The most wasted day of all is that in which we have not laughed.
— Sebastian Roch Nicolas Chanfort

Meeting with the clients, presentation at office, pressure of meeting targets and dealing with li’l tiffs at the workplace-that’s what defines ‘work’ for most of us today. Not only, has the ‘nine to five’ job surpassed all boundaries of working hours; stress has emerged as the new phenomena of modern corporate lifestyle. With remarks like, “I have been so busy this month” and “My job is very stressful”, being heard more than often, it seems that the workaholics have long forgotten to smile at the workplace.

And, perhaps that explains the need for an unusual week just to remind us that laughter is an important part of the workplace. With ‘Laugh at Work Week’ being celebrated all around the globe from 1- 7 April, the city too seems to be recognising the ‘business’ value of humour and laughter. Founded by Randall Munson, the week begins on April1, that’s right on the April Fools Day.

Says Dr.Sandeep Dhavan, a gastroenterologist who runs a private nursing home in the city. “When I first heard of the week, I instantly decided that we should celebrate it”. And, well this Wednesday, he treated his staff to the comedy flick Chupke Chupke. Smiles the doctor, “I know the value of being relaxed at the workplace”. Chips in Sunil Mahajan, a leading architect and interior designer, “We are deciding to hold a joke party over the weekend, wherein everybody will share a joke during the tea break”. In fact, joke telling is the latest plan by managers all across who try to get their staff to work better. After all, everybody loves a good joke and especially when burdened with work.

And when the entire city is taking a laughter break, the young brigade too can’t be far behind. Geared to set working in a month’s time, the budding managers from UBS, feel, ‘Just because its work doesn’t mean it has to be serious.’ “If one works hard for 365 days a year, its fair enough to relax one week,” they chorus. And, these fresh pass outs from the campus; say they will take the age-old tradition of imitating their teachers (on the Teachers’ Day) to their workplace. “We’ll dedicate one day of the week to imitating our bosses and colleagues,” they smile. Way to go boys!

Another young corporate who is excited over the idea is Simpy, an employee at the Dell, she says, “We are planning to go dressed on a particular theme to the office.” “It would be fun to relive the college days of ragging, we could dress up in a mix of three-four different colours or may be sport the era of sixties,” giggles her colleague.

It’s a collector’s world. Everything right from the tiniest pin to the biggest art piece, they all find a place under the sun. Among such collectors, stands out Dr Rajesh Kochhar, Professor of Pharmaceutical Heritage, NIPER (National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research), Mohali.

He has a unique collection of about 200 dhokra brass craft items from East India that include animal figurines like elephants, bulls, birds to old diya stands, gods and goddesses.

What catches our fancy is Lord Ganesha in various forms. Though in total, there are only 32 permitted forms of Ganesha, but our man has Lord Ganesha reading a book, sitting in front of a computer and even talking on the phone. Out of the total 200 items, 75 are of Ganeshas.

Why would you want to work for someone else when you can work for yourself? Why answer to a grumpy boss or hear co-workers whine. Personally, I would rather work for myself and know that everything that I am doing is helping me.

People who work for themselves have the independence to make their own decisions. They decide what they are going to do and how they plan to do it. They can choose their own working hours. Self-employed people enjoy more freedom, flexibility, and control over their work schedule. Careful planning is fundamental to success. To be self-employed, we work with different plans like plan about the business, right time for business, how to manage the business and most important exit route. As James bond says, always have an exit plan.

Personal satisfaction is another reward of self-employment. Working for yourself can provide you with many rewards. Those who are self-employed list the rewards as independence, personal satisfaction, social recognition and control of their own income. So become the master of your destiny!

Filmmaker Suneel Darshan is known for his all-consuming passion to work on one film at a time. After Dost’, Suneel is ready to take centrestage with his new film Shakalaka Boom Boom, most part of which has been shot in South Africa. The locales of Johannesburg provide the perfect backdrop for the flick.

The film stars Bobby Deol, Celina Jaitley, Upen Patel and Kangna Ranaut. The cast has teamed up together for a manoranjan se bharpoor South African safari Shakalaka Boom Boom. Himesh Reshammiya provides music for the film, along with lyricist Sameer. Also, being looked forward is Bobby Deol’s performance in a negative role.

Formerly puffy and washed-out pop star Britney Spears, has nowadays begun to look pink and fitter than earlier.

And the secret of the quick transformation is the body -friendly fitness regime that the singer has been following after her stint in Promises rehab in Malibu.

New York City dermatologist Jeannette Graf said that if the Toxic singer doesn’t get back to alcohol and continues her nutrient intake, she would begin to look like a different person.

“After about three weeks to a month of not drinking alcohol and getting enough water and nutrients into your body, you’ll easily look like a different person,” the dermatologist said.

Graf added that Spears’ healthy new habits would get the glow to her skin. Two days after leaving the rehab in the third week of March, the mum of two attended a hip-hop session at Millennium Dance Complex in L.A and an instructor Darrien Henning said that she looked really beautiful. — ANI

The sun is here and so are the li’l beads of sweat to spoil that striking look. Summer make up is all about protecting the skin from exposure to harsh rays and tackling the oily shine, say the city’s fashion gurus. “The natural look will be preferred this season,” they chorus. Lots of frosted colours in pink, beiges, peaches and browns is what the city will be wearing this season.

For eyes it will be the smoky look. “To get Kajol’s K3G look or Rani Mukherji’s smoky look, go in for eye liner, kajal and mascaras,” says Ritu Kolentine, Beauty Director, Cleopatra. “The liner look of the 60s and 70s will be back,” adds Raisy Chadha, owner of Iris. “And, to complement the effect try a blue or green eye shadow,” says Praveen, Senior Manager, Headmasters. Adding to the sensual eyes will be the shimmer touch in shades of silver and pink.

“This summer forget matte lipsticks and go for gloss in transparent pinks or fruity colours,” tells Raisy. “Experiment with pastel colours”, says Kajal Gaba, Manager, Tres Lounge. In fact, all the cosmetic companies have on offer a new range of lip colours for the summers. “Even the bridal maroon is now getting sidelined and giving way to pinks and light mauve”, says Kajal.

All the way from Tezpur in Assam to Chandigarh… it is a long journey for a tiny woman. Her father studied with the parish priest in Goa. Both went back to Assam and then Seema came to study at the mission school in the city when the priest was posted here. She has a sun burnt face, beautiful smile and the hands of an angel. She never stops smiling and her incessant chatter soothes as she massages oil into aching limbs and conducts physiotherapy on those who have wasted bodies that need to be coaxed into activity once again. Like all writers and storytellers, a little embroidering and poetic license, enlivens each tale and every patient drifts into a cloud of passive oblivion, imagining in their minds the details that accompany the soft toned narrative. In another incarnation, Seema was probably a wandering minstrel.

Her young husband died of some disease in 1990. The details are vague. A little girl was born of the union. A case was filed and the in-laws took all of Seema’s jewellery (endowed by her grandparents) and personal possessions. Sounds like a very normal, everyday, economically weak, Indian woman’s story. But the young mother had a guardian angel – a lady constable who spoke to a kindly SDM. He did a thorough investigation, decided she was innocent and let off the hapless girl.

Seema has had many guardian angels: The Sector 19 church; missionaries who have come to Chandigarh and many friends who have helped her negotiate life’s rather precarious ways. Her daughter has almost finished school thanks to the unconditional support of a disciplined mother who, come hail or rain, races through the northern sectors on an ancient bicycle. “Why don’t you buy a scooter?” I asked. “I don’t know how to ride one,” was the simple explanation given.

She changed jobs often. Switch assembler, biscuit cutter, soap packer, cardboard box folder — all added pennies to the kitty. She finally found her calling as a masseuse. The church sent her for training to a clinic in Delhi. For many years she lived with a family in Sector 18. Today, she cheerfully and joyously helps them when required. She moved out to build a tiny home in Sector 25, which she annually white washes and repairs.

Christmas sees Seema making fish curry and rice for the neighbours. Her compassion for those around her seems boundless. She has nurtured three stray dogs and the stories about them are most engaging. She is a tiny woman who hardly ever talks about herself or her troubles. She touches many lives through her profession and wit. Tilting at windmills is not her style. A bicycle ridden onto Chandigarh’s roads with energy, courage and conviction, is. I do salute such a woman.

Tired of going to same old usual furnishings store. Well Seasons Furnishings, a home furnishing brand provides you with a solution. A one-stop shop, to end your struggle to get that particular beige for your upholstery you have been looking for.

In about two months time, our city will boast of a lounge store under the Seasons flagship. Giving details of the lounge store, Sonali Tandon, brand manager, said, “Chandigarh has a vast potential and is emerging as one of the most lucrative destinations for both retailers and shoppers.”

In store is an international shopping experience with the lounge offering an exquisite range of fabrics, rugs, bed covers, cushions and artefacts.

Well, for the upcoming hot summers, here are a few tips to keep your furnishings in sync with times.

Apart from the perennial shades of blues and beiges, tints of greens are in.

Instead of synthetic silks and other such fabrics, go in for cottons or polyester blended fabrics, as they are easy to maintain, long lasting and good in looks.

So, go ahead, ring in this summers with stylish furnishings.

The city saw all the leading practitioners of the art at the ongoing festival and exhibition of Indian puppetry organised by Sangeet Natak Akademy and Punjab Arts Council. A few participating puppeteer directors share their views with Life Style on puppetry traditions and emerging trends.

“Behind all artistic creations there exists an emotional urge among the human beings to express any perceived or felt experience in a certain specific form and a creative process,” echo the artists. “And, perhaps this led to the emergence of finer arts of music, dance, drama, painting, sculpture,” they maintain. Though, the complex art of puppetry existed much before, its existing form developed in the past few decades; since a master puppeteer has to be a connoisseur of all other art forms.

It’s that time of the year when women artists of the city get together and showcase their talent. The banner is all too familiar ‘We’ and so are the faces of the artists. For, this is the fourth annual exhibition of this ‘non-political self-sustaining group of women, from various walks of life who are driven by their passion for art’.

But this year, even their art looked a little too familiar. Specially, Sadhna Sangar’s paintings what she describes as ‘moments of life’ in colour and Rozy Varinder Kaur’s sketches of the anatomy of a flower. Surely, Sadhana has shifted to bolder and brighter colours in her latest works and for Rozy she has changed her medium, from ink sketches to acrylic on canvas. But, since both the artists had exhibited their paintings on the same theme only last week for an exhibition at Punjab Kala Bhavan, one cannot help but feel that one has walked into the sequel of it.

This feeling apart, the exhibition at the Government Museum and Art Gallery, has a variety to offer to art lovers. For instance, Jaskanwal’s paintings of nude where mushrooms replace the head are appealing—both aesthetically and philosophically. For the artist, mushroom signifies that life and can grow anywhere, thus can be called a symbol of hope. Rajinder Pasricha has worked on women and girl child while Aradhana Tandon and Navpeet Kaur have revealed their inner-self in figurative works. Exploring the world of abstract art are Neenu Vij and Guneet Chadha. Neenu experiments with paper cuts and colours, Guneeta does it with ink to draw some motifs from West Bengal.

If Asha Sharma’s flowers in water colour, add colour to the entire display; then Anju Pasricha’s musical instrument lend a youthful look. Others who have contributed their bits are Kamal Sohal, Kiran Bala Sharma, Ambalicka Sood Jacob and Deepika Bajaj. —P. R.