In True Esprit
Gayatri Rajwade
Ah red is here! Not a rose red, moony and romantic, but bright vivacious and fresh—spelling style, Esprit style!
Across 80 countries and five continents (and there were many more impressive statistics!) Esprit squirrels down to Chandigarh, because we are North India’s high priests of fashion no less!
With an exclusive store opening in Sector 17, here is one aggressively trendy collection for men, women, children and yes street-smart funky individuals!
One might ask how aggressive? Ah, here is the dope. Working on 12-season
concept, Esprit pulls off 108 staggering separate collections over a
single year and it has been doing this since (hold your breath!) 1968!
Indian idol
Truly a global citizen of the world but India makes this lady’s heart rock! So much so that, take away Annegret Schulz’s flaxen crop, turn away (so you do not see her sparkling blue eyes!) and hear her speak and goodness, she sounds just like an Indian speaking English, not a trace of an accent! “I knew French, Russian, Spanish but no English. In fact, I have leant most of my English in India,” she laughs.
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Staging femininity
After shying away from the stage for over half a century, women in Chandigarh are playing a greater role in the staging of Ramlila scheduled to start in the city this week,
says Saurabh Malik
Call it the after effect of divine intervention or lifting of curtains to yet another trend, young women are finally getting their celestial due before the earthly footlights right here in Chandigarh.
After shying away for over half a century, so many of them are now slipping into the pious roles of goddesses to play their part in the great Indian epic, Ramayana.
HEY RAM: Women have finally come forward to play in
Ramlilas.
— Photo by Malkiat Singh |
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Sensually yours
Chitleen K. Sethi
What happens when creativity mixes with sensuality? Nothing less than a mind-boggling collection of trendy dresses come into being! Yes, we are talking about the fashion show put together by the passing out students of the Northern India Institute of Fashion and Technology at Mohali. The show presented a total of seven collections by a well-choreographed show by Anu and Navneet.
The collections were a mix of creativity, imagination, modernism and
sensuality. They were based on the forecast from around the world,
primarily colorful, trendy and inspired. But the show was not just
about teaching the latest trends in the Page 3 circle.
RAGE ON RAMP: Students of NIIFT showcases their creations at Mohali.
— Photo by Vicky Gharu |
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Blossom into
beauty
Gayatri Rajwade
Beauty is blooming and it is not
just lovely women everywhere you turn, even the business of beauty is in
flower and how!
Coco-Blossom
Of all things splendid, the buzz-word this season is chocolates—gooey,
pampering, aphrodisiacal and groovy.
Sweet mein twist
Gayatri Rajwade
This is ghar ka khana with a ‘sweet’ twist. More than two months after an informal opening, Sindhi Sweets launched their pure vegetarian fine-dine restaurant in Sector 17 on the eve of the Navratras with their mantra firmly in place—food is passion.
And their reasoning is very simple. “Try cooking your food at home with a smile it will taste very different from when you cook it in anger or in irritation,” says Neeraj Bajaj, Director of Sindhi Sweets. “This is our lifeline and we want to do it well,” he smiles.
Indeed, theirs is a legacy coming down from pre-Partition days when their founder late C. L. Bajaj started Sindhi Sweets in the Sind province of Pakistan well before the Partition. |
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Gardens: Other compost options
Joyshri Lobo
So you don’t have enough space in the back yard for a compost pit. Take a lot of strong plastic bags and stuff them with dry leaves. Avoid and sift out sticks and stones. Tie a rubber band and leave your pile in a shady corner. Open it three to four months later and start feeding your plants. Remember, the longer you keep the leaves, the better the compost. Many specialists leave it for a year to get that rich, musty smell and fluffy crumble.
Ten bags of leaves will give you only one bag of well cured compost. So scrounge leaves off the neighbours.
Leaves are organic matter and the soil in Chandigarh needs plenty of
that. Fortunately the city has a lot of raw material to offer.
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COOL STUFF
Autumn dressing for men
Marks and Spencer is all set to dress your man with its trendy designs with oodles of style backed by simplicity. With the launch of American Preppy, Blue Harbour and the Autograph Range come new styles redefining mens fashion. Style codes vary from corporate boardroom power dressing to informal Friday dressing to club wear. Crease resistance, machine washable shirts and fine-tailored quick drying trousers in chocolate, red and grey colours.
Bon Appetit
Gratifying Gratins
The first time my husband tactfully made a request that I try my hand at a gratin I was stupefied. Being a complete novice, just ploughing through the alien recipe, my ardour for cooking this thing called a gratin began to defrost. As it is, being a young mum, I was as busy as a cow’s tail in the fly-season, looking after the two runny-noses I’d produced. Those were the days when a gap as wide as the Atlantic separated me from the cooking burner. Resigned to my fate, I donned my armour……oops, sorry, APRON, and bravely marched, ala Chengiz Khan, into the kitchen. You, dear readers, cannot even begin to fathom my apprehension, while the dish was finally baking. |
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FILM & FASHION
Magic of Britney
The producer who has recorded pop
star Britney Spears’ latest tracks, has hailed her music as ‘magical’.
J.R. Rotem, who has recently become quite a hot collaborator after working with 50 Cent, Rihana, Li’l Kim and Paris Hilton, admitted he was a bit terrified about meeting the diva, but Spears with her friendly attitude soon put him at ease.
And praising the Toxic singer’s latest recording efforts, Rotem claimed he’s convinced the tracks the duo made before she gave birth to new son Sutton Pierce will be huge hits.
“I was blown away to see Britney record in the studio. You hear this finished result that sounds professional, but you don’t know how much of it is overproduced, how much of it is edited. But I found the actual talent was really there - that thing that makes people gravitate toward,” Contactmusic quoted him, as telling MTV.
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Britney Spears
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