This one's in memory of the rare opportunity that we will not get till next year. We really can't say about others associated with the Chandigarh Fashion Week, but we'll desperately miss it for more than one reason - the glamour it brought to the city in terms of designers, models, celebrities and much more. And since we couldn't highlight some aspects earlier because of the showstoppers, here's a sneak peek.

Manali Jagtap didn't want her trousseau collection to be displayed by models doing the usual march past on the ramp. Then, pure Punjabi music, dhols, garlands, turbans were added to render the look of a wedding scene to the show. "It would have looked programmed had models only cat-walked. Choreography of the show demanded fun and dance," says Manali. So Rahul Vaidya danced and so did Nauheed Cyrusi, supported well by models on the ramp. "The show was really dramatic and it helped involve the audience better. We did everything to complement the theme of the show, Wedding Satva."

Just a day before Manali Jagtap's show, which means on Day 1, some foot-tapping was done by Zulfi Syed and Shawar Ali for the Ed Hardy show. Zulfi has more to share, "Ed Hardy is a brand for youth and you can't present it in a boring manner. So, we tried to introduce it by doing a bit of hip-hop on the ramp."

Nida Mahmood's collection 'Machis' and the extraordinary way of presentation won many hearts. The show began with a sound that's produced when a matchstick is lit. The lighting effect was also in tandem with the way a matchstick burns - from light yellow to bright yellow. The second part of the show themed around bicycles saw a model ride a bicycle on the ramp. Says Nida, "The creations supported the prop and vice versa. I wanted people to immediately connect with the theme of the show, which they did instantly." The ultimate part of the show was themed around Bollywood superstars, "Amitabh Bachchan and Rajnikant were painted on the clothes so as the background score, we used their popular dialogues."

Since our very own Babi Grewal's show also displayed trousseau collection, models before taking to the ramp, as part of the concept, checked their make-up and hair-do in a huge mirror kept on the ramp. Babi explains, "Models and designs are common to every show and what distinguishes one from the other is only a little drama."

The last show organised by Liliane Fonds Foundation was the most memorable. Instead of having just glam faces as showstoppers, the show had specially-abled children doing the honours with Harman Baweja. The credit for the same goes to Menu, choreographer of the all the shows, who says it's time fashion shows offered more than expected. "Children made people emotionally connect with the show. It was a celebration of life as everyone cheered them," says Menu.

The three-day show gave us enough to remember till season three! ashima@tribunemail.com

Fashion industry is female-dominated and there are no two ways about it, but the reasons for having no male supermodel for a long time now are different. "It's because the trend of having Bollywood showstoppers has grown and models are no more in the forefront,' says Shawar Ali, model and now an actor. "We have showstoppers, not supermodels now."

What about having too many faces on ramp? "That's there too, but models are no more at the centre. Instead, it's all about having a celebrity showstopper," says actor-model Zulfi Syed. Both hunks were in the city to walk the ramp for Blender's Pride Chandigarh Fashion week. And how was the experience? "It was great. People are really enthusiastic and the city is very peaceful," says Zulfi, who was here for the first time. It has good potential, and should be publicised more. As for Shawar, better was the word. "Its better organised from the last time, maybe because it's the second year. The entire festive mood makes it better. But nonetheless, response of people was great. They were really interested in the show."

Other than that, while Shawar is busy with Sunny Deol's The man, Zulfi too is trying out his acting skills in a movie. "It's an action movie, where I play the anti-hero. We will start shooting in February next year,' he informs. Shawar too is playing the negative character. What's with the bad boy fixation? "It's interesting playing grey shades and it’s intense, not mushy," says Shawar. — Neha Walia

Does anybody still need a confirmation on the fact that Rajasthan is one of the most popular tourist destinations in India? Julia Roberts has been there, so has Madonna and recent addition to the list of celebs was Katy Perry and Russell Brand, who tied the knot there. Besides, all that makes the state a hit tourist spot is put on display as photographs at the Rajasthan Extravaganza at the Himachal Bhawan-28.

The exhibition also has traditional crafts of the state on display. “Bandej is known as such because every thread is tied to each other to make a complete cloth. It takes one month’s time to tie all threads,” informs Rafi Ahmed, whose stall has ‘bandej’ in chiffon, georgette and silk.

The handicrafts also include bangles made in silk thread and leather footwear. The state is also popular for the gotta patti work, which is adopted by fashion designers at the international level as well. At the stall by Akash Mehra, there is a wide variety of gotta patti. “Artists only in Rajasthan make gotta out of a hard material like copper,” says Akash. — Ashima Sehajpal

Now when you are arranging your garden by planting winter seasonal flowers, you must be planning to have the best. Maybe you are striving to participate in the ensuing winter flower and garden shows. It is only the meticulous planning at this stage that you will succeed. And what the judges see. There are many a factors but one very important factor is 'where is something new, different?'

So as to add that 'different' element, you look around and what you see is the routine kind of flora. No doubt there is a wide range of winter annuals, now with different varieties that force the visitors to it give a second look. But to catch judges' attention there has to be something that they are forced to give not the look but a re-look. When you look around there is routine flora. For example, a dahlia, phlox, carnation, nasturtium or petunia will remain the same kind and what we need for a difference is an alstroemeria, hydrangea or cyclamen.

Living in Chandigarh we are blessed that we can grow such kind of flora that is otherwise specific to hills. And the hills are not far off. Even for the purpose of participating with something new, at times, the gardeners bring ready made plants from the hills in pots and plant them in the garden for the exhibition days. But plants like alstroemeria and hydrangea could be grown as permanent plants in this region.

Hydrangea is grown under the shade of trees but the spot should get plenty of sun in winter. The alstroemeria is grown on the spots that are well protected but receive partial sun. The plant is perennial but can be grown every year in case you are not able to maintain it in summer. There is a wide range of colours too and the flowers are borne in bunches. There appear many flushes in the season ie during February and March. The hydrangea on the other hand gives pink or blue flowers. No, there are no two varieties, it is the soil reaction, whether towards alkaline or acidic that the flower colour changes. You can also make amends in soil by adding chemical fertilisers but be careful. The plants of both these kinds can be multiplied by way of cuttings. In case of hydrangea, there is at times appearance of leaf spot disease in this region but it can be checked with bavistin spray. The leaves also lose their green colour due to phosphorus deficiency. This can however be corrected. The plants go dormant and shed leaves in summer at the time when there is water is scarce.

satishnarula@pau.edu.

A computer's speed gradually slows down with time. It will continue to reduce if you don't take remedial measures. However, just because your computer is a few years old does not mean that you need to purchase a brand new one.

During years of use, one tends to download a good amount of information some of which is removed by your computer automatically, but some is permanently stored in the computer's memory.

For the most part, you do not use everything that is downloaded or installed on your computer and this information is totally waste. These files are simply sitting in the memory of your computer and slowing down its overall speed. And it is best to remove this information from your computer's memory.

Cleaning the registry, which is like the brain of your computer where all the files and information are stored, can help the cause. By removing unwanted files, more space is created and that helps increase the speed.

You may not realise how much information is stored in your computer's registry until you clean it up. Performing regular registry clean up is a must and helps increase the life of the computer. Registry cleaning is a simple job and there are countless free softwares available online for this.

amitpalsinghgrewal@gmail.com

Panasonic, a Japanese manufacturer of electronic and electrical products for consumer, business and industrial use, has announced the opening of its brand shop in Sector 22. On the occasion, Hidenori Aso, managing director, Panasonic Sales and Services India Pvt. Ltd., said, "We are excited about expanding market and are looking forward to becoming a part of the community. We are focusing on both metros and non-metros for expansion and our target cities include all markets where our presence will positively contribute to the quality of life of our valued customers."

Panasonic's Brand Shop will display the complete range of lifestyle products, including Plasma TV, LCD, LED and 3DTVs, camcorders, Lumix still cameras, refrigerators, washing machines, air conditioners, kitchen appliances, beauty care and health care products and communication devices like cordless phones, fax machines and multi-function laser printers.. — TNS