When a jewellery designer who adds ornamental value to B-town biggies like sister and brother-in-law Sussanne and Hrithik Roshan, Deepika Padukone and Abhishek Bachchan comes to town, to showcase for the first time in the northern region, it could well be the Cascade-ing down effect of carat couture.

Especially when the collection coming to City Beautiful is called Cascades, that was unveiled at the recent HDIL Couture Week and had Genelia D’Souza as the showstopper in a diamond-and-rubelite-encrusted neckpiece.

In town for a preview of her Cascades line on Thursday at Talwar Jewellery House-22, designer Farah Ali Khan chatted animatedly about diamonds, designs and divas.

Diamonds are a girl’s best trend

Spelling out the style behind the new collection, she said, “It’s an ode to femininity, to the contemporary woman who’s sensuous yet strong.

This line is fluid in its look, with silhouettes taking the forms of cascading fabric on a woman’s body.

Her favourite jewel on the gown? “Hmm..now that’s as tough as being asked to name the pet one among your kids! But yes, the jadau neck piece is special in the sense that I’ve attempted this style for the first time.”

Gilt trip

But if diamonds rule this collection and this season, thanks to the skyrocketing gold prices, here’s some trend talk. “The yellow-gold look is really back after white gold ruling the styles this season. And yes, though gold can never be out of fashion in our gold-besotted nation, one metal that’s going to be a hot alternative to the yellow metal is titanium,” informed Farah, a trained gemologist from the GIA.

My big fat Punjabi vyah

On her first foray into Punjab with her collection, she gushed, “Punjabi women are so drop-dead gorgeous. And the mundas, oo…oh they’re so regal with their turbans and beards, can’t help raving about them, though I’m happily married (touch wood).”

So, this being the season of Perfect Bride, what’s the look she recommends for the Punjabi dulhan? “Keep it understated and uncluttered, play up your jewels, preferably the bride’s neckline, say, with a choker.”

On making a further footprint in the region, Farah said, “First, I’d like to tap Chandigarh and then, may be, move into Ludhiana.”

Here, Sandeep Talwar, owner of the jewellery house, chipped in, “The city needed products from a designer of her stature and with the wedding season on, we thought what better time than this!”

Rakhi razzmatazz

The woman behind Rakhi Sawant’s 30-lakh necklace in Rakhi ka Swayamwar, we ask Farah about her brush with the siren and the small screen. “Well, to me, Rakhi came across as quite humble and not brash while I was on the project. And yes, I’d like to design more for TV shows, as that’s not very time consuming.”

On dressing up Bollywood, she perks up with pride, “At the IIFA in Macau this year, I was the only designer whose jewels adorned 10 actors on the green carpet.”

So, does that mean doing fashion for films too? “Nah, not yet. First, because I won’t be able to work with precious stones that are my passion (emerald is her favourite, as the rock on her finger boldly proclaimed). Second, and more importantly, it demands too much time that I can’t give, for my kids are my priority now,” signed off Farah with a smile that sparkles like her stones.

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From Roadways De Larry in 1987 to 2009, Sardool Sikander has come a long way. Sikander, who is often called the ‘The King of Bhangra,’ made his first appearances on radio and television. He has appeared in numerous films as an actor and musician. He has also acted in a handful of Punjabi movies, like Jagga Daku with Yograj Singh.

In Patiala to perform during the 9th Punjab Folk Fare that was organised at the Punjabi University campus, he had the entire crowd dancing to his tunes. Not only with his dancing tracks, he enthralled the audiences with his popular sad songs like Nazran to Gir Gayi Ki Karea and Khat Tukde Tukde Kar Dene.

Born in Kheri Naudh Singh in Fatehgarh Sahib district, he belongs to a family of musicians. His father Sagar Mastana was a renowned Tabla master. Brother Gamdoor Aman is a recognised classical singer and the other Bharpoor Ali is an accomplished Tabla player. Married to Amar Noorie, a renowned stage and cultural artiste and Punjabi Film playback singer, music is a family passion.

Commenting on a large number of emerging singers, he said it was frivolous. “Now-a-days, music is made not for ears but for eyes. Many singers do not even understand the depth of music. They record the music in the night and the next day, the album is ready. The word hardwork is missing in their dictionary,” he added.

Sikander also expressed his grief on the way music is being treated now-a-days. He said music was now for rich than talented. “Youngsters from rich families sell their lands and records albums and the music ends with end of money. Whereas many talented singers are sitting idle just because of financial crunch,” he added.

Answering the question whether the singers were actually promoting Punjabi culture, he said singers are minting money in the name of Punjabi culture. I am no exception, he added.

Talking about his future projects, he said his next album would be released soon in which he has once again teamed up with his wife Amar Noorie. “My new album is a blend of different types of music, including dance tracks and sad songs. I am also singing songs for various Bollywood and Punjabi movies. 

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd, has announced the launch of Corby TXT (model no B3210) and Corby Mate ( model no. B3313), close on the heels of the successful launch of its recent Samsung Corby (model: S3653).

Both Corby Txt and Corby Mate, the latter having a slider form factor, have QWERTY keypads being message centric mobile phones for heavy text users. Following the original Corby’s hallmarks, these new handset models present a complete makeover for the youth segment, with bold colour themes and pop-style curved contoured body design. Corby Text and Corby Mate with their full QWERTY keypad design incorporate the best features of text messaging, multimedia entertainment and cool internet functionality. The focus with the Corby series been to offer our consumers choice: choice in terms of the colour of the handset, choice over how they stay connected and choice over the features and functionality that best suit their unique personalities and needs to stay connected” says Ranjeet Yadav, Director IT & Telecom, Samsung Electronics.

The Samsung Corby Txt and Corby Mate are message-centric mobiles for heavy texters delivering easy-to-use SMS and IM (Instant Messenger) features enabled through its finger friendly full QWERTY keypad, ergonomically placed on the face of the phone. Features like Buddy List, Chat Style SMS, Easy Email Set up wizard, Instant Chat Messenger and Popular SNS Sites further add to the pleasure of messaging and emailing experience.

The Samsung Corby TXT is priced at Rs. 7,900 and the Corby Mate is prices at Rs. 7,300. With the launch of these two new models, Samsung’s Corby series is now available at a range starting from Rs. 7,300 to Rs 9,600.—TNS

Dominique Lapierre’s City of Joy made us take notice of rickshaws. Who can forget Om Puri as Hasari Pal sitting on his hand-pulled rickshaw and chatting away with Patrick Swayze on the poster for the film? Well, that was 1992 and the backdrop was Kolkata. Now, in the twenty-first century, rickshaws still hold the same fascination. Only, the backdrop has shifted from the streets of the City of Joy to the streets of London. Of course, the nomenclature has been changed too, out there it is called pedicab. Statistics has it that there are more than 400 pedicabs on busy London streets and in London Olympics-2012, these will play an important role in giving the city a green image.

If one can brush aside the harsh realities of a rickshaw-puller’s life as vividly and beautifully captured by Lapierre in his book, there is something romantic about this vehicle. Otherwise, why would a photographer click and artists paint it as a subject? And not necessarily all of them had an Indian connection. Like, for instance, Noel Haring, the grand artist from Surrey, England, discovered a cycle rickshaw in Havana captured the romance in water-colour in his painting titled Havana Street Life.

Closer home we have Diwan Manna who clicked rickshaws to capture the equation between the man and the machine. And no, inspiration did not come from Lapierre’s book but from the bonding he shared with richshaw-wallas. “In my early years, I used to travel only by rickshaws. So many rickshaw pullers became my friends, in fact many of them are still in touch,” says Diwan, admitting how his rickshaw days still evoke nostalgia. “People used to tease me then, but I like riding in one and still do whenever I get an opportunity,” he says.

Most of his works in this series were done during the ‘80s. Diwan clicked not from the point of view of a bystander or a documentary photographer’s perspective, but captured their spirit, their jest for life, their dignity and their self-respect.

Bheem Malhotra is another artist who has been painting rickshaws on and off. His Rickshaw in the Spring made it to the invited artists’ category in the Chandigarh Lalit Kala Akademi’s annual exhibition. Bheem has captured his subject as part of the cityscape and has elements like the structure of a building that bears the signature style of Le Corbusier, a creeper in its full glory.

“Rickshaws are so much part of our city life. It blends well with the eco-friendly character of the city and at the same time stands for the fact that the city has a sizable population of migrants from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

Apart from that there is the art part, namely the motifs painted on rickshaws. “The designs, patterns and landscapes one finds in the body of a vehicle are inspiring. Do you know these patterns vary from state to state, region to region and thus giving us a true flavour of the place,” he says. In fact, that made Bheem to paint a few in Andhra Pradesh too.

That’s is perhaps the most endearing part of this eco-friendly vehicle. It carries a slice of the past as well as the present with all regional flavour intact. After all, cycle rickshaw is one thing that has never undergone a makeover ever since it was introduced in 1930s in our country.

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Wafa Ki Rah Mein Dil Ka Sipas Rakh Doonga Maen Har Nadi Ke Kinare Pe Pyas Rakh Doonga...This couplet of Dr Nashir Naqvi reflects the celebrated Urdu poet, critic, scholar, able orator, anchor and prolific author that meet in the persona of the myriad minded Dr Nashir Naqvi. Credited with 16 books, 6 poetry collections, 6 related to History of Urdu literature, fiction and syllabus, 4 on the relation of Urdu and Punjab in which 2 are in Gurmukhi script, he stands tall in his incredible literary achievements. Besides his landmark work of compiling Kulliyat-e-Faiz Ahmed Faiz in Punjabi remains a laudable endeavour. Some of his books published by Punjabi University are Urdu Punjab aur Sikh Shair, Punjab aur Urdu Afsana, Adabi Jaezey in which Dr Naqvi highlighted the culture of Punjab. 

Taking off with his maiden poetry book Tashnagi way back in 1979 Nashir has never looked back, and with his sixth poetry collection Angnaee in 2009 he has his new offering in Deedawari collection of Urdu modern Marsia (epics on Karbala). Deedawari assumes special significance for having been published in Pakistan and also released in International Mushaira in Karachi. When asked why Nashir is not using his family name of Amrohi’s he disclosed that he matured fast as a poet. “Blissfully ignorant I was, and lived to be known as Nashir Naqvi as my poems were published under that name. Presently Professor and Head of the Department of Urdu, Punjabi University, Patiala, Nashir is not only known as an expert of Urdu in Indian Universities, but also four Pakistani Universities appointed him as a research expert where research scholars are doing their Ph.D under his supervision.