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The Hindu : SUBHA J RAO

Well, unless you’re a saint, its difficult to not splurge during a holiday. Many things will scream for your attention… here’s how to bag the best deals

Packing matters

If you’re planning to binge on garments, pack accordingly. Take just a couple of clothes, and fill your suitcases with what you shop!

Always carry spare, foldable bags. They help a great deal when you have a few last-minute things to pack when you’re returning after a shopping-filled holiday.Do some research

Surf the Net before you embark on your holiday to check for any season sales or shopping fests. That way, you can benefit from great discounts.

When in a new place, look around before you start emptying out your wallet. Get in and out of a few stores and search for the best deals before deciding on a buy.

Since you are in a happy frame of mind, you may end up buying things you don’t need. So, think and re-think, before you zero in on that special something.

Are you buying something that is available at your neighbourhood store back home, just because you don’t have the time to shop there? Stop. You might be paying much more than what it is really worth, because a rupee or dollar stretches very little in a holiday destination.Be wary

This one’s common, but avoid taking out wads of currency in front of all and sundry

Carry travellers cheques; they are much safer than carrying international credit cards

In smaller places, not many shops have a credit card machine. In such cases, accompany the shop attender as he heads outside to swipe your card; never leave it unattended.

Dress and footwear sizes differ from country to country. So, check.

Check if the store has an exchange policy, with a store in India.

When buying electrical equipment, check the wattage.

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The Hindu :

Mzuri Sana is brimming with clothes, furniture and artefacts

traditional and trendy The designs come in vegetable dyes and block prints too

Mzuri Sana is acosy outlet on 12th Main Indiranagar. As you walk in it is the meaning of the name you ask first.

“In Swahili it means ‘very nice!’,” explains Anita Mathur, the brain behind the store.

The store is brimming with clothes, furniture and artefacts.

It offers you a wide range of Indo-Western kurtas, kurtis, jackets and dupattas and salwars or churidhars.Fusion wear

“The fabric is Indian with Indian craft work but the design is western. There are designs especially for college students. I have tried to create something fashionable in the salwar-kurta so that they can look trendy,” she adds.

Anita is not a trained designer but started making clothes for her teenaged daughter out of sheer passion

At her store you can pick up a quilted sleeveless jacket for Rs. 375.

The kurtas start at Rs. 525. There are kurtas with halter necks in sleeve and sleevless options. “We offer 20 different styles in every section,” she adds.

Every outfithasembroidery or hand-work.

“These are made by the underprivileged women in Jodhpur. So I make it a point that there is something for them in all my designs,” says Anita.Hand-made

The kurtas come in chiffons, tussars,and cottons. The storeoffers you a wide option of mix ’n’ match. Besides,there are also tunics, shirts and saris that start at Rs. 850.

Anita buys the raw material and everything from dyeing to cutting and designing is done by her. “Tailoringis done in Jodhpur by women,” she adds.

There are designs with vegetable dyes, block prints and kadi work to name a few.

The storeoffers ready made blouses that start at Rs. 450. There are also the backless sun tops which go with the saris and start at Rs.175. There is also a children’s section that offers salwars, kurtas and…More

The Hindu : y>Here’s a chance to win a luxurious holiday in Queensland

Ever wanted to join Ben Southall, the winner of Tourism Queensland’s ‘Best Job in the World’ campaign? Here’s a chance to win the ‘Best Holiday in the World’ contest.

Cathay Pacific and Tourism Queensland join hands to provide travel lovers an opportunity to win a ‘6 days 5 nights’ holiday package at the ‘Best Holiday in the World’ destination through an online jigsaw puzzle memory game on the Cathay Pacific website. The game is designed to let consumers use their skills and seek out the newest and most exciting games to exercise their minds.

The winner will go to the Gold Coast and Tangalooma Wild Dolphin Beach Resort at Moretan Bay Island.Gold Coast is famous for its golden sands, thrilling theme park rides and shopping. The winner can also cuddle koalas, pat kangaroos, feed wild dolphins and feast on sumptuous dishes.

At Tangalooma, the winner gets to witness hand-feeding wild bottlenose dolphins, ATV quad biking, cruising, whale watching and jet skiing, complete with desert safari tours and more. For details, log on tohttp://www.cathaypacific.com/cpa/en_IN/homepage

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The Hindu :

The Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2010 edition is five days of more activity than usual

PHOTO: SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKARFashion extravaganzaA preview of Rohit Bal’s line for the grand finale

The 14th edition of the Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week (WIFW), which began on Saturday, October 24, at Pragati Maidan, Delhi, promises to be bigger in many ways – in terms of the number of designers participating and shows as well as the coming back of several prodigal sons and daughters.

Wendell Rodricks and Narendra Kumar, regulars at Mumbai’s Lakme Fashion Week, also showcase at the WIFW this time.

“I think it is time to consolidate all our talents in one place so that everybody benefits from it,” said Kumar on the reason behind his participation.

Wendell Rodricks has a more simple logic. “I didn’t have a good retail presence in Delhi since the past few years. I’m opening a store in Delhi next month, so taking part in the Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week makes commercial sense, which is my top priority right now,” he explained.The returnees

Ritu Beri and Suneet Verma return to WIFW after a gap of several years – Beri comes back after a decade, while Verma returns after two seasons, as the Fiama di Wills designer. Rohit Bal and Tarun Tahiliani, both of whom have been participating in the Delhi Fashion Week the last two seasons, return to WIFW this year.

On the whole, the fashion week will see 18 solo and 20 multi-designer shows. “We’re a rather strong contingent this year, with the coming of several designers earlier associated with other fashion events in the country,” said Sunil Sethi, president, Fashion Design Council of India, the body which organises the Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week.

Rohit Bal is this year’s grand finale designer, presenting a tribute to the ‘Golden Peacock’ and revisiting his 19-year-old journey in fashion design. His Mughal-inspired…More

The Hindu : y>

STIR it up Judges Tom Colicchio and Padma Lakshmi

AXN will showcase a new season of “Top Chef” every Monday at 10 p.m. Set in the windy city of Chicago, get ready to watch 16 chefs pitch their spatulas in an attempt to rule the kitchen.

In the series, Padma Lakshmi – cookbook author and actor will return as host with chief judge Tom Colicchio, famed doyen and chef/owner of Craft Restaurants, Gail Simmons of Food and Wine Magazine and Ted Allen, the Emmy-winning cookbook writer and television luminary.

This season watch the talented, ingenious chefs clash for the 100,000 dollars in seed money to kick start the opening of their dream restaurant , a feature spotlight in Food and Wine magazine, a chance to showcase at the annual Food and Wine Classic in Aspen, an astronomical dream holiday in the French Alps and the coveted title of Top Chef.

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The Hindu : y>Digital technology is a great enabler, veteran photographer Raghu Rai tells DEEPA KURUP

Photo: Murali Kumar K.Shutterbug Technology gives freedom and control says Raghu Rai

One of the most illustrious journeys in the history of news photography in India began when a baby donkey in a village charmed the pants off an unemployed young man. “I was roaming in the village when I saw this extremely cute donkey. I took mybrother’s camera and clicked; it was cute and picture-perfect,” veteran photographer Raghu Rai reminisces. Later, the London Times published his picture in one of their “humour columns” and paid him for it. “The money lasted me two whole months. And I thought – that’s great, and it gave me immense satisfaction too!” And so his tryst with the camera began.

If pictures speak a thousand words, as goes the cliché, Rai’s pictures could speak volumes be it the appalling picture “burial of an unknown child”, which became the icon of the human tragedy that followed the Union Carbide gas leak in Bhopal or his evocative and colourful portrayal of exotic India. Today, 44 years later, this Padmashree-awardee is a world-renowned photographer. “It’s been a great journey,” he says. Currently, Rai is working on a photo book on Mumbai, and soon will do one on South India. At 67, he travels extensively and while “on shoot” works 12 to 13 hours a day. “I am still very much the active photographer,” he says.

Rai gives this interview even as scores of photographers are busy documenting tales of human tragedy and loss in several flood-stricken districts of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. What does he think of the photographs that have been appearing in the newspapers everyday? “There is no passion,” he says bluntly. “Technology has made it easy for photographers, but without passion nothing really gets done. You must get to the spot, feel the deluge and…More

The Hindu :

Chaitanya is busy working on his second Kannada movie, Suryakanti

New ideas Chaitanya

Here’s one director who does not believe in following the rules of conventional storytelling. He wowed the critics and also the audiences with his first Kannada movie “Aa Dinagalu”. Flush with success, young Chaitanya is busy with his second movie “Suryakanti”, which incidentally is a typical masala film.

“I did not want to be typecast as a director who is comfortable in making only one kind of cinema.

I want to try all genres,” he says and adds, ‘“Suryakanti’ will have everything people will look for in a commercial entertainer.

It has action, running around trees and long drawn fights,” says this former student of University of Hyderabad. “Aa Dinagalu” captures the incidents that shook Bangalore in the ’80s. “The film was based on a true story about a notorious gangster Kotwal Ramachandra and the incidents that led to his killing,” says Chaitanya and adds, “The film had to be realistic but at the same time appeal the audience.”

The director was successful in drawing the crowds back to the movie halls and the film made the cash registers ringing.

What ails Kannada film industry? “Most of our makers do not believe in making original cinema. They either remake or dub Telugu and Tamil movies. On the other hand, Kannada television is doing a good job. We do not have the typical saas-bahu episodes but serials based on current issues. The programmes show that Kannada industry is brimming with talent and it needs to be channelised and given encouragement.”

Chaitanya shares a special bond with his guru Girish Karnad. “I feel honoured to be picked by none other than Girish Karnad. He is a genius,” he says. A former journalist, Chaitanya is writing a couple of projects and does not mind directing a Hindi film. “It pays to do a Bollywood movie so…More

The Hindu : y>

The recent proposal by Union Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal to raise the minimum cut-off of class 12 marksfrom 60 per cent to 85 per cent for entrance into the IITs has kicked off a major controversy. MetroPlus asked city residents about their take on the controversy. Most feel that raising the bar to 85 per cent would deprive many students of an opportunity to apply to the premier institutions.

Considering the large number of State and Central boards, the entrance test should play a vital role in admitting students, since it provides a much fairer playing ground as compared to the boards.

Some agreed that raising the cut-off was necessary, but it should be kept at 75 per cent. Many felt that the need of the hour was to provide quality education to the students and not the entrance criteria. Some felt that a new system must be evolved to ensure that marks in the school leaving exams and the weight accorded to the entrance exams are balanced.

They felt that this would not only retain the importance of the entrance tests, it would ensure that the best talents get their due recognition.We sample some responses

It is a step forward as students willfocus on their performance in school, apart from the coaching centres. The proposal may facehiccups initially, but it will be accepted soon. Quality of students getting into these colleges must be maintained.

Narashimham

Bank officer

Raising the bar would not be advisable, since India lacks a uniform school board. The entrance exam should remain paramount. The current proposal would be unfair on students, who are unable able to get high scores. The tests should be paramount.

Parshuram

Financial analyst

Increasing the minimum cut-off would increase the pressure on students. They would have to secure high marks and also prepare for the entrance. A new entrance system must be evolved to…More

The Hindu : y>Heritage Gangaikondacholapuram resonates with the tales of a legendary father and son

Photos: BY AUTHORRoyal saga The Chandesanugraha murthi panel.

The sculpture calls out to me. Carved in stone is the story of a devout cowherd called Chandesa who worships an icon of Shiva on sand and anoints it with milk. His father angrily strikes him, and Chandesa retaliates. His staff turns into an axe, chopping off his father’s legs, just when Shiva lands on the scene and accepts him into his fold.

When the guide finishes his narration, it seems just another tale from Indian mythology; but it does not end there. “See the sculpture carefully; the cowherd is a prince, and the prince is the great Rajendra Chola 1,” he says, explaining that this could be an allegory.

Engraved in stone is the coronation ceremony of Rajendra Chola 1, graced by Shiva and Parvati as the prince dedicates all his laurels to them.

The sculpture that depicts this celebrated moment is the famous Chandesanugraha murthi panel from the Brihadeshwara temple.

I am in Gangaikondacholapuram, the long-lost Capital of Rajendra Chola 1, which has mysteriously disappeared leaving behind this mammoth temple.King of the world

This was the town that once ruled all of India up to the Gangetic plain, and also Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Malaysia and Indonesia.

When Rajendra Chola 1 conquered the Gangetic plain, he built a lookalike of the Brihadeshwara temple (built by his father, Raja Raja Chola I) in his new-found capital, Gangaikondacholapuram. However, he did not complete the temple. The towering 180-feet-tall Vimana seems to touch the sky. A majestic Nandi obstructs our gaze. A few gardenerstend to the lawn, while we soak in the ambience. Various forms of Shiva captured in different moods stand out in the artistic mosaic.

Gangaikondacholapuram temple

A giant lion-shaped sculpture, called Simhakinar, in the form of the Chola emblem stares at you. “This is the way the…More

The Hindu :

Sanjay Dutt is busy giving himself a makeover these days

ONE UP Sanjay Dutt is aiming for 12-pack abs

Sanjay Dutt is never out of news. His films may not be as big a draw now as they were during his “Khalnayak” days but his fans can’t have enough of him.

Realising the need to appeal to the new generation Sanjayis walking the Khan way — making abs, losing weight, adding taut muscles and preparing to present a new persona to his fans. “I am building 12 instead of six pack abs, 17 inches biceps and have already done away with 25 kg weight for my next film,” he says.

Sanjayis unruffled by any competition.

Refusing to be drawn into any rivalry talk with the Khans — both Shah Rukh and Aamir had recently built their abs — Sanjay said, “They are like my younger brothers, I don’t have any competition with them, they are ahead of me and I am just following them.”

Sanjaytook the personal bonhomie to a professional plane by even suggesting that the recently-released “Blue” in which he stars himself and Salman Khan’s “Main Aur Mrs. Khanna”will find their respective audience and not eat into each others’ profit. On the day Sanjay was politeness personified and even talked of the new tattoo heis sporting on his chest, these days.

Quashing all speculations about the tattoo he said, “I loved my parents very much, they were every thing for me and I have tattooed their name on my chest.”His bag is full

Sanjay, who is trying to carve out a niche for himself in the field of politics and actively campaigned for the Samajwadi Party, has not left his fans disappointed. Even today he has his kitty full withfilms such as “Lamha” with Bipasha Basu directed by Rahul Dholakia, “Bond” directed by Anthony D Souza, “Unusual Love Story” directed by Mahesh Manjrekar, “Munna…More