On the International Women's Day, here's a look at why an all-girls party is so much fun

It could be 'raining men' but don't girls 'just wanna have fun'? On the International Women's Day, even frivolous feminism is some serious fun! Plan a slumber party, stock up on junk, host a sleepover, go disco glam or discuss boys. That a girlie gang is best left without men is like stating the obvious; the reasons for all girls' parties can't get bolder and better!

"An all girls party is fun for the simplest and the biggest reason that there are no men around," Niki Magee, high school student, says as a matter of fact and moves on to add, "Because when there are no boys around, there's nothing like 'Oh she's so hot' and all that trash going on at the party. Girls do backbite but not that much and certainly not when they are all by themselves. In fact when it's an all girls gang, we love to tear apart men too."

With due respect to Adam, Eve walked in from Venus and just knew what to do with her time. There's so much to discuss and among nail paints or bad hair days, who minds discussing boys too? Come to think of it, there are a billion things you cannot do when there are men around and a zillion things you can do when they aren't! Some of the examples and responses are best left unpublished!

As Ritika Virdi, former Splitsvilla contestant, says, "I think the best part about such parties is that there are no nosy boyfriends around. There's no one to judge your every move or object to anything you do." No wonder, recalling one among the so many shared moments comes easy. She adds, "Throughout my school and college life I've had this huge gang of girls and all of us love to party. Every moment spent with your gal pals makes for a memory." Quite quotable! Laughs Niki, "I went in for this pageant once. Frankly speaking, I wasn't too keen but my sister prodded me on. There were all girls there and even though I was like this tiny-tot amidst them, I had such a good time."

Did all the girls scream that they listen to each other? Shares Divya Gurnay, psychology honours student, "When my gang of girls gets together, its not just nice clean fun, but an uplifting experience. Girls have a tendency to talk their hearts out when they are all by themselves." She adds, "And a lot of times they discuss their own lives and be each other's support rather than indulge in mindless gossip. Only if we could break this myth on The International Women's Day." And the Adam and Eve debate continues!

manpriya@tribunemail.com

Garden shows are over. Now is the time to pat your back or find out what went wrong. But there has been some gain. Gain for horticulture, because like every year there new varieties were introduced and old and new varieties were conserved. And, for gardeners because there is no substitute to the joy that one derives from recognition.

Some find these shows as routine but those who are knowledgeable, know the difference. The gardeners get to know about the new introductions. And, it is not only about new species but also about new variety with an unusual colour or form. Considering the life span of a garden, those introduced in the last few years are also considered fresh introductions as it is to be seen how the gardeners have adapted to those and are they able to collect and conserve these species. This year too there were cylamens, sterlitzia (Bird of Paradise), primulas, new kind of antirrhinums, lupins, sweet peas, gerberas etc.

The cyclamen, earlier considered a flower of the hills, was seen aplenty this time. Even when these are grown in such situations, in the early period of growth, these have been grown in the backyard in the local conditions for quite a considerable time. By providing a cool condition in the early life of growth, the flowering factor is initiated as the basic requirements of climatic conditions are met. Such plants are successfully flowering and keeping the good quality blooms for a considerable time on the plant. After all, Chandigarh and the surrounding areas are also blessed with the climate that allows propagation and growing of different kinds of flora.

The hybrid gerberas that were being brought from places like Pune and also, the floriculturist shops for display, are now being successfully grown locally. Hats off to them who have perfected the art of growing the best quality blooms in no time. Similar is the case with primulas and sterlitzia, the Bird of Paradise. Now, you can see it growing in a clump bearing a number of blooms. Growing other varieties in a type is not a problem as they already know how to grow them since ages. Maybe there is a particular variety that comes for a year or two but the plants do not get established. The horticulturists come to their rescue, who are always looking for such material.

Every twig on the rose plant will bear good quality rose blooms. It is not so. The twigs coming form below the bud union are suckers and will look very healthy and with abnormally big leaves. In fact, they eat more on the plant resources rather than putting forth healthy blooms. The quality of bloom, if at all such a twig bears, is very poor. The number of blooms is also considerably reduced because of such growth. Any such growth with very healthy shoot, bigger-than-normal leaves and that snapping like a sarson twig (gandlan) should be removed from the base so that other normal shoots are encouraged and there is no unproductive wastage of plant nutrients.

Budding designers from the city to showcase their creations at the Lakme Fashion Week

Of all the sources around, of all the themes they could have gone in for, designer students, Pankaj and Navpreet drew inspiration from the most unlikely subject, "From motifs painted on traditional drums of The Republic of Congo. We picked the design of our creation. It's unusual, unseen and unexpected an idea.

"Not just the idea, but also the clients they are targeting are out of the blue. "Our theme is Aashki, an adjective for all African beauties." The bright yellow colored one-piece dress, like other creations is in tandem with the theme of Lakme Fashion Week i.e. resortwear. On display at a fashion institute in Sector-8, nine creations by students will be a part of the LFW.

"For a mega fashion event like this, we are expected to create garments that complement the cause," says Pankaj. Rachita, another aspiring designer, who along with six other team members designed a creation with YinYang as its theme maintains the same, "Our creation is in black and white, which signifies positive and negative in Yin Yang. The idea is to create garments that have a thought process behind their making." The fabric they have used is Santoor. "It's a soft fabric, which is wearable in any season."

An oddity is a heavily embroidered suit in red colour. The theme, blush, although justifies the colour but whether it is in tandem with the LFW's theme is questionable. Clarifies Nidhi Bajaj, the designer of the costume, "It's meant for a formal party on the beach. It perfectly fits in the ethnic Indian wear bracket."

Simran Nagpal, another student has made a kaftan out of chiffon. Themed, magnetism, a mix and match of bright pastel colours have been used. The peach stripes add to the appeal of the garment, "The colour scheme would definitely complement the skin tone of Indian women."

ashima@tribunemail.com

Veteran Bollywood actor Anupam Kher, who will celebrate his 56th birthday Monday, reveals he never plans for his birthdays because each day is new and special for him.“I don’t plan anything for my birthday because I believe in celebrating life than just a single day. I believe that each day is a new day and a special day so why just single out one singe day?” Anupam said.

The two-time national award-winning actor made his acting debut in the 1982 Hindi movie Aagman, but carved a niche for himself by playing a grieving father in the 1984 movie Saaransh. His portrayal garnered immense critical and commercial acclaim. Then there was no looking back for the actor, who has done more than 400 films in his about three decade long acting career. Some of his unforgettable films include Karma, Daddy, Ram Lakhan, Lamhe, Dil, Saudagar, Hum Aapke Hain Kaun...!, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge and Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Mara. Anupam also ventured into direction with Om Jai Jagadish in the year 2003. However he is yet to tread the same path again.

Also, the versatile actor manages his acting school Actor Prepares that has branches in Mumbai, Chandigarh, Ahmedabad and Britain.The Padma Shri winner will balance work and family on his birthday.“I will be inaugurating The EU Film Festival in Mumbai on my birthday. Then my parents are in town, so will catch up with them and spend time with them. No other plans,” he revealed. — IANS

Actors Neha Dhupia says she was troubled by Anupam Kher's last minute backout from controversial Bollywood film Dear Friend Hitler.The actor is playing Hitler's girlfriend Eva Braun in the movie. Kher had agreed to play the title character but backed out after protest from fans. Raghubir Yadav later replaced him.

Many had thought that with Kher walking out of the project Neha, the only other recognizable name in the movie, too would follow suit.But the actress, who is basking in the success of Phas Gaye Re Obama says that would have been unprofessional.

"When I didn't have any issues with the film earlier, why would I have any at a later stage, especially when my producers were struggling to get a replacement for Anupam Kher," says Neha.The actor, however, says that she was not sure of the film's fate after Kher walked out of the project." I did feel let down. Also, my faith in the film was slightly hampered. After all for me the best known person in the film was Kher. I did wonder that why would he do something like that when we were all so charged to get started," she says.

"He is a senior actor and I am sure he had his reasons but everything has turned out for good. Raghubir has been fantastic so no regrets. We were able to make what we were set out for," she adds.While Neha is happy following the adage of aal izzz well, she does acknowledge that her professional life has become better post the success of Phas Gaye Re Obama. "It is a great phase. Phas Gaye Re Obama is still winning awards,” she said. — PTI

Amateur Bird Watchers of Chandigarh and North India organised a first-of-its-kind bird watching event in the city

For the city, bird races have predominantly been an unexplored area, but on Sunday, when Amateur Bird Watchers of Chandigarh and North India, along with HSBC India organised a first-of-its-kind event here, the enthusiasm was marked. As many as 80 participants comprising 20 teams, including three from Delhi, Dehradun and Nepli, participated in day-long event.

Well, for starters a bird race is not a race amongst birds. It instead involves humans (read experienced and budding birdwatchers) spending an entire day spotting and identifying birds in an endeavour to record as many species as possible. "Teams were required to set off early in the morning and walk, trek, drive, dive or ply to cover as many sites as they wanted within the 40-kilometre radius of the city. Chandigarh has approximately 300 different species of birds and the team that spotted the maximum was to be declared winner," says Rima Dhillon, one of the organisers and an avid bird-watcher herself.

And in this case the winner, team Oreos, came back with the highest count of 152 bird species. The teams were free to carve out their own routes within the stipulated area that included sites such as Pinjore, Morni Hills, Nepli, Kansal, Sukhna Lake et al.

The event got an overwhelming response with even a team of school children from YPS Chandigarh taking part. The teams that came in second and third were 'Pintail' and 'Hawk' spotting 127 and 93 species, respectively.

The Chandigarh Kalit Kala Akademi organised a condolence meeting on Sunday to pay tributes to late renowned artist Sohan Qadri. A slide show covering some major aspects of Sohan Qadri's life and art works and a documentary on him were screened.

A painter, poet and tantric yogi, Qadri was a spiritual person to the core. Qadri rhythmically serrated and punctured the surface of paper as part of his meditation practice. Relying on a language of orifices and elongated paths or lines, he abandoned representation in search of transcendence. Serenely composed, his works are intended to arrest the viewer's thinking process and invite him or her to enter a metaphysical realm. The artist started exploring spiritual themes in the 1950s.

Qadri was born in Punjab, in the village of Chachoki, near Jalandhar. At the young age he was initiated into yogic practice first by Bikham Giri, and few years later he became close to a Sufi figure, Ahmed Ali Shah Qadri, whose last name he adopted. From them he imbibed an ecumenical and a deep spiritual yearning. He Studied from Chandigarh College of Art when it was operational in Shimla before being shifted to Chandigarh. — TNS

Actor Reese Witherspoon always carry her make-up kit with her whenever she goes out. Witherspoon, who is engaged to Hollywood agent Jim Toth, hates to be caught without her favourite cosmetics, though she insists she tries to limit what she takes with her.

"I have a bunch of different make-up bags - one in my car, one in my handbag and one at home. I try to keep them small, but I have about five lipglosses, mascara, cover-up, lipstick and blush," said she

The actress also doesn't forget to keep a white eyeliner pencil, as she believes it keeps her looking refreshed. "Put a little white eyeliner in the centre of your inner eye when you're tired. It makes your eyes look awake!" The 34-year-old star also admits that she takes more care of her appearance now as she is getting older. — IANS