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BABY BRANDS BLOOM
There was a time when buying stuff for a baby before it arrived was an absolute no-no. And when the baby does arrive, the mother would wrap it up in a hurriedly stitched tunic made out of a piece of cloth collected from a gurdwara or a temple. And then there were days when one would get to know about the new arrival by deciphering the sign of a young shy bride knitting a small pair of woolen shocks. But take a look at the Gen Next mothers-to-be. No more shapeless tunics or hand-knitted shocks for their babies. Nothing less than the very best would do for their infants. Tradition is not what it used to be! If you thing with almost all the major brands making their entry in the most hip and happening market sectors in the city, Chandigarh has come of age when it comes to shopping for a baby, you have another thought coming. Especially after meeting these young mothers who vouch by the anti-collic feeders from Singapore or soft toys from Delhi’s Bibs and Cribs. Niyati Chitkara is a young mother lucky enough to have a sister-in-law in Muskat. So most of the baby products came from there much before her son was born. “Since traveling was not allowed, I could not go there, but what my mother-in-law had picked up there, I could not have done better myself,” she says. So besides a lot of baby-friendly soft dresses and toys, which make different musical sound, her four-and a-half-month-old son Arryan Madhu Chitkara is the proud owner of a musical stool chair, which is simply divine!
“The clothes you get here are not all that skin-friendly when it comes to the texture or softness of the fabric. Even the toys that I got from abroad are right for a toddler as they are made of fabric and not plastic stuff like ours,” she said. But Niyati is happiest about the feeding bottle, which keeps milk warm and keeps it from going sour. “I am not advised to travel otherwise I would have picked up stuff for my baby either from Singapore or at least from New Delhi,” says expectant mother Ruchi Khanna from Panchkula. The reason? “You do not get variety here, not in terms of colour and quality too,” says Ruchi who has already done the basic shopping for her baby like Makintosh sheets, nappies and diapers, laundry bags from Mum’s Mall, Kapkids and Just for Kids. But her prized possessions are the feeding bottles and nipples from Mother Care, which were bought from Singapore. “These are anti-collic and designed as such that it does not let the gas go inside,” she explains. Another city-based mother Jyoti Khanna had done her entire shopping from Bib and Cribs from Delhi. The reason, of course is the same. “Chandigarh is no match when it comes to variety for baby clothes, furniture or even toys for that matter,” they all say. “True,” says Supreet Dhiman of Besten & Co, an interiors and furnishing house, who had done all the shopping for her nieces and nephews from abroad. “When it comes to baby products one can not get the quality or variety of colour or design one gets aboard even today,” she says. But according to Supreet, the market is getting sensitized on the needs of the people here. For example, Supreet has borrowed the idea of utility furnitures from the West and introduced it in the city. “We have types of cots which with minor adjustments later be converted into a low-seater sofa or baby cabinets which can be converted into entertainment cabinet or a study table as the child grows up.” Tanu Mehtani who started Mum’s Mall in Sector 8 about three years ago was also inspired by the way they treat expectant mothers abroad. “There are such a huge variety of clothes and other things for pregnant women that I wanted to do something similar along that line here and the result was the Mum’s Mall.” But why does the elite mom-to be or grandmother-to-be still looking towards the West for baby stuff? “We do have international brands like Carters, Mother Care, Avent and Chicoo among others. The only difference is that some new products launched over there take a little while to make an entry in the local market. And also they may not be available all the time,” she says. But people dealing with baby products do admit that no young mother would settle for the second best these days when it comes to choosing a dress or a toy for her child. Call it the influx of easy money or awareness level created by the Internet or the parents’ wish to relive their childhood through their child, one thing is for sure; our babies are not going to make their first appearance in some borrowed clothes any more!
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Destructive Chewing Chewing is essential for maintaining the health of pet’s teeth, jaws, and gums. Puppies especially have a strong need to chew to relieve the irritation and inflammation of teething. Essentially, a pup’s approach to all items in his environment is “can I chew it?” Dogs chew to relieve anxiety and boredom, as well as for entertainment. Your dog’s jaws are his tools for investigating its surroundings. Chewing is a perfectly normal, natural, and necessary canine behavior. Prevention and treatment of destructive chewing focus on management and education — to prevent your dog from chewing inappropriate items and to redirect your dog’s natural chewing-urge to appropriate, acceptable and resilient chew toys. Dogs generally sleep at night and in the middle of the day. However, chewing is your dog’s primary form of entertainment during his morning and late afternoon activity peaks. After all, there are only so many things your dog can do when left at home alone. He can hardly read a novel, telephone friends, or watch the soaps! Indeed, most chewing sprees stem from your dog’s relentless quest for some form of occupational therapy to pass the time of day when left at home alone. When leaving home, confine your puppy to a long-term confinement area, such as a single room—your puppy’s playroom—with a comfortable bed, a bowl of water and nothing to chew but half a dozen chew toys. Your dog will happily settle down and entertain himself with his chew toys. With a good chew toy habit, your puppy will no longer want to destroy carpets, curtains, couches, clothes, chair legs, computer disks, children’s toys, or electrical cords. Your dog will be less likely to develop into a recreational barker. And also, your dog will happily settle down calmly and quietly and will no longer be bored or anxious when left alone. Whoever thought that raising a child is the toughest thing to do may not have raised a puppy. After all, at least babies can wear diapers! Much like infants and toddlers, though, puppies explore their world by putting things in their mouths. Puppies are teething until they’re about six months old, which usually creates some discomfort. Chewing not only facilitates teething, but also makes sore gums feel better.
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World’s first
radio station Nowadays, it is the in-thing to talk about radio, it’s bright future, the high demand for Radio Jockey’s, the money to be made and so on and so forth. But, have we ever tried to figure out the origins of the first ever radio station in the world. No worries…..I’ll do that for you, today. At 6 pm, on Tuesday, November 2, 1920, a few men in a shack changed the course of history. Four pioneers, announcer Leo Rosenberg, engineer William Thomas, telephone line operator John Frazier and standby R.S. McClelland, made their way to a makeshift studio — actually a shack atop the Westinghouse “K” Building in East Pittsburgh — flipped a switch and began reporting election results in the Harding vs. Cox Presidential race. As mentioned earlier, there was no actual studio, just a single room which accommodated transmitting equipment, a turntable for records, and the first broadcast staff mentioned above. The election returns were relayed to about a thousand listeners, who learned through this fantastic new medium, that Warren G. Harding defeated James M. Cox in the race for the White House. At that very moment, KDKA Pittsburgh became the pioneer broadcasting station of the world and that very day the concept of “broadcasting” was born. In the 1920’s KDKA played popular music and in 1921 had the first broadcasts of major league professional baseball games. In the 1930’s, KDKA listeners woke up with “Uncle Ed” and his musical alarm clock and in the 1940’s, KDKA Radio aired the shocking news of the bombing of Pearl Harbour while the 50’s saw a strong shift to all-local programming at KDKA. In the 1960’s, as rock-and-roll swept the nation, “Your Pal” Pallan played the hit songs and KDKA carried the sounds of screaming crowds as the Beatles arrived in Pittsburgh in 1964. By the early 1970’s, KDKA had moved to more of an adult contemporary sound, mixing the rock and roll hits of the 1960’s with what was then today’s soft rock. In the 1980’s, KDKA became the world’s first radio station to broadcast in AM stereo. One of KDKA’s biggest changes came in the 1990’s. KDKA made the decision to build upon its strengths and switch from a full-service format, which included music, to a news/talk format. The historic moment came in April of 1992, when Larry Richert played the last song aired as a regular part of KDKA Radio programming: Don McLean’s “American Pie.” For many listeners, it was “the day the music died.” Today, KDKA remains committed to the same things as ever: reliable news, interesting talk and the latest in sports, information you can use. It is proud to be Pittsburgh’s #1 rated station and also to be the first one on planet earth. (The writer is a renowned Radio Personality running Radio Buzz and The Take-One Academy of Broadcasting, a Radio Jockey trainer, voice expert and an international broadcaster)
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To teacher with love Ask the seven-year-old class II student staying in Sector 38-West about the day’s significance and he blabbers: “It’s that time of the year when the teachers ask you to paint cards for them; and the boys studying in big classes come to teach you for a day.” Nothing less, nothing more!
Dhruv has by now enthusiastically painted his impressions about chuckling chrysanthemums on a sheet of paper conveniently provided by the cultured staff of Sector 26 school he studies in. And his mother Sangeeta Sharma has already placed an order for a bouquet of good wishes with a Sector 34 florist for Dhruv’s class teacher. After all, the bank employee had received brickbats about her son’s academic interests in the classroom just about a week back. By presenting a bunch of importance to the teacher, Sangeeta now hopes to see Dhruv back in the first row, along with the other kids, instead of being asked to sit in a secluded corner due to his habit of excessive talking. “In days that are no more, the students would respect their teachers by default. But now, they have a scientific mind and have to be told the reason behind each and everything,” says Principal of Sector 21-situated Manav Mangal School Sanjay
Sardana. “In other words, the students have to be explained why they should extend respect towards their teachers. And several tutors fail to do so by not making a start on the Teachers’ Day”. The aftermath is there for all to see. A decade ago voices of protest would have rang through the campuses with students turning into union leaders due to insecurity over sensitive academic issues — like some changes in the annual examination pattern, or even the reservation matter. Connected to sensibility, so many of them would certainly not have raised their voices over the din of boisterous existence just because of scolding by a teacher over the use of phone on the campus! “Until a few years ago, you had union leaders fighting for the interest of industrial employees against the employers, but unionism and politics was virtually absent from academics,” says
Sardana. “But now, it has creped into teacher-student relationship as well, just because somewhere down the line so many teachers have taught the students the word `respect’, but not its meaning.” Makes sense, indeed!
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Keep Right
Sreedhara Bhasin I was stopped the other day by two Chandigarh traffic policemen. My crime – not stopping at a yellow light. They were rightfully doing their duty. As a driver of a vehicle, you are indeed supposed to stop when the light turns yellow. After living in
Chandigarh, for almost two years, my obedience to driving rules has lost its assiduousness. I have assumed that anything can happen on a fine Chandigarh morning! After all, this city has roundabouts and not real traffic lights. And it has real flowers in the
roundabouts! Who has ever heard of that? My friends from Kolkata were amazed to see that the street sweepers here do almost a perfect job, despite the people! They raved about the Rose Garden and were incredulous that the roses were not getting plucked off by the visitors! An odd
behaviour, indeed! They went to Sukhna Lake and were blown away by the neatness and beauty and fruitlessly looked for anti-socials hanging about the lake. To cap it all, listening to Shiv Kumar Sharma while jogging on the track - their mouths didn’t quite close after that. Our city is one where you can get a chalaan for not wearing a seat belt. You can even get a lecture for taking a wrong turn at the exit roads! I have actually witnessed road-improvement projects being implemented, - with real bricks and concrete. You can walk into the Public Vehicles Department and such other government offices and even the Police Headquarters, and actually find someone who will treat you like the human that you are and speak civilly. Some of my European friends gushed over the abundance of parks in Chandigarh – in every corner of every
neighbourhood. And in my neighbourhood, the kids actually come out and play every evening. Sometimes, when I visit my mother in
Kolkata, I wonder, if any kids even exist in the neighbourhood! I love the stores here. The storeowners are courteous and energetic and make you feel welcome. They answer questions without asking if you were really going to buy that item or not! They are often willing to hunt through their goods to find your odd item like Maple sugar or Blue Cheese. Oh, don’t get me wrong! I crib a lot about all the pet topics - the weather, the traffic, the parking problem. The list is growing every year. Sometimes it seems like the red light is for only those who love to wait. As I duly remonstrated with the policeman – “Sab log to red me chale jate hai aur aap mujhe yellow ke liye rok rahe
hein?” He wisely said –“Aap bhi aisa kahoge to hum kis kisko
samjhaye?” He was right and I was wrong. But, in a city of so many rights, why are we letting so many wrongs creep in?
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Hurrah for the hot Kurtis Anandita Gupta As we celebrate the slight nip in the air, thanks to the benevolent splashes of the refreshing rain showers, it’s time again to pack off those slinky spaghettis. No wonder, many of you may be throwing in some snug sweatshirts into your wardrobe already, having tucked away your summery stuff in your bed boxes. However, don’t toss out this fall’s kurtis and tunics…hold on to this chic stuff as it still commands the trend. Moreover, these hip uppers can keep you snug, besides notching up your
stylo-metres. So here’s how to look snazzy, yet feel snug, by going in for some of your summer-ware, in a style that’s not so
summerish. Rajesh Khanna made it a craze in the 70’s and now it’s Shahrukh showing off his torso in it’s tansy
avtaar. Back with a bang, yes, but in it’s new-age reincarnation, which is not just chic, but very comfy. For, it has no buttons to do, no cuffs to close and no maintenance hassles. Simple cuts, an easy fall and an uncluttered neckline. What’s more, this wispy, light and flowing piece of clothing, that hobnobs with vibrant hues and bold embellishments, is making waves both nationally and internationally. From comfort clothing stashed in the closet for those lean staying-home summer afternoons, it’s evolved as a glamorous eveningwear spelling sheer glamour and style. Right from socialites and stars to ordinary mortals, all seem to be smitten by this stylized outfit bug this season. While kurtis were worn in the summers more as comfort clothing, fashionistas predict that winters will see it getting glamorous, opulent and feminine like never before. Opines
Sakshi, an upcoming designer, “ Initially, a kurti was all about hassle-free comfort. But today, it’s more about class and style. The luxurious palette in which the kurtis are being designed nowadays is perfect to celebrate the exuberance and energy of the festive season. And then, there are those stones, sequins,
swarovskies, beads, threads and pearls that add that extra touch of opulence to these flowing delights.” Adds Nidhi
Bajaj, another Designer, “In summers, kurtis were only found in fabrics like cotton, chicken and
Khadi. But for the approaching cooler days, they are being created in delicate Georgettes and crisp crepes, besides silks and tissues. Plus, a lot of contemporary styling has gone into them. We have deeper necklines, higher slits, daring colours and rich work in them.” While internationally, labels like Gap, Wills and Banana Republic are retailing in transparent kurtis on a large scale, our own City Beautiful has an exquisite range on offer. Smiles
Tarun. K. Laul from Ten West, Sec 10, “We’re stocking an exotic range of kurtis
(Rs. 795-Rs. 1500) in stuffs ranging from georgettes and tusser cotton to brocades and raw silks. These are designer kurtis with asymmetrical cuts and interestingly shaped sleeves, with detailing with coins, sequins, shells, tassles and silk patches. But what makes them the hot rage in City Beautiful is the fact that they neither conceal nor reveal! Opines Swati
Dhir, a teenager who has a large collection of colourful kurtis, “I was very hesitant to wear those strappy spaghettis earlier. But now I can wear a transparent kurti over them. This doesn’t allow them to be overexpose, yet adds glamour to my dress.” Well, kurtis are a rage today. Winters or rains, come what may, kurtis are here to stay!
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Raga of Gems Draped in a mithai pink bandhini sari, jewellery designer, Shruti Kapoor is bustling amidst customers showing of her creative ware. What makes her exhibition of antique Victorian silver jewellery unique is that the pieces have been crafted out of a “natural flair” for jewellery design without any formal training in the field. The result is her own collection ‘Raga’ which she began a mere six months ago and is on display at Hotel Aroma. With the prices ranging between an affordable Rs 500 to an extravagant 12,000, there is something here to suit all budgets. The motley collection comprises of silver with precious and semi-precious stones and what stands out are the variety of chandelier earrings, the high-fashion mantra of the day.
Shruti seems to have taken care to vary her designs and there is a variety ranging from the chunky to the filigree. As for the Victorian element, “it is always in fashion” she states. Her own love for the antique and oxidised look seems to have taken inspiration from a plethora of muses including classical Indian designs. Take a look at the jharoka neckpiece, which while giving a contemporary feel is actually derived from a Jaipuri pattern or the lovely dangling peacock earrings
(Rs 2,400) for the intricate traditional work done. In fact, the pendants, chokers and earrings come with an array of stones like rubies, emeralds, sapphires and different coloured corals and include sprays of gold to give the pieces a different appeal. The exhibition is on at Hotel Aroma, Sector 22 till September 3 from 10 am onwards.
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Swapnil Ramteke, known as ‘Apna Amitabh’ in his hometown
Warthi, near Nagpur, has been short listed for the Super Stars, a reality show. Swapnil’s passion towards acting has driven him all the way to
Mumbai. With confidence in his heart and determination in his mind, Swapnil is all set to prove his talent to the world.
Swapnil is a man of few words here in conversation with his short listed Super Stars contestant, who presently is being groomed in Mumbai for the heat of super stars. The show goes on air from September 11 at 10 pm Monday-Thursday on Sahara One. What was your dream as a child?” “My one and only dream since childhood has been acting. I am from Warthi
(Nagpur) with no exposure. Only my dream has driven me so far.” The craziest thing you have done? I am a simple person, I don’t believe in doing crazy things. If you win the movie contract and Rs 1
crore, how will spend the money? I have come here to gain knowledge and experience, money or the movie contract is not in my mind yet. —
D.P.
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Health tip of the day
People wearing eyeglasses while reading should place the head in an erect balanced position with axis of the lens tilted at thirty degrees or more so that the lower rim touches against the cheeks. This is to avoid obstruction of the view by the lower rim of the eyeglasses and also postural stress on the upper back. — Dr. Ravinder Chadha |
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He still has to mug up the lesson about the country’s second President Dr Sarvepalli
Radhakrishnan. And his class instructor hasn’t told Dhruv Sharma that the former academician’s birthday on September 5 is celebrated across India as the Teachers’ Day.