Even before we can congratulate her for the Padma Shree announced January of this year, she pops a volley of ice-breaking queries, “How’s my look? Do you like it?” The brimming, buzzing, bundle of energy Penaz Masani was in city for the relaunch of salon & spa, Strands-35. Post the reaffirmation by fellow journalists “You look great” only begins the session of deluge of questions at breakneck speed.

“I’m going to receive the Padma Shree on 31st of March and it’s a wonderful and humbling feeling,” she smiles. Twenty-eight years into music industry, twenty-eight albums, first female judge of the reality show Sa Re GA Ma Pa, a Parsi who knows Hindi, each chapter appears fit to be unfolded in-depth to do justice. She begins, “I began with music when I was ten. My father would perform at the royal court of Baroda for the rajas and maharajas. I think when it runs in the house where you grow up you take to it naturally.” The lady was introduced to the famous ghazal singer Madhurani where in turn she met the legends in the industry.

Not many would know Penaz, graduated from a commerce college, was the monitor of her class and head girl of the school. She laughs, “I am closer to my papa rather than my mom. I love her too though.” And when she was a child…? She laughs, “I’m still a child. I grew up in a house comprising my mother, father and sister, my sister is presently working with Citibank.”

Tough to imagine as it might be, but had she not been a singer? She says, “I’m a people’s person. I love talking to people, so it would have been anything to do with talking to people, may be a teacher.” Apart from music, travel remains the other constant in life. She says, “Music binds people all around the world, when you go to a place like Mexico, and you’re singing something like Raag darbari, that these people have no idea about and they wait and listen for two and half hours, it’s amazing.”

Given the spurt of reality shows, what does she have to say? Would she judge again? Are they a good thing? “I was the judge when Sonu Nigam used to host it. Don’t mind doing it again and yes they are a good platform.” Even though she didn’t get discovered through any!

She claims, “I like fusion and I don’t like fusion.” With the don’t like part standing for, “I would never do a remix ghazal and no harm in doing a remix film number.” She continues, “Fusion’ happening because Westerners are keen, India now sells and not just because of Slumdog Millionaire. Indian bindis, saris, everything’s a rage.” About time, the conversation drifted to the very natural, inevitable future plans. “I don’t ask much from life. Currently I’m working on an album, a few songs to go and it should be out.” Should be soon!

manpriya@tribunemail.com

In musical arts everything originates in purely intuitive and spontaneous feeling, which has to be expressed through creative measures and techniques. Unlike vocal music, wherein the human voice is capable of expressing a whole spectrum of emotions, any musical instrument needs to be perfected to exude the same feel,” maintains acclaimed santoor maestro Tarun Bhattacharya. A disciple of legendary Pandit Ravi Shanker, the sitar wizard, Tarun is the only maestro from Maihar Gharana to take up santoor and excel at the international level. Credited with 60 albums, Tarun is a recipient of numerous felicitations like the Pre-Grammy nomination in 1997 with his album Kirwani being rated among the top 10 in the world. Having learnt the rudiments of sitar and tabla from his father Roby Bhattacharya and later, Dulal Roy, he fell into the blessed tutelage of Pandit Ravi Shanker. In the city for a performance at Bhaskar Rao Sangeet  Sammelan on Friday, Tarun shares his views on the improvisations he has introduced in the conventional santoor.

A proponent of purity and guru-shishya tradition, Tarun loves to call the instrument as Satanatar  Veena — a 100-strings instrument,  which finds its reference in the Vedic literature. He says this folk instrument is popular as Yangchin in China, Cymbalon in eastern Europe, Hammered Dulcimer in the USA, Western Europe and Hackbret in Italy.

“Call it the necessity proving to be the mother of innovations for my instrument, I introduced the Mankas for the fine tuning of the santoor for better tone quality. In fact, my involvement with the santoor is not just limited to a scintillating performance, but I live and breathe by it.

“Besides introducing Mankas for fine-tuning, I was able to add altogether a new dimension to the instrument by mastering the gliding of notes in the lower octave (Meend) in santoor. My innovative techniques also felicitate playing of krintans, ekharatans, boltans besides the immaculate raagdari and layakari.” Still not complacent with many crowning achievements Tarun claims himself to be an avid learner.

lifestyle@tribunemail.com

Some like trips in luxury ships
and some in railroad wagons
and others swear by the upper air
and the wings of flying dragons
Let each make haste to indulge his taste
be it beer, champagne, or cider.
My private joy, both man and boy,
is being a rally car driver
— Ogden Nash,

And so, all the joyful men, boys and now even girls come every year, after 1981 to relish the dusty tracks, test some nerves and burn some rubber and take part in the most 'familiar' event of the tri-city, the SJOBA sub-Himalayan open rally.

They’re flip, saucy, talk non-stop…in between indulge in leg pulling and wear sarcasm on their sleeves. Day 2, Soch 09 and the action continues unabated. Students of the School of Communication Studies had a date with radio jockeys and what a date! The Talk Jock involving individual participation had the aspirants handling a situation given on the spot, including scripting, anchoring and dealing with audience queries.

So, a participant Shobha becomes Shararti Shobha, the show goes into space, there’s an aspirant Ishaan from the Department of Chemical Engineering, and elsewhere someone whispers to a participant, “Focus on voice modulation.” The thin but loyal audience was subjected to not just intoxicating talk but quite a ‘few’ vital lessons.

Speaks RJ Manav, “You don’t just speak, you give information. Suppose something is happening in the city, you have to give information about it to your audience.” Questions RJ Gagan, “Where else would you get money to listen to songs?” Another guest, Mandeep Sodhi, assistant director to Vikram Bhatt, also says, “Satisfaction is the keyword, when it comes to a job.”

In between RJ Gagan gets up and announces, “I want to see you react to a situation. You have run out of ink and have to convince your pen to write just one zero.” No wonder, a state that had the contestants whining, pining, wheedling, coaxing, cursing to write just one zero. So, did they like the participants? Nitin, producer of the show, says, “Kind of.” Kind of? He explains, “Not many of them remembered to mention the tagline, the name of the show, the channel and the like.” What does they have to say about the surge of institutes claiming to churn out radio jockeys? Answers RJ Gagan, “Passion is extremely important. Some amount of talent has to be inbuilt and no one can make you a radio jockey overnight.”

Back to the festival, Soch and the events and activities later in the afternoon, there was histrionics that had students performing on anything, to be followed by a rock nite and the staple closing ceremony. Meanwhile, P.P. Singh Memorial Lecture has been scheduled for a later date and not clubbed with the festival ending today. Says Geetu Vaid, a second year student, “The hangover of the festival will remain for at least 10 days!”

manpriya@tribunemail.com

The young man who sits before me has a clean face and bright eyes. Why do all charismatic people have such intense eyes? Is it the fire in their bellies that filters through the windows to the mind? His waist length hair justifies his warrior status. He is director of an NGO called Hum Log, and heads a campaign called the Green Warriors. He is very concerned about social issues, the environment and our callousness towards it. Dr. Gaurav Chhabra is too young to carry the burden of humanity's foibles on his shoulders but if his generation does not take up causes today, we are likely to annihilate our world tomorrow. He produces documentaries to make people participate in his vision.

Opposite St Johns High School, there was once a village called Kanchan Majra, probably named after the glassy waters of its pond. It boasted of a Sarkari Nursery overflowing with fruit saplings, looked after by a South Indian woman called Amardam. There was a time when every pioneer Chandigharite planted a fruit tree in his/her compound and the Kitchen Garden helped look after it. Corbousier's symbol of the open hand signified giving and receiving. Time erased that vision into a one sided receiving. Since the water supply to the nursery came to a stop, it died a natural death. Amardam, the epitome of laughter, love and earthiness, was transferred to a different area.

The village pond or toba still exists. Years ago, when Chandigarh was a mere idea in the making, buffaloes and children splashed in its water. As the buildings mushroomed, the toba became a fairyland. Weeping willows kiss the surface; ducks and geese bring up their young ones on its rich waters; dragonflies escape their primeval cases from overhanging branches and butterflies live out their short but precious lives amidst its brilliant flowers. Pink, purple and white lotus paint the still surface as water hens walk across the huge, flat leaves sharing space with tree snakes that slither down to sun themselves. When this tiny water body was rediscovered, Hum Log invited visitors and school children thronged the area with pencils and crayons to record its beauty. In the meantime, Chandigarh grew like the proverbial beanstalk and open land shrank. Some one decided the pond would be a perfect place to house a Club, where food, functions and man made fun would be infinitely preferable to a magical water land. And the digging began. For the present, the Green Warriors have managed to stay that nightmarish scenario.

Children still visit the pond to study and savour a perfect eco-system. The occasional tourist walks around to take photographs and observe wild life. Yet this heritage piece is not on the tourist map or walking agenda. No one is aware of it.

The Forest Department has surrounded the area with expanded metal fencing and declared it suitable for a Butterfly Park. As long as it remains in its present condition, Chandigarhites can be proud of Hum Log as a driving force and guardian of the environment. The digging continues. For what? No one knows, but it is good to learn that public interest litigation might still allow us to enjoy a tiny wet land and a bit of Kanchan Majra as the breathing, living heart of this beautiful city.

We adore miniature paintings for the sheer vibrancy it radiates and the amazing detailing. And, we, as city art lovers, have two big reasons to be partial towards this genre of paintings — one, our Government Museum and Art Gallery-10 has one of the largest collection of miniatures paintings in the country, including 24 rare folios of Basohli paintings, the oldest school of miniature paintings, which originated around 17 th century. Second, eminent art historian Padma Bhushan B. N. Goswamy, who is considered an authority on the subject, also belongs to the city. But then, ask us how many times we have seen miniature paintings at any of the galleries and the answer is - not until recently.

And the recent exhibition refers to Expressions -21 by the all-women group called 'We' at the Museum gallery. The sole miniature artist Jasmine Kaur, a Patiala-based girl, told us she specialises in miniature. And we knew this is one story that needs to be told. For, in today's time when most artists are trying to give a contemporary touch to this century-old art form and introducing new themes to bring a newness to it and thereby popularise it among the new generation art lovers, artist like Om Prakash Taak and Jasmine stand out in their endeavour of preserving miniatures in its original form.

Hailed as the lone crusader for Kangra art, Om Prakash Taak, a retired art teacher, has made it his mission to keep the tradition of miniature alive. With 48 years of experience in this genre, he is not just an artist but has mastered the art of vegetable and stone colours and also the art of preservation.

For this 72-year-old man, it was love at first sight. "I came to Kangra almost four decades back for a brief visit. I fell in love, both with the place and its art form," he says over a telephonic interview. He stayed back and learnt to paint Kangra miniatures from legendary artist Gulaboo Ram Chittera and later Chandu Lal. "The more I learnt about them, the deeper my love grew," he says. And, that love led him to paint more than 5,000 paintings.

This is the same magic that lured Jasmine to dabble her hands in miniatures. Only she picks up elements from four different types to come out with her own - Jaipur school, Basohli, Pahari and Thanka. "I love the bright colours and detailing and so I decided to specialise on it for my masters from Punjabi University," she says. There is another reason too - B.N. Goswamy. "I was so impressed by him that I wanted to follow him in my own small way," she adds.

An interesting improvisation Jasmine is doing in her work is trying it on silk with acrylic. "You do not get those handmade papers anymore and even those original colours. As paper gets brittle with time and such intricate brush strokes are not possible on canvas, I am trying to find out how it looks like on silk," she says. Her theme ranges Christ to Guru Nanak to Buddha and also an interesting series based on her dialogues with old contemporary artists.

An encouraging sign, indeed. And with such efforts and passion blending in the right proportions, one hopes that miniature art would soon come out of the museums and be part of the mainstream art scene.

parbina@tribunemail.com

Prindon ko milegi manzil ek din, Ye phelley huye unke perr bolte hein/ Vahi loag khamosh rehte hein aksar, Zamaane mein jinke hunar bolte hein."

The essence of this Urdu couplet is not only a veritable summation of the spectacular literary love and achievements of this stenographer couple Darshan Singh Aasht and Rajwant Kaur Aasht, working at Punjabi University, but also a compliment to their honest pursuit.

Made for each other, the couple, both doctorate in literature and masters degree in two subjects with a common quest for Punjabi Bal Sahit. Darshan, has 36 books in Punjabi, majority on children literature while his partner in life and literary voyage, Rajwant has eight books to her credit. While lamenting the dearth of writers when it comes to books for children in India and Pakistan, Darshan says many of his books like Wapsi and Nawan Zamana in Shahmukhi script are published in Pakistan and some are incorporated in the syllabus of Qaid-e-Azam University, Islamabad since 2001. This honour from across the border rejuvenates him. He, however, expressed his gratitude to the Punjab Language Department and his readers for the Shiromani Bal Sahitkar Award-2005 bestowed on him. A submissive and devout writer, Rajwant too has many awards to her credit. With their extensive research work carried out in Pakistan, the couple is best known there.

"Marriages are settled in heaven," agrees Aasht but the union of two poetic minds is a celestial blessing indeed. Coming from a sleepy village of Bras in Patiala district, Darshan joined Punjabi University as a steno in 1986 before serving as a daily a wager for some time. The flair for literature and writing proved catalytic for is marriage with Rajwant. Just honored on the International Women Day by many organisations, Rajwant had her grooming in an arty environment. She had inherited the aesthetics from her artist father Surjit Singh Punjabi, a foremost disciple of great painter Shobha Singh. Her literary works comprise academic, folklore and pastoral life. Her latest book Sehra te Sikhya is penned after an extensive research in Punjab and Pakistan. Sharing her experiences Rajwant claims that the rich Punjabi folk tradition represents the cumulative expression of many ages and regions in both East and West Punjab and can constitute a bond between the people across the border.

Comedians are shyer than most other people, claims a new study. "I guess the stage gives them the opportunity to be what they want to be and may not necessarily represent their daily-life personalities," New Scientist quoted Gil Greengross, an anthropologist at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, as saying.

To reach the conclusion, Greengross and colleague Geoffrey Miller assigned personality tests to 31 professional comedians.

The 60-question test gauged the 'big five' classic personality traits: openness to experience, conscientiousness, extroversion, agreeableness and neuroticism.

The comedians rated their agreement with statements such as 'I think it's interesting to develop new hobbies', 'At times I have felt bitter and resentful', and 'Poetry has little or no effect on me'.

Then, the researchers compared their scores to those of 400 university students and 10 humour writers.

On average, the professional comics scored highly on openness to new experience compared with students, yet lower than comedy writers.

Also, the volunteers had lower scores on average for conscientiousness, agreeableness and extroversion, compared with the other groups. The team noticed no difference in neuroticism scores.

"The fact is that a lot of the time they spend by themselves. They also travel a lot. That might explain why they do have introverted personalities," said Greengross, who performed the study as part of a dissertation on the evolutionary value of humour.

The study has been published in the journal Personality and Individual Difference. — ANI

With single rooms for each designer, an exhibition area spread over four floors and packed elevators, several designers at the Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week (WIFW) that kicked off here on Wednesday said they felt “lost” in the new avtar of the five-day event.

“I am lost!” exclaimed designer Ranna Gill while trying hard to locate her stall on the seventh floor of the Eros Intercontinental hotel at Nehru Place.

Veteran designer Niki Mahajan also has her room on the seventh floor. She is extremely upset that her stall is located in a hidden corner and that no directions have been given to reach the room.

“There’s no network here! I can’t even talk on the phone. I can’t find my own room— it’s very confusing. My room is in a cave! Even Rajesh Pratap Singh’s stall is right next to mine but no tag - nothing has been given to say that these are our stalls. Rajesh is also very upset,” said Mahajan.

The confusion has emerged out of the change in the WIFW venue from the one-level spread at Pragati Maidan to the multi-level hotel, where only four elevators are available for use. The staircase is also not open for use by all and sundry.

Citing the reasons for the venue change, Sunil Sethi, the president of the Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI) that has organised the event, said this was because buyers, who play a crucial role at the fashion week, used to complain about the “bad washrooms” at Pragati Maidan.

While this issue has been dealt with, the question now is whether the FDCI has taken a right decision by dividing the main show areas (MSAs), the lounges, the media room, and the exhibition area among separate floors.

Others like Ritu Kumar, Reynu Taandon and Kavita Bhartiya want to take things as they come and agree that people would gradually get used to the new set-up. “It’s too early to talk about this place because it’s just the first day. You have to roam around a bit and get the feel of the whereabouts here. Everyone - be it buyers, designers or guests will take some time to get used to this venue,” averred Kumar. Taandon, too, shared similar sentiments and added: “When the fashion week first happened at Pragati Maidan, we had apprehensions then as well. But within sometime, we started loving it and we were happy with it. The same can happen here as well. “Besides, Nehru Place is a central location. If 20 of my friends used to ask for passes earlier, only 10 used to actually turn up at Pragati Maidan. But now, 40 of my friends are willing to come to watch the show here,”

Taandon added. For Bhartia, the place doesn’t matter as much as the amount of business she does. “I don’t want to give any negative comments about the place. I was not very fond of Pragati Maidan even because I used to get lost there —- it used to be so huge. For me, as long as the business goes well, everything is fine and I have already had some good buyers visiting me,” she said. On the brighter side, FDCI has provided a TV connection in each room so that “designers can watch the shows from there only”, Sethi pointed out. “This will save their time and they can concentrate more on their business even while watching the shows,” he added. — IANS

Though she could not become a celebrity showstopper in her debut movie Fashion, model-turned-actor Mughda Godse left the Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week audience here impressed as she sashayed down the ramp for label Satya Paul’s designer Puneet Nanda. Dressed in a colourful sequined sari with dazzling blouse and flashing red lipstick with confidence, Mughda looked her glamorous best while walking the ramp Wednesday night.

“It feels great to be back on ramp after Fashion. I love colours and Puneet has just given me a dash of every colour. The outfit is just perfect,” Godse said.

The collection was named Maya and was inspired by the illusionary world which was represented by a melange of colours and fabrics.

“The collection is all about colours. It is a collage of various fabrics and colours which are churned into beautiful saris and dresses that represent a fantasy world,” explained Puneet.

The line had colours ranging from bright orange to yellow, from shimmering blacks to soothing blues and in terms of fabrics, the designer had used brocades, silk and satins.

Puneet has a bit of advice for fellow designers to beat recession blues and attract buyers.

“One should make garments that are different and appealing to such an extent that buyers are left with no other choice but to go for that piece,” he said. — IANS

AA DEKHEN ZARA: Every star son worth his name on the marquee has sung a song or two. So why not Neil Nitin Mukesh? In fact, the grandson of legendary Mukesh has more reason than anyone else to be doing so. He has proved his vocal chords to be fine in this film, which has music by Pritam and Gourav Dasgupta. The magic of R D Burman has been jazzed up with a lot of disco fillers.

The title of the film as well as this song comes from the 1981 launch pad of Sunjay Dutt, Rocky.  Its ‘music re-creation’ by Gourav Dasgupta is a far cry from the original although the Anand Bakshi lyrics remain the same. Interestingly, the same song is also there in another version, sung by Dibyendu Mukherjee and Shweta Vijay.

Pritam weds hip-hop and pop to come up with a peppy duet, Gazab bhayo Rama in the full-throated voice of Sunidhi Chauhan and Shaan. Lyrics are by Irshad Kamil and this one too has a club remix done by DJ Sanj.

Rock the party by Sunidhi Chauhan with backing vocals by a svelte Shweta Vijay also follows the same track. The high-decibel and boisterous singing of Dibyendu Mukherjee marks Paisa hai power too. It is loud enough in itself but still has a club mix as well.

Filmi
1.Delhi 6 T Series
2.Slumdog Crorepati T Series
3.Dev D T Series
4.Billu T Series
5.Jai Veeru T Series
6.Aa Dekhen Zara Eros
7.Rab Ne Banada Di Jodi Yashraj Music
8.Dostaana Sony
9.Oye Lucky Lucky Oye T Series
10.Ghajini T Series

Non-filmi
1.Teri Justjoo Various Artists (Sony)
2.Teri Sajni Various Artists (Sony)
3.Safi Immortals Various Artists (Sa Re Ga Ma)
4.Sufi Gold Various Artists (Times Music)
5.Sufi Rocks Varius Artists (Times Music)
6.Yaad Piya Ki Wadali Bros (Times Music)
7.Taabeer Shafqat Amanat Ali Khan (Music Today)
8.charkha Rahat Fateh ali Khan (Sa Re Ga Ma)
9.Ghalib By Abida Abida Praveen (Times Music)
10.Sufi Jannat Various Artists (Tips)

Courtesy – Chandigarh Music Centre- 18