Nothing, just nothing can replace the all-time favorite denims. At the most, there can be slight variations in shape, perhaps the most frequent experiment the denim industry has undergone in all these years. Shrinking from bell-bottoms to straight fits to narrows, climbing down from high waist to mid to 'dangerously' low, denims are here to stay and we are not contesting the fact. Nothing else can make up for the pair of jeans, but now we have the next best thing to them—jeggings.

Made from the usual denim stuff, they have a slim fit like leggings. And even if no celebrity is officially endorsing the latest apparel invention, there are many sporting it on different events. Hollywood's Zoe Saldana of the Avatar fame was seen in one, Charlize Theron in Hancock seemed like she discarded all her jeans and opted for jeggings. Back home, Shilpa Shetty flaunted a pair in style teaming it up with an off-shoulder top at the baby shower ceremony of Manyata and Sanjay Dutt.

Jeggings entered the fashion scene almost two years back, but it's only recently that they have caught the attention of fashion followers. "They are a stylish supplement to jeans. This season, they have been as much in demand as denims. In the winter, we are expecting the demand and sales of jeggings to get a boost," says Ajay Verma, store manager, Tommy Hilfiger-17.

Besides the body hugging fit, jeggings are doing well with young women for the comfort factor. These are extremely stretchable with an elastic fit at the waist, making it easier to get into. What else differentiates these from jeans is that they are minus the fly and pockets. "But designers to camouflage jeggings as original jeans are adding a false fly and pockets," informs, Raman Vij, a Ludhiana-based designer, who participated in the Chandigarh Fashion Week.

Due to their fit, jeggings gives one a slimmer and taller look. "These are stretchable and fit really well, making legs look slimmer. Jeggings look best with tunics and long tops. Those with false pockets and loops for a belt can be teamed up with a short tee as well," Raman adds.

Jeggings score better than denims when it comes to formal wear. Rahul of Rahul and Gunjan, a famous designer duo, tells us how, "You can't wear blue stuff denims with a formal knee length dress but a black jegging won't look odd with the same."

Rahul looks at fashion as a circle that brings us to the same trends after some time. "Jeggings were a hit in Europe in 60s and 70s when bell bottoms were the hot favorites in India. They are now back in vogue in a much better version," he says.

Even if these tight bottoms are seen at every major apparel brand store, be it Zara, Espirit, Lewis, Mango, jeans will remain unbeatable. Adds Rahul, who under his brand is coming up with the prêt-porter collection of textured jeggings, "Jeans is a cult and will stay here forever. Nothing can ever beat a cool blue pair of jeans."

When it comes to durability, these get a beating from jeans but the price tag justifies it. Sanjeev Arora of Madame-17 says, "Jeggings are 40 per cent cheaper then jeans and fall in the category of comfort wear." Enough reasons for a clone of jeans to be a hit!

ashima@tribunemail.com

We bet you know about it. And if you don't, this is how the story begins. PS: I Love You, the movie sees Gerry (Gerard Butler) instigating Holly (Hillary Swank) to sing at the karaoke night. And Lo and behold! The pretty actor breaks into an awesome number by Prince Get Off mesmerizing her husband and friends. C'mon, you've got the catch. This is it, singing impromptu is, one, a liberating experience; Two, it fetches accolades by all those who matter, and three, it goes down well with food. Enough reasons to make you hit a karaoke club. The good news is, Chandigarh too is opening to the concept of karaoke, enticing wanna-be singers, bathroom singers, shy singers, enthusiastic singers, great performers and various other categories of singers to take the mike and sing their heart out. So, go on, doll up yourself and surprise your friends with 'I will Always Love You.'

Page 3 in Panchkula is one of the destinations in the tricity that provide a good mix of food and entertainment. As Siddharth Kumar, vice-president, Alchemist Food & Beverage Services (AFBL), puts across. "Karaoke is a popular concept in other parts of the world. It is the best way of enjoying with friends and letting your hair loose at the same time." Siddharth compares it to the reality show in a light-hearted way. "Don't we wonder how the participants of the reality show perform on stage? Karaoke is the same thing. It encourages bathroom singers to get out of their cocoons and sing, as much as they can."

Friday Karaoke Nights at Café Amor gives you a chance to croon to glory and drive you stress away. "Music plays an important role with food. Because eating itself is an experience, karaoke involves people, giving them something beyond food, which is a whole some entertainment," adds Siddharth who shares that the Friday Karaoke Nights at Café Armor has received great response from the people across all age groups who feel karaoke as an activity is a rejuvenating one.

If you dreamt of being a rockstar, regaling audiences, banging your head, strumming the guitar or imagining yourself to be doing so, karaoke is one way of living it. Singing in front of strangers gives the high. Now the city offering the platform, youngsters or just about everyone who has a relatively okay vocal chord can 'mike check' it at a karaoke night. Saurav Dhanwal, owner Downgate, Restro Bar, a place that boasts of Rap Karaoke nods in approval, "We started the concept almost a month-and-a-half back, you bet it has picked up with time. Live music is fun, but sometimes customers want something new." Downgate is one such place that gives amateur or wannabe rappers a chance to show their talent. "On a given Wednesday or Saturday, if someone wants to rap, Downgate is the place to be," smiles Gaurav adding that they heavily promotes rap and rap bands. "At the same time, if anyone of the customers suddenly find this interesting, wanting to give it a try, we are all for it," he says.

Food industry definitely not about thousand dishes on the platter, chic ambience, instead the industry caters to wholesome entertainment now, karaoke is one of the 'entertaining' things. AK Malhotra, general manager CITCO is of the opinion that eating is not about enjoying various dishes, it is an experience and music plays an inevitable role in it. Jagan Bains, senior food and beverages manger at Hotel Mountview, too likes to place music and food in close proximity." We have live band playing at the Indian and Chinese restaurant. At the same time, if a customer feels like singing or joining in, he or she is most welcome." The place doesn't have a full-time karaoke, but it something next to it. "Involving people in the pleasurable experience of dinning out is what we work towards."

And as Gerard Butler in the movie says: I bet a hundred if you can come on the stag and sing! Any takers!

jasmine@tribunemail.com

It may sound like yet another romantic comedy from Bollywood, but young Indians at home and abroad would find in Break Ke Baad a story that resonates with them, says lead star Imran Khan.

"What I like is, it's a young urban story, but at its heart it has a classical romantic element to it," Imran, who was in New York to promote the film set for release in the US November 24, told over the phone.

One of the rare Bollywood films that opens in the US before India because of Thanksgiving holiday here, "It's about a couple that breaks up, what happens when they are separated and how they are going to grow," said the 27-year-old.

"Both have got to start to figure out what to do in life and who they want to be in life," said Imran, who was born in Wisconsin, US, to a Bengali-Indian American father and a sister of Bollywood star Aamir Khan.

It was ‘very enjoyable’ working with a very young team right from director Danish Aslam to co-star Deepika Padukone, and he "became a very close friend" with Danish, Deepika, producer Kunal Kohli and all others involved in the making of the film.

"So I will always really cherish the memories of making this film."

"Deepika was a very accommodating and a very supportive co-star," Imran said. "I really enjoy working with her because as an actor I believe that whoever is acting with me, the better they are, the better my performance becomes. I think her performance made my performance much better."

But working with some of the senior Bollywood actors like Navin Nischol and Sharmila Tagore "was honestly a little intimidating", Imran said. "But they were both very sweet and very gentle and very supportive of co-stars."

"So, after a first couple of hours, you just see them as actors and forget the stars that they are and feel I can also act with them," he said. "But to me it takes a little time to get over that initial nervousness."

Imran said he was also very impressed by Danish. "This is Danish's first film as a director, but I think he is an extremely calm and confident director."

"The thing is when you are working on a set, 15 things can go wrong every day. But no matter what happened, what the situation was, he always took it in his stride."

Imran said he fully supported Danish's rule of not allowing anyone to use a cell phone on the sets as films are these days shot in sync sound, which means the sound that's recorded on the sets is used in the film.

If you have cell phones ringing it's also very distracting for an actor," he said. "All of my films, be it I Hate Love Stories, Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na, Break Ke Baad, even my forthcoming films, they are all shot with sync sound; so it's becoming standard practice."

One day Imran would like to get behind the camera too as a director. "Certainly it's something I am very interested in and would like to do in life," though he has no such plans in the near future. "Right now as an actor I am getting to do some good work with people whom I like."

Does he have a dream film in mind? "No, that would really depend on when I decide to make a film, what kind of story I have in mind." — IANS

Bollywood beauty Bipasha Basu paid an early morning visit to Delhi on Sunday, flagging off the Airtel Delhi Half Marathon. The actor is the brand ambassador of the marathon, which espouses the cause of education for the girl child.

Despite being down with a bout of fever and cold, Bipasha made time to interact with a group of young fans at the event and answered their questions.

"Firstly it is very important to study and be confident. Acting is a creative medium, it not only requires skill but also luck and love and support of people," she advised the youngsters.

The Bengali beauty who had earlier participated in the Mumbai Marathon hoped that Delhi too runs with all it's spirit.

"I hope that Delhi has the same spirit or even better than Mumbai. I'm extremely excited and proud, being the face of a gold label marathon and it is amazing watching people celebrating their city together," said the actress.

The Beedi Jalaile beauty is a self-confessed fitness fanatic and says that fit people are an inspiration to her "People who are fit are my icons. Every time I hit the gym, I see 50- 60 year old aunties working out regularly which is brilliant sight," she said. — PTI

Bollywood actor Lara Dutta is excited about playing an ultra sophisticated mystery miss in Farhan Akhtar directed sequel, Don 2.

"I have come back from the shooting for Don 2 in Berlin and it has been fantastic so far. My role is super sophisticated and glamorous," Lara said, without divulging further details about her character.

Directed by Farhan Akhtar, Don 2 - The Chase Continues, an action thriller film, is the sequel to the 2006 film, Don - The Chase Begins Again, which itself is a remake of the 1978 film Don.

"Farhan is a young and talented director. I always look forward to working with Shah Rukh," Lara said.

The film stars Shah Rukh Khan, Priyanka Chopra, Boman Irani, Om Puri, Kunal Kapoor. Hrithik Roshan, will be seen doing a cameo appearance in the film.

The film hit cinema houses on December 23, next year.

Former Miss Universe, who turns producer with Chalo Dilli, a comic satire, is thrilled about the new development.

"I move onto my first home production Chalo Dilli, which is a light-hearted satire with Vinay Pathak in Jaipur under my production house called Bheegi Basanti. This is really exciting time for me and I would ensure I do not get stressed during my first film," Lara said. — PTI

Women writers today are so competent that that they forcefully grab the recognition long denied’ was the underlying message on the second day of Celebrating Women’s Literature at UT Guest House-6.

The speakers Paul Kaur, SS Noor, Sunita Jain and Vanita shared various aspects of women poetry which was followed by a lively debate.

Padmashri Sunita Jain, who has to her credit 80 books and many of these poem collections and also the first recipient of Haryana Gaurav, is in love with Punjab and uprightness of Punjabi people, especially women. Her poems bring forth the ‘fearless’ females.

“From awareness to expression is the hallmark of any great poetry which one sees in the women writings today. And, in the process knowing self makes for not only a good poet but also a human being,” says Jain.

Emphasising works of Amrita Pritam, SS Noor, vice president, Bhartiya Sahitya Akademi, talked about women’s contribution in Punjabi, North Eastern, Kannada, Bengali and Marathi poetry. “Today women are in fact dominating poetry scene,” says Noor and recommends the ideology set by Pritam.

A life lived with honesty and bravery makes for a fit poetic subject, shares Paul Kaur, a Punjabi poet with seven books to her credit. “Today women are doing such great work that it just cannot be ignored any more,” she avers.

Knowing fully well, the situation and measuring how to react and resist is what every woman needs to learn in real life as well as a writer, is what Vanita, lecturer and critic stresses on. “Women must be aware of happenings around, be it social, political or ideological and that’s the only way she can safeguard her rights,” she says.

Women’s poetry being emotional is only natural. “Denied a voice for long, the first reaction has to be such. But I feel women are over that phase. Today the scenario has totally changed. Any good literature is result of work done sensitively, gender is not a party here,” she adds.

Summing up the seminar as very fruitful, Mina Surjeet Singh, shares, “Today’s sessions were really enjoyable. While Sunita’s talk touched the emotional cord, Vanita’s was more cerebral. Let’s face it, since their experiences are different from men’s, so would be the expression. When we are no longer called poetesses or actresses, why segregate our works,” she questions. Women are getting their due to a large extent and let’s celebrate that!

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Sach ka koi bhi kharidaar nahin, jhooth ne aisi tizart ki hai Jitna rutba uncha hoga, insaan utna tanha hoga Khudbeeno ki iss basti mein kis ne kis ko samjha hoga Kya samjhe hai chadta sooraj akhir usko dhalna hoga...

Words of wisdom, imagery and expression are the hallmark of Ramendra Jakhu Sahil’s work, which has shot him to prominence as an Urdu poet. A senior bureaucrat (a 1979 batch IAS), his profession maybe totally different of his passion, but Sahil has made a significant contribution to Urdu literature, thanks to his vision and flair for writing. Sahil started writing poetry from his childhood, which complemented his ability to sing during his school, college and university days.

Credited with three poetry books in Urdu and Hindi, over 200 articles published in literary magazines, an audio CD of ghazals, the much-sought after poet Sahil participated in mushairas in UAE and Pakistan. His ghazals are being sung by maestros like Ustad Gulam Ali, Peenaz Masani, Parvez Mehdi, Roop Kumar Rathore, RajKumar Rizvi, Vinod Sehgal among others.  Honours like Saraswati Samman-2010, Balraj Sahni National Award in Poetry-2006, Haryana Sahitya Akademi Vishesh Sahitya Seva Puruskar-2010 had been bestowed on him.

Talking about his latest anthology of ghazals, Ek Jazeera Dhoop Ka, in Urdu and Hindi, to be released on Monday, he says poetry is the essence of life, a consecrated endeavour and an exacting discipline. Defining his concept of ghazal, Sahil maintains that with the poetry as baseline, the ghazal, the popular sub-genre of poetry, is ultimate in lyrical expression,

His poetry focused mostly on romanticism, longing and unrequited love during his earlier works, but the contemporary ghazal format now encapsulates the emotional reaction to problems arising out of life problems, socio-cultural themes, human values and much more.

“Even the Hindi ghazal format, pioneered by poet Dushyant, had come up well with the brilliance of inherent lyricism and words in Hindustani rather than cumbersome coined phrases. But I personally feel that Punjabi ghazal made its existence much earlier with Shiv Batalvi giving it a newer dimension and taking Punjabi poetry to a spectacular level,” says Sahil.

City-based social activist Dr Gaurav Chhabra will be felicitated the coveted Karmaveer Puraskar award in New Delhi on November 26, for his commendable work in promotion of Citizen activism in Chandigarh.

Feeding a child involves an interaction between the child and the mother. But this interaction turns out to be more of a tussle between the two and food becomes the main issue of contention. So, what is really the solution to this problem? Well, as suggested by one of the experts in child behavior, the trick is to follow the rule of the three Ws that are 'where', 'when' and 'what'.

The 'where' applies to the environment, meaning a calm and relaxed one, with minimum distraction for the child. Any external interference in the form of loud noise or a chaotic surrounding, where a television is on should be avoided. Preferably the child should have a dedicated table ad chair to be used while feeding. This way he gets conditioned to the concept of meal time. Repeated exercise of such a practice will tune the child to accept the meals and gradually it is possible, his appetite might be stimulated during that hour.

Next comes the 'when' part. The number of feeds to be served can be split over the day, with three main meals and two in between snacks to ensure fixed meal timings. The feeding time should not be prolonged too much (15-20 minutes), thus dissuading him to linger on or engage in some other activity simultaneously. The longer the food will remain before him, the greater the indifference to food is likely to develop. Any in between grazing should be discouraged as this can ruin his appetite for his next meal. He should be allowed to 'feel hungry' and ask for food. This can also help instill discipline with regard to meal timing and avoid unhealthy nibbling.

The 'what' involves the food choices offered to the child. Healthy foods should be placed before him from the time he is initiated into solid feeding. It has been well established that any new food introduced must be exposed to the child repeatedly to condition him to accept it which could mean even as many as 15-20 times on different occasion. Mothers should not be discouraged by the child refusing to accept the food offered. If the mother also tastes a portion of that food which she is trying to feed, it is possible the fear or inhibition of accepting a new food may be removed. Moreover, it is also well known that if the mother's diet during her pregnancy and through the lactation period has been healthy with a wide variety of foods, the same flavours are passed on to the child through the placenta in the fetal life and later into infancy through breast milk. Eders in the family should try to be role models, which help the child to inculcate the values expected of him. Next is the question of 'how much', the choice of which can be left to the child. An easy guideline recommended is that one serving should not be more than the size of the child's fist. A portion may act as a deterrent to his appetite.

(The writer is a dietician in PGI)

If you thought cataract only struck the elderly, it’s time for an update. Children as young as three months to five years old are increasingly being detected with the eye ailment. Some are born with it, while others develop it during the first few months of their lives.

What may boost the argument against marriages among blood relation or the same ancestry (read gotra), researches indicate that at least 20 per cent of children with congenital cataract could have fallen victim to the disease due to such wedlocks. If data available with the PGI is any indication, 8-10 out of 40-50 children are borne out of such wedlocks.

Dr Jagat Ram, opthalmologist at PGI Advanced Eye Centre, says that partial blindness and even cancer in the eye can also be caused by such marriages. Others are related to metabolic or systemic abnormalities. In many cases, the cause is unknown. 

Doctors have warned that the symptoms of the disease should not be ignored. Cataract in a child may interfere with visual development. If the cataract is present in one eye, the child will prefer the normal eye and ignore the eye with the cataract, leading to the development of amblyopia (lazy eye) and strabismus (wandering eye). 

In older children, cataracts are often related to injuries or ocular inflammation related to juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. When a severe cataract occurs, prompt surgery and rehabilitation are required to maximise visual development. 

“The most critical age period is between two months to two years, which is when most of the critical parts of the eye develop,” said Dr Jagat, adding that keeping two simple things in mind is all a mother need to do to identify most vision related problems in newborns.

First thing to look out for is any kind of whiteness, when looking through the pupil of the child’s eye. Presence of whiteness could be indication of congenital cataract or cancerous growth in the eye, he said.