Miami Vice

AMONG the many places in this world where the name Rina Dhaka rings a bell, there8217;s Panjab University. About two decades after she stud...

AMONG the many places in this world where the name Rina Dhaka rings a bell, there8217;s Panjab University. About two decades after she studied for a year at the Government College for Girls, Chandigarh, her daring outfits are still clearly etched in the collective campus memory. 8216;8216;I got myself a bad name because I put on a bikini for a beauty contest on an all-girls campus where the only man present was the chowkidar!8217;8217; the 37-year-old Delhi-based fashion designer says, chuckling.

Miami won8217;t forget her either. Dhaka is just back from the Fashion Week of the Americas FWA where she won the Designers Choice Award. FWA was started in 1999 to provide international exposure to designers from Latin America and the Caribbean, but now draws participation from across continents. Says fellow Delhi designer Tarun Tahiliani, 8216;8216;I was not surprised that Rina was the star of Miami. Her clothes are oomphy and sexy, and Miami is all about in-your-face, Latino sex appeal.8217;8217;

Oomphy, sexy, fun, fitted, body conscious8230; These are words that always spring up in conversations about Dhaka8217;s designs. Critics often slam her for trying to shock her way into the spotlight, but most would also admit that when she says, 8216;8216;I never design something I wouldn8217;t wear,8217;8217; she means it.

Dhaka was born in Amritsar. The daughter of a prosperous farmer based in a village on the border of Rajasthan and Punjab, she attended schools in different parts of the country. Why the constant shifting? As usual, she doesn8217;t mince words. 8216;8216;Because my parents wanted to ensure that I would be close to a relative, so that I wouldn8217;t go wild.8221; She wanted to study in New York but mum and dad said no, 8216;8216;because they were afraid I would become a slut8221;.

What they allowed her to do instead was move to Delhi for a course at a polytechnic. 8216;8216;I had no interest in working, but I took up an internship as an excuse to get more freedom so that I could sneak away to parties,8217;8217; says Dhaka.



			I was not surprised that Rina was the star of Miami. Her clothes are oomphy and sexy, and Miami is all about in-your-face, Latino sex appeal Tarun Tahiliani

But that internship in a garment export house had her hooked for life. From stocking at a single minuscule store in south Delhi8217;s Hauz Khas Village to being counted among the country8217;s best today, she8217;s had plenty of ups and downs. She struggled with a sleep disorder for seven years before she discovered the antidote called Buddhism four years back. She8217;s married with two children aged six and nine, and says family life is a constant struggle for a working woman.

8216;8216;Things have changed since I moved into my husband8217;s factory he8217;s a garment exporter two years back,8217;8217; she says. 8216;8216;Having me right under his nose has helped him realise that I8217;m actually working very hard. Earlier, he8217;d expect me to always be ready for him, never tired.8217;8217;

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Where does she go from here? Well, plans are afoot to enter the footwear business. There8217;s also a visit to the Milan Fashion Week later this year as a member of the audience this was her prize for a contest organised by Liberty at India Fashion Week 2004. If she remembers, she may also stop to catch her breath.