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Class Apart
IF the thought of what lies beneath the boring gift boxes wrapped up in equally mundane paper drives you away from Diwali gifts, then this is a must read. But before you read on, run through this gift quotient test:
- What does a sticky square box hold? - What does a sturdy and slightly heavy tin box hold? - What does red, golden & green lace on a cardboard box remind you of? - What do boxes that produce a clinking sound hold? Chamcham, assorted cookies, dry fruits, and crockery... If you have answered even three of the above correctly, then you are reading the right story. For, we bring for you some interesting ideas that will add a whiff of freshness, style and individuality to the unexciting world of Diwali gifts. Cook it Up You flaunt the “best chef” cap in your circle and everybody wants the recipes of your goodies. If you don’t want to share the secret, mix together all dry ingredients of a particular recipe, put in a pretty jar, attach mixing instructions and gift it. You save yourself the hassle of gift hunting! Create a Hamper How about a custom-made hamper keeping in mind individual preferences? Load it with simple or exclusive, cheap or expensive things, or just about anything. Plan a theme hamper like edibles, bath products, liquor & chocolates or mix & match. Fetch a cane basket from the florist, load it with goodies, sprinkle some glitter, wrap up and decorate with ribbons or fresh flowers. Go Arty This is for the ones who appreciate finer things in life. The ongoing exhibition at Art Folio-9 offers good buys. Landscapes and monuments in watercolour (2’x 3’) start from Rs 3,000. Delicate Tanjore art (1’ x1’) can be picked between Rs 1,500 and Rs 7,000. Or pick up Italian or local artists’ prints from framing shops for as little as Rs 150. Wacky & Fun How about gifting your newly wed didi-jiju a ride in a stretch limo or your child a hot air balloon flight? Or gifting your mom-dad their charcoal pencil portrait? Well, all this is just a click away. Just log on to www.excitinglives.com and take your pick. Personal Touch How about greetings that boast of your family pic or of a masterpiece created by your five-year old? The city’s first instant offset machine lets you create personalised cards. Starting at Rs 10, you can even get a single card printed. Choose from set designs or give your own. All it takes is two hours to 48 hours. Indulge & Pamper Your friend has been dying to go for a spa. Your brother can’t help ogling at the new playstation. Your dad says a match is best watched on a Plasma TV. How about gifting your loved ones things they want badly but feel guilty buying for oneself? So, chuck the “value for money” bit for once and see the faces of your loved ones light up. Booked Know of a person who loves to read but think gifting a book is too simple? Head to The English Book Shop-17 and pick a book box. Priced at Rs 100, these coloured cardboard boxes hold the book in one section and anything from chocolates, dry fruits, cookies to even a Mont Blanc pen in the other section. Classy, yummy and educative, all rolled into one. Sweet & Safe Be it bumchums, cousins, uncles, new neighbours or even your boss, there can’t be a better and safer gift than chocolate. One, we all love to bite into this sinful sweet (regardless of weight and age). Two, they have a longer shelf life. Three, there is a variety in both taste and budget. An assorted box of imported chocs would be apt for a boss and our very own Cadbury’s pack is perfect for Mrs Singh down the lane. |
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Let’s splurge with a difference this Diwali. We toured the town, met some of the city’s less-fortunate spirited souls and came back with unbelievably beautiful and more than affordable heartening creations. And, lest you label it as charity, let’s tell you it’s called thoughtful splurging. So hop aboard our shopping wagon! Street Art
Buy: Bags, folders, vases Bring joy to: Chhoti Si Asha, a rehabilitation group of streetkids. Pay: Rs 50-100 for bags, Rs 30 for vases and Rs 70 for file folders. At: Lajpat Rai Bhawan-15 or call at 9872469046 Our Jewels
Buy: Ceramic earrings, chokers and neckpieces Bring joy to: Ladli, a vocational training centre in Jaipur. Splurge: Rs 50-200. At: Suvasa-8. Vision Beautiful
Buy: Candles — standard, floating & square Bring joy to: 150 visually-impaired kids Pay: Rs 1-35 At: Society for the Care of the Blind-26 Voice of City
Forget sympathy, smiles and courage rule her. The festive season sees these kids dabble with colours and experiment with candle moulds. Buy: Candles & greeting cards Bring joy to: 120 mute, deaf kids. Pay: Rs 5-25 At: Deaf & Dumb School-19 Slum Strength
Buy: Greeting cards Bring joy to: Slum women of Colony no.5 Pay: Rs 10 At: Yuvsatta-11 or call at 9888212838 Creative Act
shoe shiners, sweepers and cleaners create art pieces from the waste lying at your home. Buy: Paper bags, pottery, flowers, diyas Bring joy to: Actor kids, part of city group Theatre Age. Pay: Rs 1-Rs 1,000 At: Government High School- 24
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A Sweet Surrender
If it is the aroma of freshly baked cookies that tempt you, then city bakeries have a variety of over 20 cookies — butter, almond, nutty, choco fudge, pista, ginger, almond, choco cream, honey almond, custard, walnut and more. These are priced from Rs 60 a kg onwards and goes up to Rs 325. You can pick them per piece, per box or can include them in an assortment with other sweet delights. There are assorted imported cookie boxes for Rs 150 onwards. Royal Classics, Tropical Selections, Danish Style Cookies, Copenhagen and Kravour are some of the options on city shelves. These start from Rs 250
per kg. Single king-size muffins wrapped in transparent sheet tied with plastic ribbons or a bunch of these too make an ideal gift. Britannia’s pack for Rs 150 is a delectable combo of cakes and biscuits. And for your cream dreams, there is an exciting range of cakes priced at Rs 250 a kg onwards to pick from, including sinful chocolate, juicy strawberry, crunchy butterscotch and enticing blackberry. Champagne-filled caramel, almond, cashewnuts, truffle, hazelnut and rum-raisin chocolates too can be added to an assorted bunch of goodies. Or, you can go in for chocolate packs like Nestle, Chocopie, Vochelle, Soreign Assortment, Ferrero Rocher and Cadburys. You can even make your own hamper depending upon your taste and budget. And for all those who keep a count of their calories even during the festive season all these goodies are available in sugar-free options too. So, go ahead and indulge. (Available at Nik Bakers-9, Monicas-8, Sharma Bakery-16, Real Bakeries-15 & other local shops in the city)
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It’s that time of the year again when sweet cravings can be satisfied without guilt. The city foodies are already making a beeline to the sweet shops to take their pick from the endless colourful mithais on offer. And, the shops too are doing their bit to make sure that you take home more than just the sugary delights. This season the stress is on both taste and packaging. Inventive combinations of badam with flavourful additions like pista and kesar are luring the customers. But ruling the tastebuds is the wide variety of sweets made from kaju. Kaju mango - a delicious combination of kaju katli with a tinge of mango flavour, kaju apple, kaju anaar, kaju badam - a combination of badam-pista rolls, kaju dry fruits katoris, kaju dry fruit cake and kaju kesar rolls are selling like hot cakes. Some other interesting kaju alternatives include kaju paan which is a paan flavoured kaju katli rolled in the shape of a paan and adorned with verk. Kaju delights are fast catching the fancy of customers for its taste and longer shelf life. Also, these have emerged as a preferred choice for gifting to friends and relatives. At Gopal Sweets-8, apart from kaju items, it’s the names of the sweets that is doing the trick, when it comes to attracting customers. There is chand bahar, a delectable combination of dry fruits and fruits, dilkhush mango, anarkali, gajra bahar and pista launge, a combination of dry fruits. Rectangular blocks in flavours like chocolate and pistas too are on offer. For those who love to gorge on traditional sweets only, they can bite into the good ol’ mooti choor ladoo, jalebi, peda, barfi, gulab jamun, ras mallai and rasgulla. Well, the spirit of Diwali is no doubt infusing one and all to bite into these scrumptious delights, but is also giving them a chance to go innovative and creative with packaging. Boring dibbas wrapped in cellophane sheets is passé and has given way to designer packaging. And there are a lot many options to choose from. Boxes in steel with meenakari work, in glass with a tinge of colour, in wood adorned with coloured stones, in cardboard with sequins and more. Priced between Rs 200 and Rs 800, some of these boxes cost a lot more than even the mithai that they hold. For instance, Sindhi Sweets-17 has a designer palki that can hold an assortment of four mithais and is priced at Rs 1,500. Says owner Neeraj Bajaj, “The customers want to exchange sweets in style so we’ve hired designers to add a special touch to packing.” So this festive season you have the option to both savour the delicacies as well as show off. |
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Cheers to all those who know how and what to play. But the ones who don’t have a clue, let us help prepare you, for the goddess of wealth smiles upon the one who plays cards on Diwali eve and ensures goodwill. Read on to get initiated. Teen Patti Players: 2 to 10 The Aim: To have the best 3card hand, and to maximise the pot- before the showdown. The method: It’s the same game in which many unlucky Bollywood heroes lost all their possessions and ended poor, miserable and drunk. The dealer deals all players three cards, and all leave their cards face down until it is their turn to bet. Everyone places this minimum stake in the pot - a collection of money in the centre of the table - that will be won by one of the players. A series of betting begins on who has the best hand. One can look at their hand before betting (playing seen) or leave them face down on the table (playing blind). A quick tip, play with money only if you are a professional, otherwise play like Saif with chips or even chocolates like Ferrero Rocher. One Ferrero Rocher = Rs 10,000? Rummy Players: 2 to 6 The Aim: To make a sequ-ence of one four and two three’s and to finish first. The method: All players are dealt 11, 15 or 21 cards. The first player begins by taking one card from the top of the stockpile; if it doesn’t fit in his hand he discards it otherwise keeps it and discards another unwanted card. Subsequently all the players pick, check and keep or discard the card from the stockpile or the discard pile by turn. If the player has a valid sequence in his hand, then he may lay the combination face up on the table (melding) by placing the last discarded card face down on top of the discard pile. Bridge Players: 4 The Aim: Each partnership tries to win (or take) as many tricks as possible. The method: The game consists of the auction (often called bidding) and play, after which the hand is scored. The bidding ends with a contract, which is a declaration by one partnership that their side shall take at least a stated number of tricks, with specified suit as trump or without trumps. The rules of the play are similar to other trick-taking games, with addition of the feature that one player’s hand is displayed face up on the table as the dummy. — A. S. |
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Poetry in Steel
Clean lines, smooth, sensuous contours! Before you get the wrong idea, that’s stainless steelware we are talking about. Catch the beauty in a photo frame, artistry in a coffee cup, ingenuity in a desk clock…where the strength of steel blends with the delicacy of fine china, glassware and ceramics in a surge of innovative creativity. These works of art in stainless steel are sure to lend class, dignity and sophistication to any decor.
So do not rush to the nearby crockery shop to buy that the same ol’ boring stuff for this Dhanteras that falls on November 7 this year. At least not without having a look at the variety of new utensils in snazzy looks and varied shapes and sizes that have hit the market this festive season. The day is considered auspicious to purchase at least one new utensil. But it is all right to deviate a little from tradition and go for hi-end utensils like Magpie, Treo or Art D’nox. The best part is that you do not even have to go to a branded showroom to get one. Almost all your neighbourhood crockery shops have stocked them. What’s in is steel in matte finish. The variety includes dining sets to bar, office and bath accessories to even home decor — all designed in simple and sleek line. Another new innovation is steel blended with ceramic, glass or wood. Style and beauty rules the roost as far as choice of customers are concerned. Then there are Champagne buckets with stand, ice bucket, jugs — all beautifully carved in steel. The elegant space ace jugs with an attractive handle are meant for that easy grip stands out among them. Another attractive accessory is the bar tool set, complete with an ice tong, peg measure, bar knife, bottle opener and cocktail strainer. Next in line are jars in transparent glasses and in shapes like square, hexagonal, pentagonal, all meant to give that snazzy look. So go get that trendiest steel for your kitchen and impress one and all this festive season. Dhanteras marks the commencement of Diwali festivities. The day is celebrated two days prior to the Festival of Lights in honour of Dhanavantri, the physician of the gods and an incarnation of Vishnu. It is an auspicious occasion to purchase precious metals and utensils.
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Diwali is about having fun, but one should not forget that safety is as important. Run through the safety measures with us. Cracker burn? Don’t panic. Keep the wound under running water for 20 - 25 minutes. Don’t apply toothpaste, flour dough, oil etc, instead apply Soframycin. “We want the heat to dissipate, these home remedies keep the heat locked inside,” says dermatologist Mallika Sachdeva. “In case of serious burns and splinters, clean with diluted dettol and rush to the doc,” guides Dr Sandeep Dhavan. Worried over skin allergies? Don’t worry, you won’t get any from crackers. And if you are asthmatic, keep your inhalers handy and chest covered. Advises Dr Dhavan, “Take an anti-allergic medicine and if you feel breathless or choked then move to a place with fresh air.” Eyes are the most important, sensitive and exposed area and complete precautions must be taken. “In case of an eye irritation, splash a lot of water and don’t rub the eyes with dirty hands,” advises eye specialist Dr D. S. Virdi. Keep a first-aid box ready with essentials like painkiller, dettol, antiseptic crème and gauge-bandage. Have a happy and safe Diwali. — A. M.
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Bhatt’s Up?
So, when an opportunity presented us to have a telephonic conversation with the master filmmaker and writer, we just grab it. The phones are connected and the countdown begins. We decide to hit straight with our questions (the noises in the background and his slight impatient tone indicate that the conversation won’t stretch for more than three minutes) — what brings him to the judges’ panel of a reality show? “The satisfaction of seeing hidden talent being drawn out of non-singers and groomed by able teachers. It is indeed a gratifying emotion to watch the mentor and student exploring potential,” he drawls, adding how as a filmmaker, he has made music extraordinaire a USP of his flicks. But this feeling has nothing to do with him being a filmmaker. He is not looking for potential singers sitting in that judge’s chair. “The whole thing is quite enjoyable in fact. Those light moments that happen once a week energise me (well, his whistle had said it all!). Well, light moments apart, what does he think of today’s reality shows? “There is very little reality in such reality shows,” as his answer hit us and before we could regain our composure, we shot out “How?” “We, both judges and contestants, behave quite erratically in such shows. We praise them, we scream at them and they, in turn, try to influence judges and viewers.” Though the conversation gets disrupted due to bad signal (flip side of technology!), we get the general picture. After all, have not we all had an over dose of such melodrama of the SMS-breed of singers? However, keeping our thought to ourselves, we proceed with our next question — What are the points that he is looking for while judging the contestants? “Talent and passion. Like I said on the show that I loved the madness of Suresh Wadkar and wished we had more such kind of teachers on the show.” According to Mahesh, Parthiv Gohil is another good teacher who could bring out the best of Apara Mehta by making her shed her inhibition. This is an example he cites to reinforce his views on the traditional guru-shishya parampara, which is so happening in the performing art circuit. “I question the parampara and that of a guru who is more like a dictator. Agreed, that the guru is the ultimate of all learning, but he should be able to create a student.” Keeping the serious tone going, we ask him what brings him to the forefront of all debates on social issues? “Like the recent Tehelka expose once again showed us that in a nation which is called the ‘mother of civilizations’, we have people who commit mass murders and come out on tape admitting that they had done it and with so much pride too. I feel it’s the duty of any conscientious person to fight for justice.” The beep in the line indicates that our three-minute interview is about to end and as we bid our hasty goodbyes, it leaves us feeling a little incomplete and a little sad. But happy that in that short while he gives us a glimpse of his true-self and we realise what makes him Mahesh Bhatt — the filmmaker who is always ahead of time.
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Son of a keen gardener, Sarthak’s interest in gardening grew when his teacher at Saupins–32 gave him plants to take home and look after. This got him hooked and the little boy started helping his father in watering the 50 flowerpots at their flat. While his father was deweeding one usual day, Sarthak saw the marigold plant that was growing on a side as a weed. Carefully taking it out, he planted it in another flowerpot by digging a hole with his bat. Planted in July, this plant was rising in height at a fast pace and so was Sarthak’s excitement. The little gardener, whose hobbies include skating and painting, would compare the height of the plant with himself and in no time the plant crossed this planter’s height to make a record of sorts. Standing on a single stem with the help of wired support this plant has become the delight of all neighbours and friends. Surprised, one is compelled to ask the obvious question what did they do? “Sarthak just watered the plant and no special manure or fertilizer was added”, replies the proud father, Subhash Mago. Well maybe the intentions of saving a plant made all the difference. And this is a silent reciprocation by the flower to his little angel. — Aman Minhas
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Matka chowk
A lot of people said – “It is a beautiful city, we have heard, and very well planned.” Is it still very well planned? Some said – “It is a really expensive city. Everything costs three times, including sabzi and real estate.” We can vouch for the latter. Some others said, “We have heard Punjabis eat a lot of chicken. Don’t they?” They were very surprised to hear that most of the people I know in Chandigarh are vegetarians. Some said – “We have heard Chandigarh is full of NRIs and parents of NRIs– and their houses have nothing but American gadgets.” We will need to hide our LG TVs to protect that reputation. Some said – “There are lots of open spaces in Chandigarh, isn’t that correct?” I shuddered to think of the future. One Kolkata mused – “Isn’t it wonderful that you all do not have any multi-storied buildings in or around Chandigarh!” They haven’t seen the real estate advertisements in Tribune, lately! One lady asked me – “Why was it chosen as the capital of Punjab?” Well, I remembered that some people in Chandigarh thought Bhubaneswar was in Maharashtra! One older gentleman asked me – “I have heard Punjab is a very rich state. I am sure you all don’t face any of our problems – like power cuts, beggars, potholes and slums.” What could I say? Some older people who have been to the city remembered the lake and the flowers. Some remembered the winter apples, the good golfing and the landscape. Surprisingly, very few young folks claimed to have ever visited our city. They asked me about different things – the IT park and its progress, the price of property, the clubs and the restaurants. While answering their questions – I realised how glad I am not to live in a city fuelled simply by high-tech or industry or explosive market pulls. And where can you find a city where you can hear the strains of ramleela floating in through the window on a balmy autumn night by while munching on locally bought multi-grain bread and Belgian chocolate?
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Film & Fashion
The famous museum’s London wing had put the actors’ statues up for display to coincide with the DVD launch of their hit film Ocean’s Thirteen. However, after only one day on display staff found out that it had been a mistake to put out the wax works when female fans mauled them. While Pitt’s posterior was badly damaged from pinches, Clooney’s cheeks were left covered in lipstick. The frenzy showed just how popular the two Hollywood heavyweights were. Wanderlust Aussie singer Kylie Minogue has confessed that she wants to ‘go feral’ if she ever gave up her pop career. The 39-year old singer said if she ever relinquished her successful singing career she would just pack her bags and go roving with her friends. “I would love to have a backpack and just go,” she said. “I’m thinking about it. But I’m a little snowed under right now. I need to go feral!” she said. “But what you don’t realise is I actually am like that in certain situations. We have a holiday farmhouse in Australia, the family, and it’s all about gumboots and flies and barbecues and there’s one store. I love it,” she added. Ugly Duckling Fashion model Sophie Dahl has said growing out of the ugly duckling phase was not at all fun for her. The 30-year English model said as a child she used to look like the kids who featured on adopt-a-child posters. “As a child, I looked like one of those adopt-a-child posters, with round, NHS spectacles and a patch over my left eye,” she said. “By the time I was 17, I looked like a refugee from the Playboy Club, with enormous bosoms, blonde hair and a liking for very short skirts and fishnets,” she said. The size 10 model, said that by looking at her earlier snaps she used to think that she was quite big but later she slimmed down naturally. Angel for Britney Magician Criss Angel is standing firmly in Britney Spears’ corner as she battles to get her life back on track. While appearing on a US chat show, the Criss Angel Mindfreak actor said he understood what the 25-year old troubled star was going through in her life. “I understand what she goes through in her life,” he said. “She lives under a microscope, and it’s unbelievable to see. It’s difficult to watch,” he said. “I really feel for her, I want the best for her, I want her to feel complete, and if she’s happy with her performance I guess that’s what matters,” he added. Angel was once romantically linked with Spears.
— ANI Hollywood Hotties Angelina Jolie and actor Wentworth Miller are the ‘Ultimate Hotties’ in Hollywood according to a new poll. The poll was conducted by US magazine Entertainment Weekly and its Internet site EW.com, which asked its readers to choose the women and men they thought were the hottest in showbiz. The results rolled in after a month with Jolie taking the top spot in the ladies’ category and Miller taking the top spot in the gent’s category. Among the women, coming in second was Raquel Welch, followed by Marilyn Monroe in third place. Rounding off the top five was Jessica Alba and Monica Belluci who came in fourth and fifth place respectively. Among the men, Miller was followed by Christian Bale in second place and Josh Holloway in third place. Paul Newman came in at fourth spot with Gerard Butler and George Clooney taking the fifth position. |
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Song of the soul
He comes back twice a year with his latest collection of songs — a tradition that he has been following for the past 34 years. This year too is no exception. S. Rakesh, whom we know as the Thodi thodi piya karo man, is ready with a bouquet of 15 songs that he has penned down in the last few months.
The latest achievement of Rakesh, who has already given hit numbers like Ye peene wale bahut hi ajeeb hain and Dil mangda jaan o methon jaan mangda, is a song on female foeticide, which is being sung by Usha Uthup. “The song will be out in music stores shortly,” says Rakesh. His other numbers include a song on Chandigarh—Pathron ka nahi, a song to inspire children to be respectful to their elders and another that glorifies the hard work of the people who run wine shops, for they open their shops early in the morning and close it late at night. What is new that he is offering us this time? “All the songs are new. But my compositions, as usual, will be based on the perfect blend of rhythm and melody,” he explains. His songs will be sung by Brejesh Ahuja, Neelam Chauhan, Venu Kautish, Arjun Jaipuri, Jaspreet Jassal and Kavita. The programme titled, Volume Up will be presented by Swar Saptak Kala at Law Bhawan-37 on November 11. — P. R.
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Sprinkle Festivity
Drape festivity
# Place some newspapers on the floor, spread the curtains on them and just stick sequins the size of a 25-paisa coin at random on for a starry effect. # Love flowery patterns? Draw a simple three-petal flower with a pencil on the curtain and stick some multicoloured dori. # Beginning at the bottom of the curtain, fix uneven or diagonal lines of sequin lace at least one inch apart. # Simply drape an old saree as a pelmet cover with the heavy border falling on the curtains in a wave. # String together 5’ long pipes and big sitaras one after the other. Make five to six such strings. Hang them on a rod to make a curtain or you could even hang them on your existing curtains. Material required: Sequin or stone lace, loose sequins, and multicoloured dori, Fevicyrl no stitch fabric glue. Tip: Geometric patterns are simpler. Unleash your creativity, mix and match colours and materials. Floating fire Don’t have the time for all this? Fill the biggest bowl in the house with three-quarters of water. Pluck colourful petals, sprinkle and float some candles. Materials required: Fresh flowers, floating candles, a big bowl Tip: To add a little jazz, sprinkle some glitter on candles, flowers. Twinkling cushions Bored of the good ol’ red cushion cover? Give it a facelift. # Draw concentric squares with a pencil on the cushion cover and stick the sequin lace on each square. Use different colours for each square for a colour-maze effect. # Stick mirrors or big gold sitaras without space on the cushions in circles or just randomly. # Starting from the centre of the cushion, stick sequins or dori in the form of sun’s rays towards outside. # Draw random horizontal lines stick some sequin lace on the lines. You could alternate two colours for maximum effect. # Draw random open ended squares on the cushions and stick thick golden or silver gotta spaced at half-an-inch. Material required: Sequined lace or loose sequins, gold sitaras or mirrors, Fevicyrl no stitch fabric glue. Tip: Pick cushions in checks, geometric or floral patterns and start sticking sequins or small mirrors on the pattern lines. Tablemats
& runners # Draw a wine glass on the right corner of each mat. For the mouth draw an open inverted triangle, a vertical line for the stem and a horizontal for the base. Stick sequin lace on the drawing and voila! Your mats are ready. # On the corners of the mats stick five diagonal sequin lines spaced at half-an-inch joining two adjacent sides of the mat. The first one being the shortest, and the fifth being the longest. # Buy some ready-to-stick patches in various shapes like butterfly or flowers and just start sticking. Blooming flowers, blooming pots Mix turpentine oil in metallic and glitter colours for a glazed look. A couple of bottles will be sufficient. Let the kids paint and even if they smudge don’t worry. That will create new patterns. Materials required: Glitter paints, thick brush, turpentine oil. Tip: Add some sparkle powder to the paint Prep the Diya Buy a big Diya. Mix gold dust and turpentine oil to make gold paint. Double coat the diya. Let it dry. Make floral or geometrical patterns with a single or multicoloured sparkle tube. Materials required: Diya, sparle tube, bindis, gold dust, turpentine oil. Tip: With the help of your kids stick some fancy bindis or ready to stick floral patches. Sweet temptation Tempt the guests with your delicious looking plate. Take a big platter, lace it with gotta or sequin lace. Light a diya at the centre; make islands of sweets and chocolates around it. Decorate the sweets with silver balls or tooty-frootie. Materials required: A big platter, gotta or sequin lace, Feviqwik, a packet of tooty-frootie and silver balls. Tip: Arrange sweets in different colours and place it on the centre table. 2-Minute Solutions Pick up marigold and mango leaf strings from the temple florist. Hang it for a traditional touch. Buy ladi’s or Chinese lights and carelessly spread them on the floor or dinning table or tape them around the coffee table. You could even try to shape them into a flower. Improvise a little and instead of using the regular table-mats, cut banana leaves and use them. An interesting way to add to the festive mood.
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ROCK the night
From the delightfully visual ones to the deafening noisy ones, firecrackers come in attractive shapes, varying sizes and astonishing prices. Hot favourites and a high on the to-buy list this year are the sky shots that fly high and burst open into multiple umbrellas of colourful embers. Thrilling for those who set them on fire and a spectacular sight for the ones watching, these colour sprays are a delight to watch. Starting from Rs 1,000 onwards, their price goes up to Rs 15,000. And well, higher the price, more the number of umbrellas. Available in big huge hampers, interestingly some of them even include free gifts inside. Now, that’s what we call marketing in crackers. These come with interesting names like Bonfire Night priced at Rs 7,000, Pyro priced at Rs 15,000, Graphics-180 and more. The ever popular and visually enchanting flowerpots too have spiced up. The white sparkles of these anaars have given way to sparkles in five different colours. If it is the ear deafening sounds that please you then take your pick from the range of garlands. Forget the one-piece ladi, garlands have gone bigger and expensive. Take home a 10,000 Lar or a 5000 power flash, light it and enjoy its booming noise that will last for at least ten minutes. The favourites that have been around for long include mild flower pots, electric crackers, ground wheel (charki), high flying rockets, and of course a range of explosive ear-deafening bombs. aneesha@tribunemail.com
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Indian Idols
CHINA is not the only one waging a commercial war to emerge victorious on the religious front in India. Spain, too, has jumped into the combat zone with a bang just before the explosive festival of Diwali. Idolised always for fine and fashionable craftsmanship, the country has religiously flooded the market with immaculate little idols of Indian gods and goddesses.
That’s right, folks! You have danced to the beats of Spanish music. Now, it’s time for you to faithfully worship the workmanship involved in meticulously crafting idols, that also of native deities. Just in case you haven’t witnessed the explosion in the population of imported Indian idols, just drive down to the arcades. Ambling through the aisles lined with temptation in impressive showrooms and gift malls, you will find Indian deities made in Spain dazzling on the glass shelves under synthetic lights like never before. Oh, yes! Definitely high class and exclusive with fine carvings that reflect class, the silvery idols have managed to push some of the Indian and the Chinese counterparts off the counters in gift stores and galleries across the city. “Until last year you mostly had made-in-China idols dominating the religious scene,” says Raman Kumar, in jewellery and gift business for over a decade. “The idols are good, undoubtedly. But, just like so many other Chinese goods, they do not flaunt superiority and finesse”. The Spanish idols, on the other hand, definitely belong to the high-end category and are crafted out of pure silver. But at the same time they are definitely light weight are not very expensive. “You may find it incredible if you have so far stayed away from religious shopping, but you can actually place a Spanish idol in the temple of your heart, and house, by pulling out less than Rs 500 from your wallet,” says Sabby of Silver Haze-9. “The range goes up to Rs 10,000”. You undeniably have a choice of gods and goddesses. In fact, you can exercise your option in favour of goddess Laxmi or Lord Rama. You even have the idol of Ganesh and Hanuman. Depending upon your budget, you can pick out the size. The preference is yours, entirely. The idols, he asserts, are made by master craftsmen, not necessarily Indians. “You see, so many companies and export houses in Spain are into marketing stuff worldwide. No wonder, they tailor-make things to suit local needs and meet native demands”. Sabby says the idols make an ideal gift on Diwali. “As they are rare, they befit the occasion and the chances of duplication of gifts are far less. Otherwise also, the idols are something everyone welcomes and honours. So, if you have been thinking of a good gift this festive season, you can allow your brain to take a break now!” |
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