Two serious about fashion
When in fashion business, exclusive is the tag everybody loves to flaunt. So, you have big names in the industry selling exclusivity to those who pay well for it. And, those who want exclusivity without gong bankrupt, well, we have Nidhi and Divya Gambhir with their label Walnut. "It is an out an out Western wear collection, not fusion. We are playing with digital prints," says Nidhi. But where's the exclusivity? "In the concept itself. Not everybody can go to London or Bangkok to shop for that expensive classy dress. And, most of the options provided are too Indianised with embroidery and the bling effect. Our approach is to keep the contemporary elements alive along with the classy look," she adds.


Nidhi and Divya Gambhir bring their label Walnut to the city

Saint & a soldier
Valiant warrior, resolute social reformer, proponent of poor peasantry and above all a devout Sikh, Banda Bahadur emerged as a colossal on the military firmament of otherwise mighty Sikh armed forces raised and blessed by the great Guru Gobind Singh ji. Born in the sleepy village of Rajouri in Poonch district of Jammu in 1770 and named Lachhman Das, he grew up as a daring hunter having mastery over archery and skillful fighting with swords. An incident of killing a pregnant deer greatly changed his mind and he turned a bairagi sadhu where his guru renamed him Madho Das in his ashram.

War and peace
When he is not fighting for the peace of his country, B. N. Karkara loves to delve into historical facts
Talk about warriors and writers, and the first name that comes to mind is that of the Mughal emperor Babar. Had he not been a military genius, he would have been remembered for his historical and biographical treatise Babar-Nama, an incisive account of himself and the contemporary India.

Femme fatale
Dhupia's very first shot in debut Qayamat saw her emerging from sea wearing a swimsuit and her next release was Julie, which despite its success, placed the actor in a bracket from where it was difficult to come out. Her subsequent releases like Sheesha, where she played the role of a seductress and Teesri Aankh - The Hidden Camera, where she played a porn film victim, didn't help her cause either. Dhupia decided to come out of her 'sex siren' image by accepting a strong supporting role opposite Kareena Kapoor in Priyadarshan's Chup Chup Ke.

Neha Dhupia

Koffee Break
Yahi hai right choice baby!
Making her debut with Rocket Singh, Shazahn Padamsee has her list of priorities straight — a good banner and a great script Ad Guru Alyque Padamsee's daughter Shazahn Padamsee is all set to rock Bollywood in the world of new comers.

Poster girl
Hollywood star Demi Moore is tired of being hailed as the ‘poster girl’ for age gap relationships because of her successful marriage to actor Ashton Kutcher who is 16 years younger than her.

Busy bee
Hollywood actress Natalie Portman is reeling under her heavy workload as she has taken up almost every project which has come her way. The Closer star has her hands full with a number of films in the pipeline. The 28-year-old was busy promoting her new movie Brothers and recently wrapped filming a period comedy Your Highness with James Franco. Portman is currently working with director Darren Aronofsky for Black Swan and she's then set to join Robert De Niro and director Kenneth Branagh in the comic-book adaptation of Thor.




Natalie Portman

Another titanic
A 300 million dollar budget for a 3D love story. Nothing gets bigger than Avatar
Oscar-winner James Cameron's multi-million futuristic love story Avatar has received a green signal from the critics, who have hailed the film as "ground breaking" for its "back-to-nature" theme and technical wizardry. The director, who created box office history with Titanic, has made an entire new world in the 3D love story, which is the costliest film ever made with a gigantic budget of USD 300 million.

The show goes on
Blooming beauties and booming dhol beats attracted a huge crowd on the concluding day of the Chrysanthemum show
Anybody, who was there at Terrace Garden on Sunday would never attribute Sunday as lazy again. When you have to park your vehicle half-a-kilometer away, walk down to the venue, search for enough space to walk (still suffer a few foot thumps) and rise on your toes as much as possible everytime to have a glance of the chrysanthemum flowers, it doesn't take much to realise, lazy Sunday is super active. We know, by now you know everything that's there about the Chrysanthemum show-- animal figures again made with flowers, participants of flower arrangement competition, visitors there to see flowers and of course, flowers, so the only thing quite unseen till today was the crowd.

Uniting heritage to the contemporary
Sutra brings original, ethnic and stylish stuff to the city Sutra offers chanderi, Maheshwar, bagh, bagru and sanganer saris and unstitched dress material all from different artisan clusters. "All the stuff here is hand crafted from artisans in the remote parts of the country," says Shruti Gupta, a qualified designer from Philadelphia University. "The traditional craft is dying with the coming of power looms. A Chanderi sari takes roughly 40-60 days to be weaved by the craftsmen and is priced around Rs 4,000. But a power loom sari is priced much lower.

Zip, zap, zoom
Hundred kilometers per hour in less than 30 seconds, two automatic gears, 8.2cc engine, cost just 36000. Still, it's no competition to Nano. In fact, it is in the league of its own. Only if was a little big to adjust a driver but this two-feet-car can only be driven by a remote. The distributor of the car, Vikrant Malhotra is not happy with the term, toy car that people use for it. "It's a hobby for people who love speed of the cars and is not meant for children strictly," he says.

Spice up
Pore show
Whiteheads are different from blackheads, although they both contain hardened sebum (the skin's natural oil). The excess oil collects in the pores and hardens. In blackheads, the pore is open. The tip oxidises, since it is exposed to the air, and turns black. Hence, the name blackheads.

Not a FAIR deal
Using a fairness cream can cost you dear
It was after the 'great revelation' by the fairness creams, we were obliged with the information that fair complexion is mandatory to become an airhostess or a model (thank God there is no such precondition for journos). And, thank God for at least this time there isn't any sexist overture, fairness creams are aplenty for men too.

Matter of heart
A glass or two of champagne is good for heart and blood circulation, say researchers. According to Reading University researchers, the fizz made with black grapes has the potential to reduce strokes and heart disease risk.

But naturally
Betty Nangia launches her line of herbal beauty products
In every household there has been an agony aunt who guided you through the tough times with their hair and skin secrets. But the benefit is known only to a lucky few, and having suffered with many a skin problems herself Betty Nangia, naturopath and pranic healer from Betty's holistic and skin care centre in Sector 8-C, has now launched her line of natural cosmetics that offer a complete skin care solution. Says Betty, "I was 18 when I got married and had my first baby at 19. It was at that time when I first suffered skin problems.

Flu-ent conversation
Dr Ram Prakash Sharma brings a ray of hope to this disease-torn world
As we talk of preventive measures and growing number of swine flu cases in the country, print and electronic media flash the news of Indian pacer S Sreesanth being tested positive for swine flu virus. As always, it makes us sit up and think wherein lies the fault-- our casual attitude to execute preventive measures or unawareness about the flu on a whole? However, in this entire hullabaloo comes up the name, homeopathy, an alternative medicine, which probably we thought would have no role to play at least in this case of imported virus.

Body Wise
Shape up
You have vowed to get in shape. You sign up at a gym, ready to burn calories and pump iron, while you fantasize that a better looking body is just workouts away, right?