It's getting Haute!
Chandigarh Fashion Week is here again and it's only becoming bigger and better
It's time for catwalk, haute couture and designer dreams. The second season of Chandigarh Fashion Week is here and set to hit the city fashionistas hard. If the first one was the curtain raiser, the second one promises to be the grand opening. The star-studded runway show will have over 22 designers showcasing their best collections over three days at Hotel MountView. Some prominent names include Bollywood regulars like Nida Mahmood, Rina Dhaka and Satya Paul.
Photo: Pradeep Tewari

MODEL look
model Sahil Salathiya says models are much more than hot bodies
Models and mannequins - the two words have a stark similarity. Often on FTV (Fashion TV), watching the models (largely anorexic) tip-toeing on the ramp, one can't help but notice their close resemblance to the 'cold' mannequins. And suddenly out of the blue, a good-looking and not-so-famished model—Sahil Salathiya from Chandigarh—makes us look at the models in an absolute different light! One look at this model (okay we admit it was more than a good look! We actually oogled), and we back step from our model is equal to a mannequin notion! "From where do you get this idea that models bear a resemblance to mannequins? Do I look one? (Sahil haven't you heard exceptions are always there). I have been a part of 32 national campaigns, been the face of Grasim suitings campaign, walked the ramp for all major designers etc.

Side Lanes
A biker's raid
The recently concluded Raid de Himalaya had a number of winners and losers. Young men and women took home trophies and memories, bruises and battered vehicles. Above all, they walked taller for they had participated in an endurance test that gave no quarter and recognised no weaklings. Two thousand kilometers of barely tarred roads, dirt tracks, slush, rain and often freezing weather conditions, can frighten most of us. However, year after year, these participants take up the challenge because it is there.

Objet D’ART
For GOD’s sake
The evenings at Kalibari and Banga Bhavan are back to normal. We are no longer interested in whether John Abraham actually visited Bipasha Basu's native town, Kolkata, and went pandal-hopping with her. Pictures of Muslim artisans giving final touches to the idols of Goddess Durga, which took the centrestage in most newspapers as the symbol of secularism, have been saved in their respective archives for future reference. In other words, the spotlight has shifted from Maa Durga!

Melodious affair
The 33rd edition of the Chandigarh Sangeet Sammelan, organised by the Indian National Theatre (INT), commences on October 29 and is set to feature the best from the world of music. Recalls Navjivan Khosla, founder president of INT, "When Prithviraj Kapoor came for the inauguration in 1967, he emphasised that art and culture should be promoted in this beautiful city. With the concerted efforts of INT members, we have brought music stalwarts like Bismillah Khan, Pandit Kumar Gandharva, Ustad Vilayet Khan, Kishori Amonkar, Pt Bhimsen Joshi, Parveen Sultana, among others, to the city."
Ruchira Kedar

Visual treat
It's too much of art for the eye to take in at one go, but the splash of colour slowly takes to forms, progressively assumes meaning; works that are appealing to the eye and provoking to the mind. Like always, the Annual Art Exhibition-2010 by Chandigarh Lalit Kala Akademi has some signature art and some staple art. Which is essentially what it is, an exhibit showcasing the entire spectrum of the art scene from the Tricity. So it's curtains up on 81 artworks by 74 artists from Chandigarh, Panchkula and Mohali.
Photos: Pradeep Tewari

Tolerance, terror & art
A unique exhibition by an Indian contemporary artist at the Art Institute of Chicago tries to connect Swami Vivekanada's speech on tolerance and the 9/11 terror attacks.

Folk lure A Rajasthani folk dancer performs Kucchi Ghodi at Kalagram

An artiste creates a melodious tune with a traditional Rajasthani been at the National Crafts Mela. Photos: S Chandan