The Wedding Din
Punjabis getting ready to celebrate in a grand way with Vivaha 2006, reports Gayatri Rajwade

The brouhaha is big and it can all be attributed to the grandiose weddings of Saharashri Subroto Roy’s offspring, the ritzy Mittal nuptials bang in the middle of Europe’s posh locales and of course the splashy Chatwal marriage ‘do’ which had our own crème-de-la-crème clambering for passes!

Whichever way you look at it, weddings are life-size businesses now and with North India being the largest spender on wedding paraphernalia, so tells us Vivaha Interactive’s CEO Tarun Sarda, this wedding exhibition is all set to capture people’s hearts, desires and purses!

Vivaha 2006, a grand glitzy flavoursome showing in Ludhiana over the coming weekend promises to present a more ‘organised’ appeal to that rumble-tumble of an Indian wedding.

Naach, gaana, khaana, peena with a wedding planner by your side, a chic trousseau in your closet, a silver tea-set for that urbane charm and a robust wedding singer crooning ditties for your ears, it is all available under one single roof.

“This is not so much an exhibition as it is a platform to launch careers and provide options, systematising the whole process of planning a wedding,” explains Tarun.

What is more with weddings being bench-marked at Rs 1 crore for an all-out lavish celebration running into several days this is like the modern day adage, ‘have money, spend it’ for it makes great economic sense!

But first things first, why Ludhiana? “Only a couple of hours away from cities like Jullandhar, Amritsar, Phagwara and even Chandigarh it makes for a more central location.

Also, according to our research, Ludhiana has the maximum spending power in Punjab,” smiles Tarun. Ah the economic touch for this maiden foray into Punjab.

So what are the biggies to look out for?

For one, two players, Ethos Swiss Watch Studios—8 and Shri Gurudev Portraits—17, represent Chandigarh but they are amongst the stalwarts in the city and so we can smile!

Girls just want to have fun
Akanksha Bansal and Pankhuri Sood

There’s something very special about the time a girl spends with her girlfriends. Pining together for that perfect pair of shoes, heated debates over low-cal food, collective knees going puny over Tom Cruise or Bon Jovi and stifling those sniffles in the middle of Casablanca! That’s what a girl bonding is all about. It’s as much about posing together with purple face packs as it is about lending a shoulder to a broken heart.

Gen-next lasses are comfortable among themselves and fun is not just limited to dating young men. They have unlimited fun together. Read on to find out what are the things girls do!

Shop & party

The word means heaven to almost any gal. A favourite time pass, it is the strongest connecting thread for them. They explore the shops like caves and then dig up something after thorough research. And yes, the company does matter. “Shopping becomes a nagging session with parents but its masti with friends. We don’t think twice if we like something and if it is in vogue.” And if there is nothing to buy, there is an alternative—window shopping. ‘‘We have a lot of fun window-shopping. It makes us aware what’s in and what is out. ” quips Nidhi of MCM-36.

These are parties where one can wear whatever crap one has. Basically, it is about donning nightgowns and partying at home. The girls spend the night together and catch up on lost times, chit chatting on trivial issues and giggling at silly jokes. This is also a nice and soothing change from the everyday routine.

And sleepovers are not just for partying, but are a great support during exams. Who can tolerate the jitters all alone anyway?

Night-outs

Girls love sneaking out at nights when parents are not around. As soon as parents start packing their bags, their brains start making plans. They wait for such opportunities and never waste them. Without shelling out much cash, they have a blast dancing the night away.

Holidaying

Nowadays this option is quite common. One-day trips to Mourni hills, Kasauli, Kansal are much-tried holiday options. Holidays also include going together to far off places and enjoying without getting nagged from grown-ups. ‘‘Three of us, went to Jammu to visit the holy shrine, Vaishno Devi. No grown up accompanied us and it was a terrific experience,’’ reveals Supriya and Manisha of GCG-11. So, giving a vent to the spiritual side is also there.

Adventure sports

Girls are no more only into baby-doll stuff but there are the daredevils too. These are the cool babes who love sports. They go for bungee jumping, river rafting, trekking, rock climbing, para gliding and lots more. This one is a very challenging and nerve-racking experience.

Sukhneet and a group from GCG-11 chirp; ‘‘we went on an adventure camp in the heart of Himachal and it was really fun, it was a chilling experience.”

Gossiping

Well this is an area where the fairer sex specialises in. From making to breaking reputations, she can talk about anything to everything under the sun.

Coming back home by sunset, educating herself with the nuances of cooking and stitching is a passé. Girls are exploring newer and greener pastures. With skills in abundance, they now also boast of expertise in areas monopolised by men and have successfully emerged as the self-made girls of today.

Rain dance
Gayatri Rajwade

Drenched in the swirl of rain clouds, the spirit of the showers finds alluring imagery here. Festive and resplendent peacocks depicting the quintessence of the monsoons and the colours of the earth, create an enchanting aura in Bharti Sharma’s first solo exhibition Aaya Saawan Nachein Mor.

The artist is herself a mere 15 years old but her works are lush with compositions that use a gamut of mediums from oils to watercolours, pen and colour-pencil sketches and above all, permanent markers in a brisk, breezy hand.

With 31 works up for display, what makes this showing so vibrant is Bharti’s obvious delight and ability in depicting these coquettish creatures in a plethora of expressions that range from traditional motifs to contemporary visualisation.

Collages made from different strips of magazine paper have peacocks cavorting in the underlying designs, take a closer look, for instance, at the one with flying birds imprinted on the paper which have been transformed into flying peacocks in a heavy downpour.

Impressions of coloured sheets with these feisty birds drawn into them, fabric paint mixed with Fevicol rubbed to give the bird-like forms to the white spaces that emerge, traditional tribal images—mother and child, proud tailed beauties, plumes splayed out in abundant patterns and even shaped from an inverted umbrella—there is something unique, charming and fabled in these vivid compositions.

Bright but earthy colours—haldi yellow, jewel pink, rain drenched blue, loamy brown, fern green—blossom with ‘washed watercolours on wet paper’ effect with the peacocks, vigorous and spry surging and swelling in Bharti’s inspired articulation.

The daughter of Ravinder Sharma (Secretary, Chandigarh Lalit Kala Akademy and himself an accomplished painter), Bharti’s sojourn to these birds of paradise began after her 10th standard board exams at her grandmother’s place in a little hamlet on the outskirts of Banjaar in Himachal Pradesh. “I just sat and painted the whole time and in those days I wanted to make a series on masks but then I thought of peacocks and the approaching monsoons. So I took a booking at the art gallery and started making peacock,” she smiles.

Two months and hundreds of paintings later, Bharti was ready with her first solo showing.

But why such a predominance of markers, we ask? “My father once told me that if I wanted to be a good artist I should sketch so I started using pencils. But with pencil drawings there is a tendency to erase them and redraw them so to instil a confidence in my hand, my father suggested markers,” she smiles defending her preferred choice of expression now!

The recipient of several awards at the state and national level, including the Chacha Nehru Scholarship for Artistic and Innovative Excellence by NCERT last year, this student of textile design and printing from Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 8, has dabbled in art from the age of three spurred on by her guru, the eminent artist Prof. Baldev Raj Rattan. And like her fairy-tale beginning, Bharti is already thinking of her second exhibition, Peacock—II perhaps!

A must-peek at this one, at Indusind Bank Art, SCO 53-54, Sector 8-C, Madhya Marg from 10:00 am to 7:00pm.Concludes today.

Basement basics

It’s exciting to think of the decorating possibilities that exist for the basement area of your home. Since it’s at a different level altogether from the rest of the house, you can afford to go wild without any pressure to conform to the look created in the rest of the house.

Defining the utility factor of the basement is absolutely important before you think about design elements and styles. Consider if you want to use the basement for children’s play area, place to entertain for guests with bar or pool table, your own quiet room for uninterrupted ‘me’ time, family room with multimedia entertainment units, place for visitors to sleep, home office for that undivided attention your work requires, home gym complete with jacuzzi and sauna facilities are a few options to mention.

Are you more comfortable with traditional and familiar, furniture with curves in woven textures, rooms painted in easy staid colours? Or would you prefer modern, spartan, sleek, clean-lined, streamlined, showing little ornamentation and has cool white, blue, grey or even fluorescent colours. How about cool country casual, relaxing, has a put-your-feet-up feeling, strong warm colours, checks and plaids and perhaps stenciling or textures?

Most basements have lower ceilings than the rooms on upper floors, so you have to use tricks that fool the eye into thinking they’re higher. Choose lighter colour flooring with pale/white ceilings. Install pot/track lights with white interiors. Find inspiration for colour combinations that work well together in drapery fabrics and repeat these colours on the walls, furniture and cushion accents. If stripes are your thing, decorate with a wall covering or paint treatment with the stripes running vertically, never horizontally.

Many basements have none or few small windows, so adequate lighting is dependent on appropriate electrical fixtures. The type of window coverings you select will depend on the size of the windows, the look of the room and the amount of privacy you need them to provide. If the basement is overlooked by passers-by, the coverings must be totally opaque, so consider louvered wood shutters, metal mini blinds or lined draperies.

For lighting, track lights with white interiors will provide ambient overall illumination. Attached to a dimmer switch, they can also alter the mood of the room. Wall sconces can similarly provide mood lighting and standard lamps are the best bet for task lighting a reading chair or games table. A pendant lamp can hang from the ceiling above a permanently located table.

Sometimes it is unavoidable that beams and pipes run across basement ceilings. Paint these the same colour as the ceiling and they will seem to disappear. Otherwise hide them with innovative use of wooden strips/beams. If possible, get false ceiling installed in copper and steel rather than just gypsum board.

Children will take knocks easily on soft vinyl or rugs, tile and marble look chic and modern whilst natural stone is best for country looks. Include glass or wooden flooring if you have a dance floor in the basement too. Would you like stone cladding or texture or even glass for one accent wall in the basement.

Apart from these standard basement rules, decorate it according to your personal taste; with colours and furniture that you like, hanging favourite pictures on the walls and decorating shelves with things you love. You may even mix and match furniture and furnishings to create a cozy look. A Parisian chaise lounge looks perfectly well with a sink-in leather sofa and a glass vase holding peacock feathers. Have a modern art wall piece above an old granny’s wooden trunk sitting besides large metal candleholders.

Since it’s the basement, let your imagination run wild, exaggerate the style and highlight it with comfort. You’ll find yourself seeking those quiet moments alone, or with family and or friends.

Courtsey: A.P. Singh Besten & Co.

It’s past perfect for this architect
Parbina Rashid

ASHISH NANGIA likes to play it safe, be it while practising his architectural feat or replying to journos, asking them every time whether they would like a short answer or a long one. As architecture and planning is a complicated subject, we opt for the longer ones. Slowly and haltingly, the full picture emerges.

This Chandigarh guy who has a string of degrees from prestigious institutes like the School of Planning of Architecture, New Delhi, the Ecole d’Architecture de Paris-Belleville, Paris, and who now works for his Ph.D from the University of Washington, Seattle, is here to give architecture students a few lessons from the past as far as Indian architecture is concerned.

How significant is the past in modern-day architecture? “Quite a lot. First and foremost, we have to acknowledge that we do have a past, in fact, a glorious one. And it is possible to translate the past into the present. It may be difficult to replicate the past, but it is possible to recreate it. And remember being traditional is not backward,” says the Ashish.

In city for an audio-visual presentation entitled ‘Lessons from the past’ organised by Alliance Francaise de Chandigarh, Ashish will tackle some important questions like what kind of buildings best represented India? Should independent India look to its past for inspiration or join the global modern architecture movement? And finally what challenges are builders, clients and architects likely to face in the near future?

Ask about his philosophy and he is quick to reply — “A building should be functional with low-maintenance cost. It should, of course, be good for the client”.

What is his opinion about Corbusier? “A good visionary, his designs are pure art works and like any art work they have their flip sides too,” he elaborates without batting an eyelid.

Ashish grew up in Chandigarh before leaving for Delhi to pursue his degree from the School of Planning and Architecture.

What made him choose this line? “I could have done engineering but as I was more interested in geography and history, architecture suited me better. He did his postgraduate degree in urban planning and architecture.

Before going to Seattle for his Ph.D, Ashish worked with the Chandigarh Administration from 1999 to 2002. “I had an opportunity to construct a couple of houses in and around the city, including the Waste Recycle Centre.

Has he, over the years, developed his own signature style? “Give me 10 years more and I will,” he assures us. We are ready to wait, provided he comes back to his roots after completing his doctorate.

CAMPUS CAFE
Fresh Start

Sterling silver belts dangling around the reed-thin waists, fluttering eye-lids coated with myriad hues of excitement complimenting the mood of the day, spaghetti tops and tees with chirpy messages coaxing you to live life, and knee-length skirts with slits…. There’s hardly anything else you can expect from the freshers sashaying down the ramps of colleges across the city in the first week of the new academic session.

All set to zip down the fast track of exhilaration on their single-cylinder bikes after relegating school bags and uniforms to the trash can of memories; you can see them blooming in their casually formal dresses with broad floral prints exploring new spheres on the horizons of love and life.

The fear of ragging, and the seniors, is apparently the last thing on the toyshop of their ever-shifting minds as they sit there on a scooter parked in front of the college canteens with silvery sunglasses covering their starry eyes.

Just in case you haven’t opened up because you are new to college life, and the city, with little knowledge about the book of thrill that your seniors have all along been reading; here is a complete guide on youth haunts, geri-route and happy hunting grounds.

Away from academic crowd

Free from classes? Don’t just waste time chatting with new-found friends after hanging around the college canteen. Hop on your bike and zoom down the geri route cutting through time and the city’s history. In Sector 11 situated along the route, you have at least two coffee bars and several stores offering gourmet’s delight.

Else, go to the students’ centre in Panjab University. You can sit on the stairs and savour lemonade, along with the crowd. Coffee house situated on the top floor is another good option. The South Indian stuff they offer is not only good, but also inexpensive.

CITCO’s “Stop `n’ Stare” in Sector 10 bang opposite the Arts College is another place that’s steadily climbing up the popularity charts. Stools and tables carved out of tree trunks and straw roof make the place just right for a perfect rendezvous.

On a pleasant day, go for a stroll in the Leisure Valley or the Rose Garden. You can even walk hand in hand on the Sukhna Lake. Boating together is another good option. Those in the southern Sectors can go to the Terraced Garden. All these places are more or less police-harassment proof.

Shoppers’ paradise

Looking for those modern silhouettes that promise to give you that classic urban chic look, go to Sector 17 and 22. Even the rehri markets across the city offer good stuff like slim-fitting knee-length skirts that promise to expose you to high-end fashion.

Go in for kurtis that go along very well with jeans that fold up for giving a leg up to fashion. Otherwise, short tops that rise up to the occasion every time you bend are in with a flutter. As always, wraparounds are good for packaging fashion.

Couple of stores on the Panjab University campus, Mani Majra and Sector 9 offer export surplus apparels that are not just cool, but also inexpensive. For fashion accessories and chunk jewellery, you have shops in Sector 10, 11 and 22. Even Fun Republic has several such stalls.

You can go in for “friendship bands” made out of alluring shells. Even bracelets are grabbing attention. “The ones that double up as anklets are the hot favourites among the freshers,” says Ms Raman of one such chunk jewellery shop in Sector 11. So all you guys and girls, go out and pick up those books in style.

— Saurabh Malik

NEW RELEASES
The killer punch

Ace filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt and Mukesh Bhatt continue their venture and churn out their 46th production under the banner of Vishesh Films, The Killer is ready to hit theaters all over this week. From Kabza to The Killer, Vishesh Films has kept the banner flying high. Mahesh Bhatt and Mukesh Bhatt’s The Killer is rocking thriller in which there is a stranger, a taxi driver, a bar girl and a night of love and death. The Killer opens today at Kiran, Chandigarh, Fun Republic, Manimajra and K.C., Panchkula.

Irfan Khan and James fame sexy Nisha Kothari. Emraan has a character-based role of a taxi driver. The Killer has been co-produced by Vishesh Bhatt and directed by Raksha Mistry and Hasnain S. Hyderabadwala.

The Killer is touted as a lighter, more cheerful film. Nimbus Communications will release Mahesh Bhatt’s The Killer today. The film has a melodious score by Sajid-Wajid.

Drama that thrills

This week the audiences will witness the release of Yun Hota To Kya Hota by debutant director Naseeruddin Shah. The buzz about internationally renowned actor Naseeruddin Shah’s directorial debut is strong. His maiden venture is a mixture of romance, thrills and drama, shot beautifully in New York. There are four stories interrelated with each other. Jimmy Shergill, Ayesha Takia, Konkana Sen Sharma, Paresh Rawal, Irfan Khan, Suhasini Mulay and Ratna Pathak star in this medley of stories.

Shabbir Boxwala has produced this film under the banner of CAT Films. Viju Shah has composed the music.

Yun Hota To Kya Hota opens today at Fun Republic, Manimajra. — D.P.

YOUTH SPEAKS
Humanity, the real divine

For ages and ages, we have been seeking the divine. Where is divinity? Is it in temples or in pilgrimages! Man hunts for it outside, but it’s inside the human being itself. A man who has humanity has holiness in him. Humanity is behaviour, sentiments, and feelings towards his fellow beings. It is an action that constructs us human in actual sense. Humanity is a real prayer and devotion in itself.

But where is humanity in present times? It seems it has vanished with the fleet of time. Today a man thinks about himself and dumps the whole world. He coldly hurts the feelings of other people. For him, helping means just wastage of time because time is money for him.

We had a glance of humanity during an earthquake in Gujarat and flood in Mumbai; many people came forward and helped needy people. Mumbai bomb blasts also enlightened humanity and did not disappoint its people. Procession with candles in their hands, march to secure justice for Jessica Lal revealed kind concern among people. Thank God! there is still humanity left in some people and I pray that it should remain like this forever and flourish more and more.

FILM & FASHION
Janet is 20 years old

As she plans for the release of her new CD 20 Years Old, it seems singer Janet Jackson has also ensured her looks compliment the title of her new music collection. According to TMZ.com, the 40-year-old diva is looking half her age, after shedding her extra flab, and sources claim that she is looking very stunning in her new transformation.

And while getting back in shape called for much effort, Jackson shared her fitness routine with Ryan Seacrest on his morning radio show on KIIS-FM in Los Angeles, telling him that working out was anything but fun.

“There have been times when I work out at 4:30 in the morning because I’ve had an incredibly long day and I’d rather get it done and over with. I hate working out and hate is a strong word but I cannot stand working out,” said Janet.—ANI