|
|
|
|
|
Fasten up your day
More precisely, for all ya ladies, here is what you can do to take your mind off food and the moon — the two most important stations where the mind bogie would want to halt! Way to go ladies, first things first! Tube tops
The day has just begun. Husband is off to work promising to be back home on time (and he better be); kids have been packed to school. Now, it's you and the never-ending time. What next? Hail JL Baird, the kind man had a heart to think about how women would spend time on Karva Chauth and came up with the television! Second, thanks to all the satellites flooding us with umpteen channels. Somehow, we know the love-tear affair with Ekta Kapoor is still strong. Ganga, Uttaran (repeat), Kitchen Champion…we bet they would give you company. Too salty for the D- Day, scout for the kiddos favourite cartoon series — Ben 10, Dexter, Popeye the sailor man — bet there can be nothing more entertaining than Popeye winking at his wife Olive! So, we find you scouting for the channel. Happy hunting! PS: I love you
You are the movie buff kinds. This one is fairly simple, but this is an activity that needs to be undertaken a day in advance. Stock your room with some mushy DVDs — PS: I love You, The Ugly Truth, Sweet Home Alabama, Pretty Woman…you so know where to find the mush. Soak the flavours of love and forget about the world. Anyways, the world begins and ends on love, at least on Karva Chauth. Together you can
No wasting time for this activity. Call up all the female friends, the fasting and non-fasting ones as well. Decide on a place — a mall, a saloon - amid umpteen choices and let yourself be. Stay away from an eating joint. Some temptations are hard to resist. Cull out the debit card your husband unwillingly, yet meekly left in your custody and ensure it sees the end of the day. You heard it loud, splurge. Clothes, jewellery, shoes, make-up stuff, clothes again, more jewellery, do not let the vicious circle end! And if you do have to take a break, catch a 2-3 hours movie at the mall. Sorry, there isn't any great option playing these days. Nevertheless, if on the pious day, you want to know at what length men can go to 'lie', Jhoota Hi Sahi, is the flick! Is the whole workload tiring you, make a dash for the saloons, book your package (the saloon industry knows the trick - hit where it hurts) and relax! After this lavish indulgence, you are sure to make your man go weak in his knees. (Poor guy cannot stand up to your dripping beauty and finely cut credit card). Cut to tradition
Hey, we just saw your mother-in-law giving you a 'traditional' glance, which says 'Bahu time to dress up like the mannequin we saw at that clothes store.' All right mummy ji, here we go. If mehndi is a little outdated, ask for glitter tattoos and stylish mehndi at Ebony or Tress Lounge. Don't forget to keep the designs subtle, mummy is watching! How about dipping in the traditional stream some more. Get yourself some classic bangles in all colours and some matching bindis to go with it. Beauty lies in tradition ladies! Day-dream
Tradition again says something - no sleeping through the pious day. There are different ways of doing one thing. If you can't sleep you can daydream for sure. Relax, take a deep breath and day-dream about all the good things — a swarovski ring your husband would be walking in with as a Karva Chauth gift, a long weekend at Singapore, a song request your husband asked RJ Pankaj of 92.7 Big FM to play for you, a lavish dinner waiting for you at the hotel…but as you should not think about another man, we don't suggest a secret date with Imran Khan!
jasmine@tribunemail.com
|
|
Celebrating the auspicious occasion of Karva Chauth, India's largest FM station network 92.7 BIG FM announces special prizes for women of the city. Supporting its true style of Suno Sunayo, Life Banayo, BIG FM has started with an on-air contest called Karvachauth Glittering Love Contest. Karva Chauth is a festival that provides an opportunity for all married women to get close to their families, especially husband and in-laws. All married women observe fast that ensures the well-being, prosperity and longevity of their husbands. Nothing has changed though, but still there are things that have added an element of glamour to the day. With changing times, Karva Chauth has become a big festival for married women and their families, with everyone trying to do their bit. BIG FM has decided to celebrate the festival with special offer of 22 carat gold bangles. To win these bangles, the women of the city will have to answer simple questions asked by the BIG FM RJs. The contest is already attracting the attention of women, men and young residents from the city. Husbands are seen participating for their wives whereas kids are trying to win for their moms. This is the best thing they can do for them. The jewellery is being presented by AU Finja, a brand which represents passion, precision and marks its own identity. It shimmers, glitters and twinkles, lures the ladies. You just can’t afford to stay away from it for long. This Karva Chauth grab the piece!
|
|
The ten-day annual edition of National Crafts Mela at Kalagram promises the best of Northeast The biggest cultural bonanza is back with a feast from the Northeast. The annual edition of National Crafts Mela at Kalagram brings the folk and contemporary art and crafts from the heart of the seven sisters. With over 37 stalls on display, the mela gives a full preview of the life from the Northeast, from routine to exotic. The venue has been converted into a mini northeast. One can choose from souvenirs to everyday items, traditional clothes, jewellery and delicacies and even dance to the tunes of Bihu, Naga tribal dance, and much more. There are different items like the serpentine stone utensils and utility items; Thewar art, and the usual stuff like the Assamese mekhela and woolen shawls. "The serpentine stone is found in Manipur and has healing properties. It has minerals that are good for digestion and for pregnant women," says Muivah Shimray, craftsman from Manipur who has come with an impressive collection of Serpentine stone utensils. The collection is unique. "It's widely used back home. They are heat resistant so can be used for flame cooking as well as in a microwave," says Muivah. It is pocket friendly as well — between Rs 150 to Rs 800. Bamboo crafts from Nagaland are the next in line. From decorative items to garden furniture and even room partitions, the traditional art form promises to turn your interiors designer, and all this at a price ranging from Rs 100 up to Rs 2,500. The fashion conscious would like to add to their wardrobe the colourful Assamese mekhelas. The range starts from Rs 450 and goes up to Rs 1,500.Then there is wooden jewellery for the young and the experimental at Rs 20 each. We also have the Thewa jewellery, the exquisite art of jewellery making from — Rajasthan — that was conceived during the Mughal rule. It is a traditional art of fusing 23 carat gold with multicoloured glass. The glass is treated by a special process for a glittering effect, which highlights the intricate gold work. The whole Thewa piece is hand-crafted over a period of one month by skilled artisans. Wall of fame
Behind the 10-day mela is the two-month long effort of two brothers. Bringing out alive the essence of northeast at Kalagram, artiste duo of Parminder Singh and Manminder Singh Mitha from Hoshiarpur seem to be busy re-creating the seven sisters. "We were given the drawings and dimensions about the concept. It took us a month to research and another to put down things in place," says Parminder. The duo, who specialise in making traditional yet designer mud huts and tree houses, has been working in the field for the last 25 years. "We do farmhouses, meditation valleys, resorts and this time, the National Crafts Mela. We also make wooden handicrafts and have a team of 70 craftsmen," informs Manminder. They have also created cultural space for the Dubai International Festival. However, creating space on the theme of northeast was quite a task. "We have used lots of colour and straight lines. The entrance gate has symbols of the region like prayer wheels, Naga bamboo huts and folk art. Even local language finds an aesthetic space on walls," explains Parminder. And helping them are students of Government College of Art-10, who have put their energy into creating colourful images of trees and tribals all over. Let the show begin! On till November 4 nehawalia@tribunemail.com |
|
Ebony, ivory and a few more
The second day of the Wills India Fashion Week in New Delhi was marked by understated collections with restrained colour palettes. But eclectic designs made up for the missing Bollywood celebs as fashion took front seat this time.
From Lady Gaga-esque structures to traditional angarakhas, there was a variety of silhouettes on display in the Spring-Summer 2011 collections, though there was no burst of colour on the ramp, with most designers favouring shades of ebony and ivory.
While most designers infused Indian inspirations into their collection, Amit Aggarwal chose to go the other way, combining latex and metal with cotton to create structured dressed with over-the-top sleeves and bustles. The grey and beige dresses were shot with accents of fluorescent red and yellow along with metallic pipings. Kavita Bhartia's collection 'Trans-Global', began on a sober note with nude chiffons, which gave way to psychedelic colour and gowns in jewel tones teamed with printed tights. "The line has influences from different cultures and places, so it's all about a bohemian woman who travels a lot and experiences life," said the designer about her inspiration. "The garments are light and the look is layered with scarves thrown in," said Arora of her collection.
— PTI |
|
The TOY Hotel-34 adds another chapter to the hospitality industry in the city
The black and white contrast is what distracts you or attracts you in the first place, at the first glimpse. Add to it Toy for a forename and fashion hotel for a genre…and the city is set to greet yet another hospitality venture into its fold — TOY Hotel at Sector 34.
"We wanted the name to be different, energetic and something that brings a smile to everyone's face. Moreover, these days we have so many concepts like the boutique hotel and this being a fashion hotel, we chose the word TOY," Akshay Verma, managing director, remarks on the couple of obvious first questions. As for the concept fashion, he adds, "We are positioning ourselves in the four-star category and for the niche audience." With every bit of the interiors, even the ambience colour co-ordinated, there's a touch of sophistication about the browns and the beiges, an attempt to cater to the design conscious and the fashion discerning clientele. There's Brew and Co., TOY's Tapas bar and the very indispensable fine dining Indian restaurant, the Cabaacha, complete with cascading chandeliers look, et al. Shares Verma, "For our Cabaacha, we'll be covering the whole of India; there will be gown dishes, down south fare, Kashmiri dishes et al. For this, we've specially picked up chefs." There's reason behind the name Brew and Co., too, "You brew coffee and you brew liquor also. During the day, we'll be serving tea or coffee, which gets replaced by cocktails during the evenings." But for a four-floor, four-star benchmark…what's missing is the gym, if not the pool! Nevertheless, there's a theme for each of the 25 rooms, evolving television sets, contemporary art works spread through the corridors and lobby, easy-on-the-eye photography, triangular patterned front desk et al. But the presidential suite was perhaps a bit confined for its nomenclature! Boutique hotels, budget hotels, star hotels and now fashion hotel, there's an extension of concepts by the day and Chandigarh is where they come. Opines Verma, "I thought of picking up Chandigarh first since this is my hometown, moreover with new and more hotels it's a healthy competition because the city is getting vibrant with each passing day." Don't know about the response, but for now Chandigarh is set to receive yet another star-serving hospitality alternative! manpriya@tribunemail.com |
|
Gurbax Kaur and Kulwant Singh from Hoshiarpur are the winners of the Lux Super Star offer, which gave an opportunity to consumers to meet Bollywood's superstar couple Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai in London. Kulwant Singh and Gaurbax Kaur, who never stepped outside their village, are glad at experiencing this once in a lifetime opportunity. "We have been loyal to the brand for many years and it's paid off. We were extremely happy to meet Abhishek and Aishwarya and wouldn't have missed this opportunity at all", says Gurbax Kaur. The couple had been planning and preparing for this meeting since the time they found out about their win. They presented the actor couple an apt gift which in their words is a part of themselves and extension of their culture. They gifted Abhishek with punjabi jutti and Aishwarya with a phoolkari chunni, a traditional piece given to new brides. "We were so happy seeing their reaction to our gifts. Aishwarya genuinely seemed pleased and Abhishek could not stop thanking us. This was the best that could happen to us," sums up Gurbax. Kulwant Singh adds, "It was great meeting the two stars, this experience will remain with us till the end of our life." — TNS
|
|
Badmen and robin
The dead robin had also been a confiding visitor to our front garden's bird-bath and feed bowl. But as autumn's lengthening shadows mellowed the sunrays, the robin's song had gone silent. I had wondered where it had gone. Had it been afflicted by a cancer like the legendary sopranist, Maria Callas. Or, had it turned up its nose at our hospitality. I took the children out to see the last remains of our feathered friend. It was a rare spectacle. Nature does not seem to believe in the exhibitionism of dead bodies and garden birds are seldom spotted lifeless. The location of the robin's body was another oddity. Only a human could have disposed off the bird at a dustbin without using so much as a feather. On closer examination, a bullet hole revealed itself through the white chest. A neighbourhood youth had been on the prowl with an air rifle and this was no doubt his handiwork. In neighbouring Bangladesh, the robin is the national bird. Was a state burial warranted for this dignitary of the avian republic? The kids, too, pressed for 'dignified' last rites. However, nature abhors such sentiment. In jungle raaj, there are no bhogs, kiryas, barsis and funeral feasts to fatten friends, and relatives sporting crocodile tears. I decided to leave the robin as discovered in the hope that a crow, kite, cat or any other carrion species would avail of a delicious snack. Anyways, the burgeoning numbers of bird-watchers, animal lovers, voyeurs and birding paparazzi would not be interested in a mere robin's obituary. This bird is yet to make it to the 'endangered species Top-10' so as to warrant some solicitous mouse-clicking on e-birding groups. Remember, the poor old House sparrow had to dwindle drastically before bird-watchers started worshipping its droppings in their drawing rooms! In the breeding season, the robin was a gallant sight. Its chest puffed up, tail cocked at full mast and regaling the resident female with avian arias inspired seemingly by Puccini's La Boheme. Resplendent in the black and white robes that nature had bestowed, the robin conjured images of an aristocrat in a tuxedo seeking his lady's hand at a grand ball. Says author and ornithologist, Lt Gen (retd) Baljit Singh, "The robin sings at daybreak, noon and at sunset. The robin in our garden in Sector 16, Chandigarh, is used to eating from our tribal maid's plate. Our maid eats her food in the garden in summer and winter, and the robin has become very confident in her presence. The robin is a resident species whose progeny also stick to the same place unlike the Brahminy myna." The other irrepressible Placido Dominigo of our garden, the Brahminy myna, had also gone missing. However, that could easily have been a result of the wandering bird's migration. The myna's favourite perch in the few months it took up residence at our house was the Evening Glory hedge in the driveway and the litchi tree in our neighbour's house. After having a bath in the puddles formed by the carwash, the myna would snuggle into the hedge. The myna does not quite possess a repertoire of avian arias like the robin but emits the sweetest, merriest notes with infinite variations. In the words of the legendary Dr Salim Ali, "A pleasing little song, in the nature of a soliloquy, is uttered in the breeding season''. The notes are at their best when the myna seems alone and unfettered by routine calls and chores. Then the myna's vocal chords seem as if stirred by divinity, a self-exiled Mozart indulging in creative freedom. The black crest of feathers on the myna's head closely resembles a Brahmin's 'choti' and so this bird derives its name from the priestly class. The scientific name of this myna, Sturnia pagadorum, is evolved from the myna's presence on the temples and pagodas in South India. The myna feeds on fruits and insects and is known to relish some fruits, which other birds and animals find poisonous. Another example, surely, of its divine powers! |
|
Bits about Bytes One of the boring things you are always told is to make a backup of your work. You read it in computer magazines, you hear techies tell you about the horror stories of people who asked for their help in recovering lost data, and yet you never do anything about it! I learnt computers and was immediately told about the need to back up, and not just once. It is probably because of this training in the past that even before I start a document, I give it a file name and save it. Now, I know that Word, that magnificent word processing programme, automatically saves your documents in case your computer shuts down suddenly, but believe me, I am not going to trust myself to the mercy of a software safeguard, when a small task will allow me greater peace of mind. Recently, I had reason to bless this habit. I changed my computer, and as a result, I found that somehow while transferring data, a manuscript I had been working on, off and on for four years, could not be located. I had used standard software that came packaged with the portable hard disk drive (HDD) that I recently bought to back up the programme, but it was not in the drive. I would not say that I panicked, because I did not, but I was tense-this was a lot of work that had almost disappeared. In a moment of epiphany, I understood why my father always said that he wanted to see his documents in his hands, "not inside the computer". With a bit of effort, I remembered that I had "cut" the file and transferred it to a pen drive I was using, instead of merely copying it. I inserted the drive and found that the computer refused to "recognise" it. I plugged it in and unplugged it, but it did not register in the computer. A quick search on the Internet followed. I wanted to find some software that would help in recovering data. I downloaded the "trial" versions of a few of these software programmes but nothing worked. Eventually, in desperation, I called for technical help and the person who came told me that my pen drive had been damaged. As a result, there was nothing that I could do to recover my data. If ever there was a time to panic, it was now. When I started learning how to use the computer, the commandment was not only "Thou shalt back up your data", you were also made to back up your data at more than one location, "in case of fire or some other disaster". Commandments are hard to follow, but those who do so often realise their wisdom. I had backed up my HDD earlier, on a separate portable hard drive that I keep for important files. The file was there, along with the other data. Admittedly, it did not have the latest changes that I had made, but it did have the basic, all 100 pages, which was a good starting point. Much better than ending up with nothing! Of late, with cloud computing options popping up, it is also a good idea to use online storage for important files. That way, you can access it from wherever you are. Eleven years ago, Yahoo had introduced its Briefcase service that offered 30MB of online storage. However, it shut it down last year because of declining usage. I was an early user of Hotmail, but now Gmail has all but eclipsed it. However, Hotmail, in its as Microsoft-owned avatar, Windows Live Hotmail, has the consumer-focused SkyDrive Web file-storage system, which gives a user 25 GB of free storage space. I have used it both to store files, as well as to share some files with some specific people. This is a nifty feature that was useful in sharing the data with specific e-mail identities. Gmail does not have anything like it, but with it you can attach files (up to 25 MB) and either keep them in the draft folder, or mail them to yourself. Yahoo, too, has the 25MB limit for its attachments, as does Hotmail. From time to time, I have read about software programmes that allow users to treat Gmail as a drive. I have also read that Google frowns on such usage, and blocks the mail. I would rather have my Gmail account, which is a repository of a vast amount of email "conversations" since many years, and thus have not taken any risk about using it. However, I found "Google documents" an easy way to collaborate with others and while it is not in any way a replacement for Word, it is still a very good tool, which also backs up documents. Because Google Docs now supports files up to 250 MB in size, which is larger than the attachment limit on most email applications, you'll be able to back up large graphics files, RAW photos, ZIP archives and much more to the cloud. Google Docs allows users to upload a total of 1GB of such files. Given the bandwidth problems in India, I, however, find that backing up heavy files like pictures and videos is not practical. Thus, I go in for offline storage in backing up data. Digital cameras have replaced film for most users, and all your photographs are electronic. The flip side of this is that hardly anyone makes hard copies of digital photos; they are stored electronically, and just transferred from the device to a computer. You just need to make sure that they remain safe, and for this you just have to back them up, not just on one location, but if possible, two. HDD drives are becoming cheaper by the day, and I find that portable HDDs the most convenient way of backing up data. With the price of storage falling, it is worth to buy two drives and back up data on both. I do use two, one that I always keep at home, and a smaller 160GB drive that travels with me. I do back up my data regularly. I know that it's a boring task that ties up your computer for a certain amount of time. However, can you imagine the void that you would have in our life if one day all your electronic data vanished? I would not like to be in that situation, and having nearly been there a few times, I think it's worth it to have your data secure with a backup that gives you a tremendous peace of mind.
|
|
|
Spade work
The purpose of having beds in the garden is to add colour and also hide some of the problem areas. Also the areas where there is shade that does not let the grass grow is utilised to have beds with shade loving annuals. But if the purpose is to utilise the areas which are under good sun and are otherwise suitable for growing annuals etc, could be used to create permanent features with the help of shrub plants. Howsoever, we treat the area; the purpose remains to be the colour addition. We have many options. Either we go in for flowering shrubs or we grow permanent kind of green shrubs but in that case we want to create topiaries. In such cases too, the colour content cannot be ignored. It is better to plant such shrubs or even tree species that are to be kept low headed by repeated cuttings. At least this you will have to do, i.e. give a monthly cutting in the normal times and pruning at fortnight interval during rainy season. And this is called the minimum maintenance garden planting. For open spaces the concept of minimum maintenance is different. There is a wide range of plants to select from. In case you are going in for flowering shrubs, then it is a matter of choice whether you are going in for colour, foliage or fragrance. In case you are wanting to have topiaries later, then Ficus species plants like Ficus panda, Ficus benjamina are excellent choice. The latter gives yellow coloured foliage at top that appears after every clipping. These can be accommodated at small places too except that they should not be planted very near to walls. Ficus variegate and Starlite are good to add or yellow variegation and white variegation respectively. The bigger space trees like Moulsary give good result. One, they can be pruned and given shape and secondly, they are self disciplined plants and form very good umbrella on their own. In case of shrubs we should go in for variegated chandni, white snow bush, Euphorbia (deep maroon) bush adds immense colour to the arrangement. This is in addition to all the three textures of Durantas. To add to the colour by way of foliage one could intersperse the arrangement with hybrid Euphorbias that are now available in a wide range of colours. In case you want these trees and shrubs in group, then near the entry is most suitable place. Myth of the week MYTH: We can sow the good sweet orange seed and the tree will give similar fruits after a few years. No, it is not correct. The citrus species fruit plants are prepared by way of 'T' budding on Jatti Khatti rootstock taking bud from known mother plant. The trees coming from seeds are not true to type, will take many years to come to fruiting and will also grow wildly. They may also have big thorns
|
|
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
It's human nature — stop yourself from doing something and the mind ensures that it takes you to the same point again and again! All right, Dr Brian Weiss, UG Krishnamurti and even Richard Bach second this thought. As they talk about the wishful thinking of the mind, they drop in a little message on how to counter it as well. Now, what makes us write all this? Try connecting it to the ladies festival Karva Chauth! We bet, you've got the point and if you haven't because empty stomach doesn't want fluff (it needs delicacies) we just gather points on how to deal with the mind!
Wendell Rodericks stuck to his trademark pastel shades and flowy asymmetrical designs with his collection, 'The Kunbi Tribe', where he showcased the "re-invented" Kunbi saree, nine yards of white hand spun cotton adorned with stripes of colour on the borders. "The Kunbi saree was the central theme running through the collection, but I decided to include dresses and tunics in the collection to give it a contemporary edge," said the designer.
Our young, impressionable maid burst in to announce the missing fellow had been found. Dead. It lay trampled upon like discarded marigolds from a marriage at the street's garbage bin. The dead fellow was a Magpie robin, the peerless songster and bird-call imitator of Chandigarh's gardens. Though she had no clue as to its name, our maid had often seen Saheb and the children eavesdrop on the bird's music when perched in the recesses of the lemon tree next to her quarters.
Gardener's moods keep changing. At times they want to have many colours of the annuals and after a few years some want very less annuals and something other than the routine. Some wants landscaping requiring no maintenance. Well, if you want to have a garden, you will have to maintain it or else it will turn out to be a mess. Yes, for minimum maintenance we can suggest some features.