutting it, the dames are merrily displaying a wee bit of niftiness in skirts riding high,” asserts Mohammed Suhail, a young fashion designer running a garment house in Sector 22. Suhail is selling up to 20 skirts daily, including the ones embellished with nice little mirrors, crystals, sequins and jingling ghungroos. His patrons include “bouncing babes” all across the fashion map. Some pick them up for late evening bashes organised in farmhouses situated on the outskirts where only friends of friends are invited, strictly through recommendations. Others buy it for daily wear and tear. “I don the stuff to college every year in summers just to skirt the heat,” whispers Kamaljit Sidhu, pursuing her graduation in English from a local college. Flashing a broad smile, she asserts: “That’s the long and short of it…. Nothing more, nothing less!” Guys, it all sounds so strategic! Blame the hot and humid weather for internal quest to display a modish attitude, and then get away with it by making the heads turn without raising eyebrows. Simply fantastic!
Downright chic
Well, in any case, Sidhu has just picked up three cute little skirts in oceanic blue, baby pink and alluring green with loads of flares, even twin tantalising slits on either side for getting downright skirty. She plans to team the stuff with linen kurtas full of embroidered flowers, or even with an asymmetrical poncho in printed georgette, along with a broad embroidered belt. Cool, but what about Sidhu’s parents? Don’t they object? Well, no. Though conservative, they do not mind her habit of wearing summer skirts. For, they have no intention of preventing their daughter from fitting in the elite circle of friends. Right folks, pals who come alive in the dead of the night and party into wee hours, and delight, when others sleep after a hard day’s work in the summer heat. For them, it is fashionable to be unconventional. So gals, what are you waiting for? If the heat of youth, and summers is getting hold of you, just pick up a good pleated mini or full-length ghagra skirt and paint the town electric. Keep it up, gals!
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Sizzling saffron spirals A flush of fiery orange, twining and twisting in a sizzling karaahi (huge frying pan). Melt-in-the-mouth soft and sugary, yet crispy crunchy. Made from violently orange fried coils of flour and yogurt batter and sugar syrup-dipped, before being deep-fried in sizzling oil, this taste-bud dynamite is delightful, for sure. No wonder, we North Indians never seem to have our fill of the heaping mounds of bright orange jalebi. Curly and slim looking, this treacle Indian sweet is best served when plucked away from the pile of the curling, moist and oily jalebi heaps. And when it comes to reasonably priced jalebis around town, it’s hard to beat the strip of mithai shops that populate most markets in Chandigarh and Panchkula. However, there is one humble shop that serves jalebis that are simply irresistible. Nestled between the endless shops in sector 7, Panchkula, this mithai shop is the kind of place that people go out of their way to get to, a place whose popularity has been built on word-of-mouth alone. For the Rajasthani jalebi karigar here has been dishing out juicy jalebis since more than 16 years now. No dimmed “mood” lighting, no decidedly elegant entryway, and neither a classy décor like many sweet shops in town are coming up with. It’s not a suit-and-tie kind of place, certainly. But the Bikaner shop at Sector 7, Panchkula has die-hard fans. Owned by Ghansham and Bikki Joshi, the shop has a unique USP—jalebi-maker Bhoor Singh, who’s been frying jalebis for more than 18 years now. Lips arced in a wide smile, tongue propping out occasionally to entertain his fans with some local gossip, this jalebi-man seems absolutely in love with what he does. Arriving at the shop around four in the evening, he’s busy serving sizzling, steaming jalebis to ardent fans till 9.00 pm. “I make special jalebis using mothdal and maida,” he informs, adding, “We also make special phiki jalebis (sugar-less).” And how to savour these? “You could gulp them steaming hot, or dip them in milk or buttermilk and have them,” he comes out with a creamy, delicious way to wash down the last of the jalebi still clinging to your teeth!
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COOL STUFF Koutons, one of India’s leading menswear brand, is all set to further strengthen its hold in the menswear market. M/s Snowhite Dry Cleaners has opened Koutons 225th store in the city of Chandigarh in Sector 17. The people of Chandigarh can look forward to another great shopping experience. The showroom houses the complete range of Koutons menswear and accessories. The range of products consists of all that is needed to satisfy the inspirational values of today’s fashion conscious customers. The exhaustive range of products and designs is large enough to take care of a man’s wardrobe requirements and has been made available by the wide spread network of Koutons exclusive brand showrooms across India, said Mr. Harbir Singh Sidhu, Executive Vice President, Koutons. In its relentless effort to provide high quality contemporary fashion wear at an affordable price range, the company through its dedicated manufacturing units in Gurgaon, Delhi and Bangalore, continues introducing newer fabrics in impressive styles and designs. The latest range on offer is focused on a special Linen Collection that covers all aspects of casual and semi formal dressing requirements of the contemporary Indian male. Also available are Cargos, Denims, Khakis, and Shirts in all colors with embroidery & floral prints. Finger shaped biscuit
Britannia Industries Ltd have announced the launch of ‘Marie Gold Doubles’ – a unique three-layered Marie in a delightful double taste of orange and chocolate. This innovative double taste has been created through a unique technology that enables a layer of chocolate to be embedded between two layers of orange. MarieGold doubles is unique in several other ways too, an unusual finger shaped biscuit, not round and attractive sleeve packaging for the first time in the biscuit category Marie Gold, one of Britannia’s oldest and flagship brands, now offers this exciting and new variant targeted at young and old alike. Marie is one of the fastest growing biscuit sub category and Britannia already has significant presence in it with a nearly 50% share of market. Marie Gold has been predominantly eaten with tea. The unique and exciting taste of Marie Gold Doubles will however, make it an ideal snack for non-tea / beverage drinking occasions too. Marie Gold Doubles, introduced in a 150gms pack of 30 biscuits, is priced competitively at Rs.15/-. The attractive sleeve packaging gives it a premium look and enhances the distinctiveness of the offering. Marie Gold Doubles will be available in all leading stores in Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh and will be supported by an exciting communication programme across all consumer touch points
Camera clamshell Handsets
Tata Teleservices Limited, India’s premier telecom service provider, which operates under the brand name Tata Indicom, today announced an exciting new offer on Tata Indicom-LG mobile handsets, slashing the entry barrier for its customers. The new scheme eases off the cost pressure on customers to buy stylish colour clamshell handsets, LG 5235 and LG 6335 which, are made available at an affordable initial payment of Rs 1,999 and Rs 2,499 respectively, while the balance can be paid in 18 EMIs (Equated Monthly Installments) of Rs. 150 each. With this offer Tata Indicom is also offering, free talk value of Rs 150 for local calls for 12 months, the effective price of LG 5235 and LG 6335, stands at Rs 2,899 and Rs 3,399 respectively.
Homemaking with Delight!
Keeping in mind the changing requirements of households across the Indian society, Whirlpool of India, a subsidiary of the Whirlpool Corporation, a global manufacturer and marketer of major home appliances, today launched its innovative new range of refrigerator- Delight, designed to create magic for today’s modern homemaker. The new Delight frost-free refrigerator models combine the most advanced technology, appealing aesthetics, excellent performance and competitive price. Available in eight models in the capacities of 230, 260 and 280 litres, these refrigerators are priced between Rs 11500/- to Rs 19500/-. The unique 6th Sense Door Open Alarm alerts you if the door is left open for more than 2 minutes, thereby preventing loss of cooling and energy wastage. Delight range comes in three varieties-The Delight Classic, The Delight Deluxe and The Delight Elite, with a new door profile and innovative features like a unique inbuilt pedestal, which provides space for storage of items that do not require refrigeration like onions and potatoes.
This summer, party smart
A typical hot Indian summer- a blazing sun, sweltering heat, the air oppressive with humidity, parched throats…and that chilled mug of golden beer! That perked up your drooping spirits in a second didn’t it? Sounds like an ideal way to beat the heat, but every silver lining has a cloud attached to it and this one is called ‘The Hangover’! The need of the hour is for a magic formula-one that lets you enjoy the various innovative delights the summer coolers have to offer without having to bother about the symptoms of the ‘morning after’. Pills like Party Smart are now entering the market and being a completely herbal formulation, sans all side effects, with the guarantee of a great refreshing morning after, the prayers of all party enthusiasts seem to have been answered. PartySmart, positioned as “Hangover Free. Naturally” is available in strips of 5 capsules priced at Rs. 50/- (Rs. 10/- only, for an evening out).
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Yogic insights
Do yoga, but with caution — that’s the message Swami Lalji Maharaj has for people blindly watching yoga programmes on the television, says Saurabh Malik after talking to the Swami.
He believes in hitting the nail on its head. That is, perhaps, the reason why Yogiraj Swami Lalji Maharaj doesn’t mince his words when he says the process of “hammering” the stomach in, while blindly watching yoga on the intelligent box, is doing more harm than good. In Chandigarh for conducting a free yoga seminar at Yog Chikitsalay in Panchkula’s Sector 12 on May 28, the Swami tries to hammer the message home by saying that the process is not only resulting in posterior problems, but is also playing havoc with the stomach, besides resulting in headaches and high blood pressure. His booming bellowing out of the speakers in a Sector 35 hotel leaves you dazed as he claims that a popular yoga programme on a channel is only misguiding people. So many exercises shown in the programme, particularly “kapal bhaati”, has nothing to do with the stomach. For, it only means cleaning the forehead, he asserts. Throwing an open challenge to the “yoga guru” conducting the programme on the television, along with seminars across the nation, he says: “Let him prove things through yogic literature…. Just because someone prefers to say two plus two is seven, does not mean others are wrong.” Though in favour of weight reduction, the Swami insists rapid loss should be avoided at all costs as it can only lead to problems. “Research has proven that rapid weight loss can lead to complications, including stone in the gall bladder,” he declares. Swami Lalji Maharaj says that he knows what he is saying. For, he has been a practising yogi for past 50 years. In the process, the Swami says, he has ensured that yoga is able to adapt itself to the changing times and circumstances. Besides this, he has spent two years visiting over a dozen countries in Europe. During his foreign jaunts, he has had the opportunity of interacting with yoga exponents of the Western world. He is also author of several books and presents a yoga programme on a number of television channels, including Doordarshan. “Needless to say every yoga posture has its own benefits, but we must not forget the same exercise cannot be prescribed to all, just like medicines. As such, people should go in for personalised yoga courses,” he asserts. The Swami will be organising a seven-day “yog chikitsa sadhna shivir” staring from June 18 in Sector 34. Sounds yogic, indeed! All the best and happy exercising!
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FILM & FASHION Grant said that Blair had him ‘worried’ over the fact that he so strongly ‘believes’ in the things he says, even if they are ‘wrong’. The ‘Notting Hill’ star is apprehensive that Blair’s ability to convince will mislead the British population into also trusting him and his decisions. “I’ve always felt slightly worried about Tony Blair because he seems just to be an actor. But he’s an interesting actor. Everything, he says, is wrong and yet he seems to really believe in it,” Contact music quoted him, as saying.
Halle Berry insists that she’s not interested in winning more awards, and has slammed rumours that she is suffering from the ‘Oscar Curse,’ which is known to effect the winners of the biggest prize in acting. Though Berry has not been nominated for an Academy Award since bagging the Best Actress award in 2002 for ‘Monster’s Ball’, she insists that she wants to do roles not for winning any more awards but for her creative gratification. “I didn’t even try because I didn’t want to suffer from the Oscar curse. People have wanted me to try and people have said, ‘Why haven’t you done another one?’ I thought, ‘Well I did Monster’s Ball and I won the Oscar and I might never win another one in my life, and that’s not really my goal, to stack up the Oscars. I want to do roles that are fun and challenging and try different things.’”
Contact music quoted her, as saying.
— ANI
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HEALTH TIP OF THE DAY A walking cane when positioned should be only long enough so that the elbow is bent at 30 to 40 degrees. Longer walking cane causes persistent elevation of the shoulders leading to pain at the upper back on that side. — Dr. Ravinder Chadha
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Jonathan Livingstone Seagull II, alias “J2,” was a handsome, golden Labrador of magnificent proportions. We had a huge, fenced-in compound on the tea estate and yet J2’s progeny, roamed the streets of the local bazaar. The assistant managers complained that J2 visited their homes daily to scrounge on scraps and bones..jpg)
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For those who have tasted Ram Singh’s chaat papdi they need not to be convinced of its distinction and those who have not, we would only suggest: The proof of the pudding lies in its taste. Well… here he may not offer a pudding but he is famous for artistically conjuring gol-gol golguppas, teekhi-chatpati chaat papdi and delicious dahi bhalle in Sec-19. .jpg)
Skirts are rising up to the occasion, elegantly and glamorously. Unruffled by the increasing temperatures, they are steadily mounting the popularity charts in the sweltering summers of 2006..jpg)
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Hugh Grant feels that British Prime Minister, Tony Blair can easily make for an extremely persuasive and fantastic actor, as he has the ability to make the masses believe whatever he says..jpg)
Berry says bye to Oscar curse