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The Hindu : y>Travel premium class on British Airways and use its luxurious lounge

British Airways has opened a lounge for its premium passengers at Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport. The new lounge, styled on the Galleries lounges at its new airport in Heathrow, Terminal 5, offers comfortable seating and high-end amenities.

The lounge is open to passengers travelling First and Club World class, as well as to Gold and Silver Executive Club members. It has 150 seats, and features a Silver bar offering a selection of drinks and fine wines.

A range of hot and cold foods, as well as hot beverages, is available from the Deli Bar and Coffee House, also located within the lounge. It also offers free wireless Internet access and a Newszone to allow customers to catch up on the latest world events. For more information, visitwww.ba.com.

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The Hindu :

Visit Javed’s boutique on Kamaraj Road to get your suits tailor-made

Making it whole Javed believes a pocket handkerchief completes the ensemble

“No one does what I do,” declares Javed in his elegant boutique store on Kamaraj Road. And he is right. Javed is the only designer of men’s wear in Bangalore, who makes bespoke men’s suits. Javedbelieves in an old world attitude towards his craft.

“It is crucial that I meet my client and after sizing him up, I suggest a colour. The colour is important as it has to suit the environment he is coming from. After all it’s not every man who would prefer a hand stitched suit to wear. Experience has taught me to read a man’s mind and give him only the best which will suit him. My USP is my personal touch.”

Javed originally began in a shop in 1973 on Richmond Road, famous with all old Bangaloreans . “I had a passion for dressing well.I had a fitting room with wall-to-wall mirrors and all my friends used tohang out there. Even my logo was designed by a friend. I have never advertised, but I made sure I was out in Blue Fox every weekend and my style of dressing was my advertisement!”

In ’84 Javed moved to Kamraj Road. Today he has the original flagship store Javed on the 1st floor and he has branched out into ethnic wear for men in ‘Ethnzx’ in a shop opposite, which hiswife Samina handles. “There we specialise in wedding sherwanis. Our 23 year-old-son Shehzad is now part of the business ,” reveals Javed.

At any given time there are 100-150 designer suits and sherwanis on the racks from which a man in a hurry can pick.For weddings, Javed dresses the groom for theformal functions. “I like the whole family to come in, especially the bride so I can match her ghaghra with…More

The Hindu :

Santoor player Rahul Sharma streams together his sound with that of the Oud played by Egyptian musician Georges Kazazian

Musical high Georges Kazazian and Rahul Sharma

If the father strummed the strings of the folk instrument to produce classical ragas, the son is busy blending its soulful resonance with global sounds. From the hills to the plains and across the seas, doyen Shiv Kumar Sharma and the dapper Rahul Sharma have led the santoor on an eventful journey. The instrument now makes a well-rehearsed and interesting halt — “Confluence 3”, a sangam of the Ganges and the Nile — a convergence of the santoor and oud.

After the success of his collaborative magnum opus with piano maestro Richard Clayderman (“Confluence 1” and “Confluence 2”), Rahul Sharma makes music with oud expert Georges Kazazian of Egypt in this latest album. Rahul met Georges at a world music festival in France and was drawn by the oud’s mystique. “The sound of this pear-shaped string instrument felt familiar; very Indian — rich and expressive. At the same time, you cannot miss the vigour of Egyptian music,” says the young musician.

When Rahul put forth the idea to Georges, he was excited. Both the acoustic instruments have contrasting dynamics. While the oud has a deep bass, the notes of the santoor are sharp. “Such variations are fascinating. Instrumental tracks apart, the album has a song rendered by Sunidhi Chauhan. We have also made use of some Egyptian and Indian percussion instruments.”Exploring new soundscapes

But why include a song by a Bollywood singer in a purely instrumental album? “Rhythm has a universal appeal but you cannot deny the power of words. So, I composed ‘Marhaba’ and chose Sunidhi to sing it. Her voice has an Arabic feel that, I thought, would gel with the flavour of the album.”

The video of the album has been shot against the picturesque pyramids….More

The Hindu : y>From booking train tickets to saving rare species of animals, do it all through websites that open up new worlds, writes Marianne de Nazareth

Photo: K.R. DeepakWHY GO TO A FLORIST? Order your bouquet online

It’s wonderful to watch the excitement on Pushpa, our house help’s face, when I click open the University of Manchester, UK website on my laptop, to show her where our son has gone to study. “Foreign” is no more a nebulous world in her mind, as I have actually opened out not only the University website to show her where he is studying, but I can also show her where he is staying. That is the power of a website, which immediately not only shrinks the world, but offers a plethora of possibilities.

On the other side of the spectrum is Ramakrishna Karuturi, owner of Karuturi Global Ltd. Within a few years of starting a floriculture unit in Doddaballapur, his company has become the world’s largest producer of roses. The sitewww.karuturi.com presents the company attractively online. Ramakrishna says the website opens up for him, “an interactive information brochure for business development. My customers feel confident reading about our disciplined approach. The website offers stakeholder/investor communication and also it is a prospective employee magnet.”

“I found the PETA India website very educative since I am fond of animals,” reveals Indumathi, a second year Mass Communication Post Graduate student from St. Joseph’s College. “The websitewww.petaindia.com, is laid out attractively with large pictures. Celebrities like Angelica Huston and Celina Jaitly speak out about issues relating to the great apes and elephants.”

Hritik Bagade says the Akshaya Patra schemewww.akshayapatra.org website impressed him, as it’s the world’s largest school meal programme. “One million children are fed by this scheme, and it has even entered the Limca Book of Records. One can volunteer, contribute, raise funds and spread the word through this interactive website. All my train…More

The Hindu :

Art curator Sharan Apparao says artists dealing with current concerns and issues are the trendsetters

Photo: V. Sreenivasa MurthyChanging perceptions Sharan Apparao says art has made a dent in everybody’s lives

“It’s the beginning of a very nice phase — of buying art for art’s sake,” says Sharan Apparao, art curator. “Because of the economic slowdown, the manipulators have faded away and prices have come to a realistic level,” she adds.

Sharan Apparao who owns Apparao Galleries is here in Bangalore to present “Shringara/ Fragile”, a series of paintings and sculptures by George.K at The Collection in UB City mall.

She says it is ‘conceptual art’ that is gaining importance. And, artists dealing with current concerns and issues are the trendsetters. “It is no longer about the eye but also about the mind,” says the art lover.

She has been curating art shows for over two decades, identifying and nurturing contemporary Indian art. “My role is that of an incubator to artistic ideas. I had to do a lot of re-adjustments and re-invent myself to show contemporary media. If 1960s was about Ravi Varma’s paintings, in 1980’s, Anjali Ela Menon and Raza gained popularity. This century, we have Subodh Gupta and Sudarshan Shetty.”

Defining the current group of artists as an exciting bunch, she calls them “sharp-witted yet lyrical. They work with today’s concerns using some parts of history. Their works are a combination of aesthetics with wit, history and philosophy. They pick a current situation, be it politics, literature or environment and relate it to history.”

For instance, George K’s series on the aravanis which brings out the fragility of their lives. In his life-sized super realistic fibre glass sculptures, he softens them with the use of flower images. His shringara series is inspired by adoration of beauty. The images are contemporary, in dramatic colours, use the motif of a Kathakali artist and incorporate…More

The Hindu : y>

As another Independence Day draws closer, the relevance of the national holiday continues to be debated. MetroPlus asks city residents on the relevance of this day and whether it helps in building patriotic feelings among people and holds relevance especially with the recent spurt of terror attacks that have threatened to rip apart the collective social fabric of the country.

Most people felt that the officialdom has made such national festivals an event that does not see any public participation and has resulted in most people considering it to be just another holiday.

Some felt that all efforts must be made to eradicate terror from society to ensure that we can celebrate the national festivals without any fear and massive security arrangements.

Many expressedthat the festivities must be tweaked to involve more people and must be freed from the bureaucratic control. Many felt it was unfortunate that Independence Day has got lost in a ritualistic avatar and lost the connect with the people.

We sample some responses

Independence Day has become associated with an official function and has started to lose its relevance. Such events must involve more people participation and efforts must be made to increase awareness about terrorism and other such activities.

Sayeed

Law student

It is unfortunate that Independence Day is becoming more ritualistic and losing the connect with the people, especially in times like these when it is necessary to beef up national unity and ensure that scourge of terror is wiped out from the country.

Juhi

Law student

Independence Day must not lose its significance at this juncture, where the country is dealing with so many issues like terror, unfriendly neighbours etc. We must strive to lead a second independence movement against terror and corruption.

Santosh

Software Engineer

The need of the hour is to ensure that we deal with all the issues we face as a collective force. Occasions like these should involve more people…More

The Hindu : y>

Health drink Head out for a healthy and tasty drink

Jus Booster Juice has launched an outlet at Barton Centre on M.G. Road. The outlet will provide smoothies made from natural ingredients such as pure juice, fruits, sorbets, homemade yogurt. The smoothies contain no additives, sugar or preservatives.

A unique combination of quality, healthfulness and convenience, the smoothies are great for today’s fast-paced, active and health conscious marketplace.

The outlet was inaugurated by children from Christel House Learning Centre, a school for under privileged children.

A healthy and convenient offering, the juices will be popular among the health conscious and will help in increasing intake of juice and vegetables among people.

Booster juice smoothies and fruit juices are complimented by a limited food menu.

For more information visitwww.boosterjuice.com

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The Hindu :

Sunil Gavaskar reserves his best for Straight Drive

Photo: Rajeev BhattOne is clean bowled By the book

Sunil Gavaskar has been as meticulous with his media work as he was with his batting. Nothing could distract him from constructing his innings or penning his thoughts. He rarely missed a resolve to bat long in the middle; and never missed his fortnightly column. “I love writing. Perhaps even more than I loved batting,” reveals the master in the preface.

On tours, it was a privilege to interact with Gavaskar, who was variously addressed as SMG or Sunny or Sunny bhai. When he spoke on cricket, it was priceless education. When he wrote, it was a worthy assessment by a man most qualified. He never took his batting easy and never took his media assignments for granted. In the press box he would finish his column, always neatly handwritten on an A4 sheet, even as the last ball of the day was bowled.Birthday gift

“Straight Drive”, published by Rupa on the occasion of his 61st birthday, is a tribute to Gavaskar the writer. It is a collection of 61 of the 600-odd columns that he has contributed from the time he wrote his first on March 30, 1988. Not surprisingly, the debut column was on a badminton tournament. Badminton has been very close to Gavaskar’s heart. If he had not played cricket, he would have made waves as a badminton star.

The columns that form the book have been judiciously selected by Gavaskar’s parents as a birthday gift to their dear son.

“I write from the heart; very, very seldom with the head and that’s why I get into controversies. What I have curbed is the instinct to write a book after ‘One-Day Wonders’. My parents wanted me to bring out another book. So here it is. All the columns have been selected by my dear father,”…More

The Hindu :

Daughtry Leave this town

RCA/ JIVE

An artiste, whose singing talent and persona grew under the gaze of thousands of television viewers around the world, entered the music industry with an already-larger-than-life image to live up to. But this American Idol contestant, who finished fourth, delivered with a thunderous self-titled debut album in 2006. Chris Daughtry carved a place for himself in history when “Daughtry” became the fastest selling rock album.Understandably, music websites and fan sites have been abuzz ever since his second album was announced.

“Leave this town”, released on July 14, topped the US Billboard in the first week, making him the second AI alumnus to have two consecutive number one albums.

Though the band claims to be largely influenced by Nineties Alternative Rock bands, his latest offering is more of a straightforward pop-rock collection, with a spattering of all the necessary ingredients. With agreat vocal range on his side,

Daughtry and his band have managed to churn out an album which is afine-tuned attempt, compared to the last one. The second album – much like a second book – is a much harder and tougher test of your grit since the bar has already been set. Daughtry certainly lives up to the hype, and gracefully at that.

The album kick-starts with a powerful and catchy single “You Don’t Belong” and sets the tempo.The album is scythed throughout by Daughtry’s outstanding voice — one of the cleanest voices that I have come across in recent times.

This, and of course his king-size image, arguably takes away attention from the finer details or the performance of the rest of the band. At the end of the day, one feels, the album mix renders the music somewhat amorphous. This is the primary let-downas most songs on the play list sound somewhat musically similar. The album is peppered by the mandatory ballads, and some up-tempo rock numbers.

Its formulaic…More