The nip in the air is getting pronounced. It's time to curl under warm woolies and dig into some piping hot delicacies. So, which are the foods that come to your mind when you think of chilly evenings. Soups. Hot, spicy, bland, all sorts. The minute, the warm viscous thing touches your throat making its way into your stomach, what warm relief it gives!

For all those who think that Chandigarh lacks its own authentic flavour, you're in for a pleasant treat. The much talked about Night food street is here to spice up your taste buds and well, the city now has its own version of Dilli ka Chandni Chowk. Though only three or four out of the eight food stalls are functional, but city food lovers are all game for some street flavour.

Located close to the University, more than anyone else's delight, this is a sheer gastronomic pleasure for our food loving campus goers, who now have access to fun and food, 24/7!

Center of attraction, hub of all campus activities; till now Student Center enjoys the 'happening' status, but now competition comes in from the Food street, as it caters to all kinds of platters, right from a traditional thali to crispy paranthas to tadka Chinese, scrumptious soups and yes, good old Maggi is also available here. What more? It will keep the campus nights forever young, with its 24/7 service. "I was waiting for such a place to open in city, where one can find solutions to the midnight hunger pangs," says Yogesh Negi, a student living in sector 15. And the best thing about Food-street is everything is priced minimally, between Rs 15 to Rs 40. A dream come true for the student crowd, whose earlier options came closest to sector 17 Bus stand or sector 15 market.

And quite contrary to the belief, the most effected from this latest attraction would not be the Student Centre (it still enjoys a loyal crowd support) but the hostel canteens and mess. "With so many options within our easy reach, who would want to go for the regular canteen ka khana. The eating timings are not so flexible in the hostel mess, so in the meantime we have a better place to dig into some spicy treat," says Gaurav Sharma. Sure, and when the clock strikes midnight and your gang is in for some midnight snacking mode, you know where to go.

But there are some loyalists too; who say, there is not going to be much change in the campus food culture. "The food street provides for an option when the mess or canteen closes down or in-between meals. But those living in hostels that are at some distance, would still prefer the mess food," says Manipal Singh Atwal, a LLB (IIIrd semester) student. "Moreover, there is nothing new on the menu. Its just that the timings are a plus point," he adds.

While the guys are all smiles, thanks to the nightlong food bonanza, for girl's students life doesn't change a bit. "It hardly makes any difference to our options as we have time constraints in our hostels. So, we still depend on our canteen walahs and mess people for our appetite," says Sarika Sharma, a Sarojini inmate. But then on second thought, it adds another address to the list of city hangouts and with campus and four colleges in the periphery it will definitely make for a bustling place with high check-it-out factor.

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Music is closely allied to the tastes of the people from generation to generation and subjected to substantial changes to accommodate the alien influences of other music traditions over the centuries. But Indian music, with all its genres, has been reigning supreme,” maintains Shailesh Shrivastva, the Mumbai-based folk and film playback singer.

A leading disciple of PadmaVibhushan Pandit Rajan and Sajan Mishra and an A-grade artist of All India Radio and Doordarshan, Shailesh, holding a doctorate in folk music and media from SNDT University, Mumbai, is an incredible amalgam of academics and aesthetics. An accomplished maestro of semi-classical forms like kajri, dadra, thumri and a playback singer of Bhojpuri folk and films, Shailesh has given playback for a few Hindi films also. Notable are her songs Rang daro fenko gulaal in film Benaras under the music direction of Himesh Reshammiya, besides Aaj kaisi ghadi aye toh sang raji balam for film 1918 – Love Story for Khayyam. Another film Hawaida by Sahmir Tandon is under release. Among her many Bhojpuri albums Chatni Chata by Times music is the latest. She had earlier sung for over dozen DD and Zee TV serials. In city for an ICCR and Punjab Arts Council concert at the Punjab Kala Bhavan and the NZCC musical soiree at Patiala, she shared her experiences and views with Lifestyle.

Of all the performing musical arts, the folk genre is close to the heart of many music lovers.

Recalling her ICCR-sponsored concerts in Amsterdam, Jakarta, Mauritius, Trinidad, Samarkand and other international venues, she claimed that the foreign audience relished our folk music since it represented the common aspirations, dreams, problems of the people with a similar emotional appeal.

Gifted with the versatility of being able to sing in Marathi, Bhojpuri, Punjabi, Rajasthani, Himachali and many regional languages, Shailesh has won lavish applause from the NRI audience. Commenting on the contemporary music scene, she observed that today’s music was faster, with a dominance of rhythm whereby the rasa of the lyrics was eclipsed.

As regards the popular reality shows, she felt these did nothing beyond creating a craze among youngsters and producing half-baked singers.

Shailesh will present her concert at the Randhawa auditorium on December 10 at 6.30 pm.

IF the basic idea is to create soulful music, then relax; everything else is bound to follow. Fame, adulation and appreciation, of course will be at your doorstep. Realisation of this will be better when you’ll hear every music lover hum and enjoy your music. Hari Singh and Sukhmani Malik, a musical duo from the city aimed to do the same too when they formed a band just a month back. “All we had in our mind was don’t deprive the music of melody. The thought has paid off”, says the music producer Hari and the vocalist Sukhmani in unison.

On Wednesday, they will perform together for the first time at the Orchid Lounge, hoping to make people enjoy a different experience. “Our music is a fusion of Hindustani, classical, folk and Sufiana played on electronic beats,” elaborates Hari, an audio engineer. Terming their music as a part of Indian Lounge, he tells us more about their experimental genre, “Ours is an effort to make music more accessible to people. We have tried to present complex ragas and Sufiana tracks in simpler forms with subtle beats.”

When majority of the youngsters prefer to play rock, the duo has engaged themselves in more Indian music forms. “It is wrong to say that people of Chandigarh aren’t fond of this music as they never have been exposed to it,” suggests Sukhmani, who is masters in vocal music. She says that with so many musical concerts happening in the city, people’s understanding of soothing music is getting better. And that is also how they reason out for beginning their career in the city rather than going to Delhi or Mumbai. “Let’s impress the city people first, then we shall go out,” quips Hari. Positive about getting a chance from a music producing company, they add, “Music companies are ready to give chance to singers who can sing differently.”

In their music, they have made a conscious attempt to beautifully juxtapose music forms on electronic beats, “We wanted to make sure that authenticity of every music form is maintained.”

So everything is ready except for one thing, their band is still unnamed, “We were so involved with music that everything else took a backseat. But we will decide on it in a day or so.” Go on.

James Bond star Daniel Craig has dismissed reports that he is going to play the Norse god Thor in a movie adaptation of the Marvel comic book.

Earlier, media reports had claimed the British star was being roped in for the project, which is the latest comic book adventure to make its to the big screen after adaptations like Batman, Superman and Spiderman.

But Craig, who starred in the Bond flicks like Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace, insists that he isn't interested in playing a superhero on screen.

"No. It doesn't interest me at all," he was quoted as saying.

Former Kennedy Center honoree actor and director Clint Eastwood with his wife Dina Ruiz as they arrive for the gala. Photo: Reuters

Singer Barbra Streisand 'embraced' George Bush as she was presented with the Kennedy Center Honor by the US President- whom she had once called "an alien sent here to destroy the Earth." The two-time Academy Award-winner, who had blamed Bush for stealing the 2000 election and mishandling the Iraq war, was said to be "genuinely touched by the nation's top artsy accolade." The Kennedy Center Honoree for 2008 had been greeted by the former Governor of Texas before the show at the Kennedy Performing Arts Center at Pennsylvania Avenue.

"Art transcends politics this weekend," the New York Daily News quoted the Brooklyn-born singer as saying.

However, on being questioned if she would have liked President-elect Barack Obama hosting the event, the actor replied: "That would have been lovely," adding, "or [Bill] Clinton." Barbra has been counted amongst the short list of entertainers who have had the distinction of winning an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony award.

Madonna is reportedly set to hand out 32 million pounds to ex-hubby Guy Ritchie as part of the divorce package. The Rock n Rolla director is said to receive 12 million pounds in cash in his account in addition to having ownership of the Queen of Pop's 20 million pound Ashcombe House country estate in Wiltshire.

The Brit will further hold on to his 3 million pound Punchbowl pub as the Material Girl keeps their London marital abode, reports a newspaper.

However, a pal close to Guy, already worth 30 million pounds, revealed that the filmmaker did not want any cash piece of the megastar's 300 million pound wealth.

The source said: "He is getting one lump sum imminently. Guy wanted to stay in their London home but Madonna refused to split it in two, and eventually gave him £12 million as compensation.

"Guy's ducked out of fighting over her fortune, even though he could be entitled to a big chunk. He never wanted any cash handouts. He agreed with Madonna's demands to keep the peace."

Kate Hudson has revealed that she could not ignore the hard-hitting credit crunch, and so decided to spend less extravagantly on Christmas presents. The Almost Famous actor said that she could not help but feel the 'weird' time and was restraining from shelling out too much in the economic adversity.

"I think it's a really weird time and I think that everyone is feeling it," she was quoted as telling reporters at a LA press conference.

The Oscar nominee further said that she and her family preferred handmade gifts that provided that extra personal touch.

She said: "We've always been pretty crafty anyway. We all knit. The girls knit. This year I'm doing these great big knit...well, actually I shouldn't even talk about it because I can't say it!"

Hollywood actor Eva Mendes, who is dating producer George Gargurevich, thinks belonging to a man is sexy. The Trust The Man actor stated that although she is career oriented she loves being looked after by her beau, and life would be boring without belongingness.

"The flip side to this strong career woman you see is a woman who loves being her man's woman. It's just sexy to belong to a man," Eva said.

"Of course, we don't belong to anyone but ourselves, but how boring. There's a certain part of me that's like, 'Please take care of me'. It's just a natural thing. But I'm not sure if every woman has it," Eva added.

However Eva, 34, revealed that she loathes jealous men.

"Jealousy is the one thing I can't tolerate in a guy because of my career. Everything else can be talked through, but if you're jealous, you're holding me back and I can't do what I love. So that's a deal-breaker," she said. — PTI, ANI