Heat Wave

Etiquette Kit: Rubber-necking is allowed for a better view. Whispering in each other8217;s ears is encouraged, it only means you8217;re discussing the garment you could be describing your best friend8217;s sexploits, no one would know. Clapping must be at random garments, not all, to show a discerning eye. Catcallers are often led out of the room, unless you8217;re at a Gladrags show.

Clothes Encounters: The designer8217;s booming voice will always introduce the collection, often inspired by his latest holiday. Look beyond African motifs and Moroccan kurtas for the D038;M deep and meaningful concepts. Judge where the collection is placed in the global/local scheme of things post-9/11 escapism, post-war military styles, et al. Wendell Rodricks recently had an entire collection in aqua and brown, his take on the beauty of the sea and the muddy waters left behind by the tsunami.

Fashion8217;s Theatre: If you8217;re a regular, you must know that Malini Ramani, Manish Arora and Wendell Rodricks host some of the best shows. Ramani8217;s are full of bimbo madness, she often imposes her own voice and attitude onto a peppy soundtrack. The irreverent Manish Arora 8212;who has 8216;Ladies8217; Tailor8217; tattooed on his arm8212;can8217;t get away from laughing at himself. His shows talk of substance abuse and mock the fickle world of fashion. Both designers8217; shows are spot-on for the fashion police. Rajesh Pratap Singh will glorify death, Rodricks will always surprise and Rohit Bal will always shock. For the final bow, Tahiliani will always wear black, Suneet Varma will bow with a namaste and Anshu Arora Sen will run off the stage in a nanosecond.

Namrata Sharma Zakaria

SUMMER RESIDENCE:
PS I Love You
Sony8217;s new PlayStation 2 goes va-va-voom

RECENTLY, I helped a friend carry home his new Xbox. Three of us took turns lugging the heavy, body-sized package down a crowded street, finally gave up and took a rick. Then, a few days ago, when a new Sony PS2 came in for testing, I headed to the same friend8217;s place for a shootout. I shoved the carton into my satchel, hopped on a motorcycle and rode the 20 km to his place, my nagging cervical spondylosis notwithstanding.

So let my vertebrae be the first to notch up points for the new, downsized PlayStation 28212;at 9x6x18217;8217;, about the size of a hardback book of poems. With a near 60 per cent weight loss, it makes the old PS2 look like a desktop, and the Xbox like a VCR remember those darned things?. This is truly portable gaming8212;pop it into your handbag, briefcase or glovebox and head to the college media room, office newsdesk, friend8217;s pad, LAN party or to check out the local TV showroom8217;s new 40-incher. Heck, if it was any more mobile, it8217;d be a PSP8230;

In its new avatar, the PS2 goes back to a top-loading drive, instead of the problematic vertical tray. Downside is, you still mess around with memory cards, cos the slimming pill was the elimination of the old PS28217;s rear expansion bay8212;and consequently hard disk support: A weak spot the Microsoft console, with its 8GB standard drive, always had crosshairs on. Other trim-down fixes include re-laying out the exhaust fan, and externalising the power adaptor.

Gamewise, though the Xbox game range is expanding like a neutron burst and the day is not far when Halo 2 gets a backup posse, the PlayStation still rules. After all, developers have made their fortunes on the decade-old platform, and from Tekken to Gran Turismo, PS2 owners have the better deal. The ace up the PS28217;s gaming sleeve has to be the recently-launched EyeToy8212;a USB camera-aided game suite that puts the player, Tron-like, in the TV. Motion capture technology enables you to punch out Boxing Chump opponents, or whack away Kung Foo8217;s little attackers8212;controller-free. Sure, Medal of Honor-types will cringe, but there8217;s no denying how much fun the physically-involving game is. At just three grand for the camera and game over the PS28217;s Rs 15,000 tag, along with the slim-jim8217;s cool quotient, it might just keep the Xbox at bay until the PS3 comes in.

Sachin Rao

TAKE your tongue out of my mouth, I8217;m kissing you goodbye

There8217;s wisdom in that Ray Stevens song8212;when it comes to lip play, always manoeuvre according to the occasion. And sometimes, you gotta keep it light.

Take Emraan Hashmi, the Bollywood king of canoodle. Hashmi and his lippie partners follow the same gameplan, time and time again: Body contact, a sideways twist, mouth open wide, then a suck-and-twist marathon. Just as a crick begins to set in, they change sides, and repeat. Incidentally, Hashmi insists his are real-life moves. Ouch! And as directors set out to outdo each other by increasing the number of kisses with each of summer8217;s gazillion flesh flicks8212;on last count, Payal Rohatgi was reigning champ with 328212;the marauding lips get more and more outrageous.

Question is, what8217;re their tongues up to8230;

8220;It8217;s always full on,8221; says Karan Razdan, of Hawas fame. 8220;Sometimes the tongues probably get in the way.8221; Minus instructors and passion, what we get on screen is a minute-and-a half of violence, along the lines of Hannibal Lecter. 8220;There are directors who try to show you how it8217;s done, with an assistant standing a foot away from them. It8217;s hilarious,8221; says Hashmi.

For the benefit of discerning viewers, a few suggestions to our Bollywood kissing pairs to save their fans from traumatising screen smooches:
So you8217;ve ingested a power lunch of mints, but please, don8217;t lick each other8217;s tonsils
theromantic.com details the dos, and more importantly, the don8217;ts
For the men8212;really, there8217;s no need to mess her hair so, or jam her face onto yours. If she8217;s that close, she ain8217;t going anywhere.

Manju Sara Rajan

SUMMER GETAWAY:
Trip Tease
Four winding tarmac abettors, one quick escape

Delhi to Thanedar: All those Himachali apples you crunched into had their beginnings here. About 80 years ago, an American missionary called Samuel Evans Stokes figured that Thanedar was the place for apples, and went about planting saplings. The rest, of course, is history.

Thanedar, with its fantastic views and splendid, long walks, is a neat place to shed the skin of urban angst. The 440 km drive from Delhi takes around 10 hours. The first 240 km to Chandigarh are along the straight and fast NH1, which takes five hours. Shimla comes up in another three, and then on, it8217;s another two to Thanedar along a winding mountain road.

Banjara Camps 038; Retreats: 1A, Hauz Khas Village, New Delhi; Call:011 2686 1397, 2685 5153, 98100 40397; Email: infobanjaracamps.com, banjaravsnl.com
http://www.banjaracamps.com

Bangalore to Mudumalai: Just across the Tamil Nadu border lies Mudumalai, perfect for that dash from Bangalore. Mudumalai is a better bet than the adjoining Bandipur sanctuary8212;though you probably won8217;t spot big cats at either of these places8212;as it is the more colourful of the two. Life in Masinagudi village which is where most of the acco is located is slow-paced, with jungle folk and forest guards gathering around tiny coffee shops on chilly evenings to swap stories.

The drive from Bangalore to Mysore is a fantastic one, provided you leave early. The 24-hour Cafeacute; Coffee Day just before Mandya is an ideal place for a breakfast halt.

Mysore gets crowded after 9 am but do hang on, since the drive gets better after city limits. Once you enter the Bandipur Wildlife Sanctuary limits, the road is almost straight, with dense forest on both sides. Seven km after the Bandipur reception centre, the road crosses over into Tamil Nadu and the Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary.

Jungle Retreat, Bokkap ram, Nilgiri district, Masinagudi; Call: 0423 2526469

Chennai to Pondicherry: Little villages, paddy fields, blue lagoons8212;the 150-km Eastern Coastal Route ECR ranks right up there among the country8217;s best roads.

Traffic doesn8217;t make its agonising presence felt most days, there are a hundred snack shacks, and the temple town of Mahabalipuram, with its rock-cut masterpieces, is a big bonus along the way. Enough has been said about Pondicherry, but allow us to add our two bits8212;don8217;t come back without sampling the fairly authentic French cuisine.

Anandha Inn, SV Patel Road, Pondicherry 605 001; Call: 0413 2330711; Email: checkinanandhainn.com; http://www.anandhainn.com

Mumbai to Murud-Janjira: Get that life-sapping humidity off your back, and point your automobile towards the twin villages of Murud and Janjira. The former is the quintessential sleepy coastal village coconut trees, the aroma of the sea8230; you get the drift, while Janjira, the fort, is still as grand as it sounds, even with time chipping away at its granite resolve.

The 150 km drive from Mumbai is along the Pune road till Panvel. Then, instead of heading onto the Expressway, take the route towards Goa. The roads are pretty good, except for a few rough stretches in between.

Golden Swan, Darbar Road, Murud-Janjira, Raigad; Call: 952144 274078; Mumbai booking office: 022 2617 4517/19, 2614 1894, 2615 2394/95; Email: gsholidaysgoldenswan.com

Rishad Saam Mehta