A bunch of gleeful young and old women troop in for a movie rather late. They settle down after causing a bit of confusion and stepping on a few toes. Just when you thought you could return to your movie begins some loud whispering that soon turns to chatter – Amitabh Bachhan’s getting hotter, his ponytail’s so macho, Tabu’s suits and how 60-year-old Mr Verma is romancing a 30-year-old neighbour. This popcorn-munching riotous gang of women are schoolteachers on a holiday. And you thought, only baby’s day out could be adventurous!

While children religiously did the countdown to the summer break, staff rooms across the city were abuzz with just one question – what shall we do this summer? Catching up on sleep, endless hours in front of the idiot box, a fun activity, a short holiday, and a lot of lazing around were the best-sellers. We catch up with some schoolteachers from the city and find out what they are doing this summer.

For Preeti Chawla, a primary teacher at Bhavan Vidyalaya, vacation means freedom from the echo of ‘Don’t talk’ and ‘Silence please’. “I make it a point not to scold my children during holidays,” she smiles. Well, and during the holidays her husband takes over the responsibility of looking after their children. Preeti already decided on what to do. “I will catch up on all the movies I missed during the working days, and probably bite into my children’s share of chips too,” she smiles.

Sushma Pathania, a computer teacher at Ajit Karam Singh International Public School, Sector 41, has already enrolled herself for a short-term animation course. “It will be an add-on, both for myself and the students,” she says. A keen artist, for her holidays is also a time to play with colours. She will also be holding an art workshop for the children. And, well if you thought that Sushma has only learning on her mind, then you are mistaken. Sushma Ma’am has not allowed her daughter to join early morning basketball coaching, for she wishes to wake up late during holidays! “School means waking up early. And I love to sleep in late. I would not give up this opportunity for anything!” she declares.

TWO TO SALSA: Mona & Jaspreet

Charu Midha plans to hit the health trail this summer break. A teacher at New Public School, Sector 19, she says, “I want to undo the damage to my health. I am following a strict fitness regime and also plan to join dance aerobics. I use the vacations to recharge for the rest of the year,” she says. Well, she has already begun jogging her way to fitness.

Another health freak is Kavita Rajdev, a teacher at Government School, Manimajra. Almost as a routine, each vacation Kavita joins yoga classes. But, before that she has a holiday planned with parents and family to Pune. “I have learnt yoga and try to practice some asanas every day but am not able to do so regularly. Before I do that I want to visit my parents. The weather is lovely in Pune at this time of the year and I just want to be with my parents, put up my feet and relax,” she says.

Extremely thrilled about the holidays, are dance enthusiasts Jaspreet Kaur and Mona Mehra. Teachers at Strawberry Fields World School, they have planned an activity packed vacation. “We have already joined Salsa classes and are picking on the fine dance,” says Jaspreet. And, the keen sportswomen will also be going back to horse riding and swimming. Says Mona, ”Just like children, teachers too should utilise the break in following their heart.” Right said Ma’am!

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Art in all its manifestations is an impression and expression on one side and representation and communication on the other. But man’s intuitive perception and thoughts when translated into reality constitutes artistic creation, believes   Dr V. N. Singh, director of Government Museum and Art Gallery. His last visit to the Natural History Museum in New York and interaction with museum officials and visitors there inspired him to give shape and form to his brainchild, the Open Air Rock Gallery — An Ode to Mother Earth. Divulging the idea and the installation of the Rock Gallery, which is in progress and is likely to be commissioned by August this year, Singh disclosed that as our art and culture is interwoven with religion our cultural traditions are enmeshed with mythological ideology.

The bounties and beauty of earth with its natural splendour will now be a part of the main museum complex, outside the Natural History Museum. Initially, it will have 51 rock models drawn from the Himalayas and subsequently rock samples from other parts of the country will be added to it. Dr Arun Ahluwalia, professor at Geology department in Panjab University will be offering his expertise for the venture. The 51 rock models measuring 2 x 2x 2.5 ft sizes in chunk form will be kept on 2 ft high pedestals. The prominent feature will be ‘Touch and Feel’, aimed at giving a feel of the rocks to inquisitive visitors, especially children. A special provision of illustrations in Braille will be provided for the blind children.

Before you try to bring back the smile on your child’s face by buying him his favourite toy, think again. It might set you back by Rs 13,000 for his bike!

When it comes to buying toys for kids, parents don’t give it a second thought. To spend or not to spend is no longer a question, for bringing that little smile on the child’s face seems to be the only concern.

Well you must be wondering what is the fuss about toys? Check it out. Visit any of the city’s toy shop and you can spend Rs 13,000 on a Marlboro which is a petrol-run-bike for your six to eight-year-old or a battery operated one at Rs 9,500, a whole cooking range for Rs 9,999, as ports car with remote at Rs 3,495.

If that is not enough, a garden set worth Rs 1,495 or an interactive game Vanity for girls at Rs 9,999, a pair of skates for Rs 1,999, Ultra Blast Batman figure for Rs 1,499, a real-time spy camera for Rs 800, a dancing robot prices at Rs 3,995, a Playstation 3 is priced at Rs 40,000 and the new X-Box 360 Pro costs Rs 27,000.

A child can play with that expensive toy or gadget for a year or two. The younger kids outgrow of these toys and games faster than the older ones. But even this fact does not act as a deterrent. “During our childhood we did not have the choices as the kids have these days and we could not even dream of owning such toys,” says Guneet Singh, resident of Sector 9, “I usually buy interactive toys for my three- and-half-year-old daughter. Though she is not fond of Barbie dolls but I buy them for her as I used to just love them,” she smiles. Toy manufacturers continue to design new games for the kids. Varun Juneja, owner of Wonderland, Sector 8, says, “Two days back a father bought stuff worth Rs 30,000 for his new-born.” There is a demand for the high-end battery cars and games among boys while girls like to stick to Barbies and the cooking range, he adds.

And thanks to the innumerable cartoon channels, the kids get too know about the latest in the market even before their parents do. That’s why the accessories and gadgets used by their superheroes are so much in demand.

Rashi Sethia, a resident in Sector 8, shares “Having a toy bike or a battery operated car has become a status symbol and they show off to their friends,”

R. Jaswant, managing director, sales and marketing, Funskool (India), says the toy industry is still budding in our country. “Only 25 per cent of the toy sector is organised. It has a capital of Rs 650 crore in India and is definitely one of the fastest growing sectors, “ he informs. Toys play an important part in the overall development of children and should be encouraged, he says.

“Our products aim at developing a child’s creativity. When children play with on screen heroes like spiderman and Gijo’s they feel like super heroes,” explains Jaswant.

About the quality of a product, Jaswant clarifies that safety of toys is always on their mind.

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Gangsters, guns, gore — with his vocabulary not extending beyond these words, the filmmaker undertakes an odyssey of murder and mayhem in Shootout At Lokhandwala. With a story torn from yesterday’s headlines, the movie is director Apoorva Lakhia’s blood-spattered tribute to the mean streets of Mumbai (Bombay then) which, at one time, harboured menace and were strewn with firearms — whether those of a group of trigger-happy cops or belonging to a bunch of psychopathic killers. It is a grim reminder of how the underworld tried to hijack a civilised society in the early 90s by unleashing a reign of terror and fear but met its nemesis at the hands of uniformed men whose response was swift and decisive.

Extortions, killings and lootings are the order of the day in the city under siege with desperadoes led by Maya Dolas (Vivek Oberoi) indulging in these with clinical precision. Maya’s henchmen, including Dilip Bhuva (Tussar Kapoor), Fatu (Rohit Roy) and RC (Shabeer Ahluwalia), thrive on the staccato sound of their revolvers.

Pitted against them is a ruthless squad of cops whose head ACP Khan (Sanjay Dutt) shoots first and talks later. His team has dashing officers like Kavi (Sunil Shetty) and Javed (Arbaaz Khan) who, like their boss, are hell-bent on making their city crime free. It’s only a matter of time before the opposing forces collide and a locality where the goons are hiding is virtually turned into a war zone.

Despite having a smattering of light colours in the form of pelvic gyrations of the mafiosos in dance bars, Lakhia’s canvas of violence is essentially red and chills you to the bone through its gruesome contours like the one in which two of the killers hold a man upside down before letting him fall to a gory end and the other where Dolas forces a man to place his face on the edge of a slab and smashes it by hitting him on the head. The director makes a feeble attempt to introduce an element of sentimentality when Maya’s mother (Amrita Singh) implores the top cop not to kill her son in an encounter. Again, ACP Khan is confronted by his hysterical wife (Neha Dhupia) who threatens to divorce him if he fails to spare time for his family. The gangster and his partners too become emotional when death stares them in the face. Amitabh Bachchan, playing the role of a lawyer defending the cops, indulges in too much melodrama while being briefed by the trio on the chain of events that led to the encounter. Abhishek Bachchan makes a brief appearance in a scene where he guns down some terrorists before being felled by the bullets of the others.

There are too many sub plots with the result that when the main theme unfolds, the movie gets reduced to not more than a cop-and-robber story. Sanjay Dutt’s tour de force performance saves the film from a disastrous denouement. Vivek Oberoi looks like a typical don and his role may be lapped up in a big way by a section of the audience. Sunil Shetty and Arbaaz Khan pass muster. However, the actors to be watched are Tussar Kapoor, Rohit Roy and Shabeer Ahluwalia who essay their portrayals with aplomb despite Sanjay and Vivek’s presence.

Showing at Fun Republic, Neelam

Every year we see a new concept being explored by a fresh face in Bollywood. Making his mark this time is debutant R Balakrishnan with a romantic comedy Cheeni Kum. The film looks at the relationship between a 64-year-old man and a 34 year-old woman. The hilarious fanfare has been shot in urban locales of U.K. Balakrishnan leaves an impact with his commendable direction. The sequences are well knit and both Amitabh Bachchan and Tabu impress with their brilliant performances. After Nishabd, this time Big B falls in love with a young girl again, but this time his love interest is mature and talented Tabu. Zohra Seghal’s performance is adorable and Swini Khara is extremely confident. P.C. Sreeram’s camera work is outstanding. However, the editing could have been sharper and some sequences in the first half could have been made more appealing. The musical score by Illayaraja is soothing. The flick is targeted at elite and modern class of audience.

Showing at: Fun Republic, Batra

— Dharam Pal

I’m in my mid 20’s and share a flat with two other working girls. Both the girls think that I am their best friend individually and get jealous and possessive very easily. I want to keep my friendship with both of them, but it is becoming stressful to manage this balancing act. The other day, I went for a movie with one of them and the other girl accused me of being selfish and manipulative. How should I deal with this situation?

Ebony celebrates its 8th anniversary with special holiday packages for its customers. The store came to the city in 1992, when they launched their second store after Delhi here. Celebrating its spirit Ebony has announced heavy discounts from 10 to 55 per cent on all its products. Also, on offer is their fresh new summer collection with mauve and pink as colours for the season. And, what’s more you can even win loads of prizes including refrigerator, microwave, and TVs in the lucky draw. So, go shopping and get lucky! — TNS

The colour so strongly associated with the hard dull bitterness of winters is now finding its way out of the closets in the Summer of 2007. Oh yes! The shade, with all its heat absorbing capabilities, can make you sweat. And that’s a scientific fact. But then fashion shapes its own laws.

It defies all logic, but ebony is hard to ignore this season. In fact, the colour is cool in the blazing white heat. And it’s all there in black and white. If you haven’t seen fashion brigade’s black-cat commandoes looking cheerful in the poignant shade, just drive down to the college and varsity grounds. You will find so many of them patrolling the length and breadth of campuses in black spaghetti tops and kurtis teamed with jeans and other stuff in the heat of May.

Folks, even Miss India 1975 Anna Bredemeyer believes in the power of black. In Chandigarh last week for the launch of a boutique, she came decked up in a black skirt teamed with an immaculate white shirt. Laila Khan Rajpal also came for her store’s inauguration in black. And, they did look good! There can be no second opinion.

“Until last year, the colour was strictly for winter. Rather, it was banished in the summers. For the sultry hot weather, it was a fantastic mix of heavenly hues right from citrus yellow to pretty pink,” says city-based fashion designer Rashmi Bindra. “Then, of course, you had greens of every description.”

But now even if you are a colour buff, black is (phew) the shade for you. And the reason behind its excess is not very hard to analyse. The simplicity and the slimming effect of the hue makes it a hot favourite.

“Black is the easiest colour,” says undergrad Lalita Chopra. Free from her first year humanities examination, she asserts: “Well, you can pair it with anything, anytime! As you move from one air-conditioned room to another in fully AC cars, it really does not matter”.

For her and so many other black buffs, the arcades are lined with dark temptations. But before you grab a dress for yourself, Rashmi has some simple head-to-toe tips for you to follow.

First of all, take care that the attire you have selected contains some interesting textures. Also opt for patterns that have flashes of colours. You can go in for stuff that offers a perfect mix of simple black and white with flashes of yellow. Try a colourful flip skirt with a plain dark top. Also, do not forget to tie a good attractive belt for that “wow” effect.

Handbags and purses offer a great opportunity to work bright colours into plain outfits. Go in for the eighties influenced yellow clutch bag that looks fantastic with a little black dress and yellow heels.

Another thing — Keep the apparel essentially feminine. The clothes you wear should not be baggy, lest you look like a big bag of black rolling down the streets, unrestrained. Also wear nice, well-polished, dainty shoes along with the dress. Lastly, combine the shade with a vibrant, juicy lip hue, preferably in passionate red, for that hard-to-resist look.

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He is the reigning king of Indian households. Girls literally swoon over his killing smile yet this calm ‘n’ unruffled actor is as uncomplicated as can be in real life.

Meet Rajeev Khandelwal a.k.a. Sujal of Kahin to Hoga and Captain Rajveer of Left Right Left. Hailing from Jaipur, this adventure sports buff went to St Xavier’s, Ahmedabad. But not many know that this talented actor — he always wanted to be one — made some 30 documentaries on the Indian Army and Indo Tibetan Border Police before venturing into acting.

From Kahin to… to LRL, how has life changed?

Kahin to… brought me fame, LRL success. Definitely, I have to live up to the two characters. Now, I will take all my future decisions sensibly.

Did success come to you naturally?

Of course, everyone has his share of struggle. In my case I don’t like to take credit for my success. In both serials, the package — my character and its demands — was just right and I just happened to strike the right notes at the right time. I can easily get into the character’s skin and that was I did.

How would you define yourself as a person?

I am an optimist and think a lot. I am not much of an extrovert and I like my own company. As a person, I am very grounded, thanks to my army background, and my inferiority complex is my biggest strength.

Television or films, what’s next?

I really feel television needs to grow. Frankly, there are not many people experimenting on TV. I would want to get away from it, as I don’t want to repeat any of my characters. (Perhaps, this explains his soon-to-be exit from LRL). I am reading a few scripts, let’s see what’s in store.

It is a woman’s world. They have asserted their presence and are now giving men a run for their money. One such field where it is hard to ignore her bold presence is commercial piloting. We speak with some young aspiring female pilots and dwell into their passion for flying. Training at Patiala Aviation Club, these girls are soaring high.

Tina Sidhu, 19, from Chandigarh has always dreamt of flying and recalls how as a child she would watch planes hover over her home. “They looked so free and powerful. I wanted to learn how the aircraft really works,” she says. Her parents support her career choice and feel it is a respectable field. Tina plans to work in India as a commercial pilot for a leading airline. “It is not difficult as long as you put in hard work and total concentration. Also, you should be able to handle logics and should be physically fit,” she adds.

Jyoti Kamboj, 18, from Muktsar, was encouraged to train as a pilot by her uncle who was a flying instructor in the air force. “He guided me and told me that this is a good line to get into.” She joined the aviation school last August and has no regrets. “Flying is so adventurous and there are many job opportunities these days due to the shortage of pilots in India,” she says.

According to Harmandeep, 18, from Muktsar, there is no difference in flying ability between boys and girls. An aviation student, she says, “It all depends on determination. Sometimes females can be more determined.” She started flying in September and confesses that she was a little scared in the initial few hours. “I used to leave the controls and cry, but now I find it extremely adventurous and enjoyable,” she says.

Aminder Pal, 18, from Delhi oozes with passion for flying and feels proud knowing that she will be a female pilot one day. “It feels so good to be training as a pilot. It is a different field to be in and I can’t express in words what it feels like to be in the sky flying. It is just thrilling.” She says there are an abundance of opportunities in this field and aspires to fly for Indian Airlines someday. “Nowadays you can’t say females are behind. More females are coming ahead in this field.”

Chief flying instructor at the school, Captain G.S. Mangat says there are few differences between males and females when it comes to learning to fly. “Boys generally have more mechanical skills, but girls are often more responsible with what they are taught and will never make the same mistake twice.”

Retired CFI Captain A.S. Bhati has noticed an increase in the number of female pilots. “About 15 years ago, women would have faced a conflicting response, but now it is an accepted fact that there are female pilots, and many more are joining in. Now, all flying institutes have many female students,” he says. Bhati feels that it is important for students to start young at around 17 or 18 years of age as they have better reflexes. Out of 30 female students that he has trained, 20 of them are successful commercial pilots today and earning impressive salaries. “It is the most lucrative career. Women are very dedicated and they are on a roll, there is nothing to stop them.”

American actor Cameron Diaz is pleased that her character Princess Fiona turns into a ‘badass’ feminist in Shrek the Third. The Charlie’s Angels actor insisted that unlike the other princesses in the film, rather then waiting for the hero, Fiona decided to save herself in the movie. “Sleeping Beauty and the others decide that, instead of being damsels in distress wondering when our prince will come, we band together and with the help of Julie Andrews (who plays Fiona’s queenly mother) to save ourselves,” says Diaz. The actress loved the female characters getting ‘badass’ and not waiting for others to help. “We get kind of ‘badass’ and burn our bras,” she said. — ANI