Out amp; About

Speaking volumesIn August-September 1998, Mahesh, a journalist with Business Standard, literally threw in the book. He quit his career of...

Speaking volumes

In August-September 1998, Mahesh, a journalist with Business Standard, literally threw in the book. He quit his career of 12 years and decided to set shop with Paperback, a bookstore. A family affair 8212; what with his wife and her sister selecting the books, Mahesh browsing through bookstores, chatting with distributors and getting elbow-deep in the design 8212; the end result speaks volumes on the effort that went behind it. A quot;cosy-lookingquot; store, Paperback opened its first page on February 28, 1999.

And only three months into the job, Mahesh finds that he is getting a fix in to the Mumbaikars8217; reading habits. quot;The aim is to stock a wide range of books and not just several copies of the same title. The city shows great taste and for three months now I find that my best-selling authors have been Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Fritjof Capra and Desmond Morris.quot;

On July 4, Paperback hosted its first event. Tara Deshpande came for a book-signing event and since the event was within aweek of her much-publicised book reading at Crossword, a huge crowd turned up. So much so, that she did two separate sessions of impromptu book readings. Almost immediately, the bookstore also saw the release of Arundhati Roy8217;s latest book rather, booklet The Greater Common Good. quot;The distributors India Book Distributors told me that she has refused to visit any bookshop for promotions. So, I did, possibly, the next best thing. I got limited copies of her book, autographed by Ms Roy herself exclusively for Paperback.quot; The books virtually sold out within three days and Mahesh only has three copies left on the shelves. quot;My basic aim has been to not only bring a quality shop to Thane, but also not deprive them purely because of a pre-conceived notion of distance by Mumbaikars of interaction with authors and well-known personalities.quot;

Paperback, 11, Siddhachal Shopping Complex Behind Vasant Vihar High School, Off 2nd Pokhran Road Thane West. Ph No: 545 0541.

Feel good

With thelatest issue of Great Looks magazine. On the stands now, this 150-page glossy has a stunning Achla Sachdev on the cover. The other exciting things here are photo-essays of the latest designs from the house of Oscar de la Renta, Anna Sui, Versace, Yohji Yamamoto, Nicole Miller and Gucci.

Also catch the section, Before they were stars8217;, which talks about glamour girls who had not-so-glamorous starts in life. Featured this time, among others, are Cindy Crawford, Madonna and Demi Moore. Get a kick out of telling people that Madonna was a coat-check girl before she made it.

Available at all newsstands.

Bowled out

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The Bowling Company at Phoenix Mills Compound has started its own bowling league and it8217;s open to all, not just the highly skilled. Every Monday and Tuesday for the next 11 weeks, 24 teams will compete each other from 7 pm to 9 pm.

To ensure that everyone can participate, there is a special handicap facility which gives every team an equal chance to win. And even for thosewho don8217;t, there are other reasons to grab a prize 8212; like the best team name, best team uniform and even the team with the lowest score! So, you see, this competition is not just about winning, it8217;s about having a good time out.

The Bowling Company, Phoenix Mills Compound, Lower Parel. The Splash lineIF anyone has a penchant for being in the news, it8217;s Seema Roye. This time, it8217;s with the launch of her new line of designer wear. The fashion show held for this launch at Scream, was inspired by the moods of the monsoons.

The collection includes beachwear, formals, ethnics, trousseaus and Indo-Western fusions, in fabrics like stretch lace, lurex, lame and net, and a healthy sprinkle of gems, beads and zardozi. For blushing brides to be, a definite dekko.

Fragrant branding

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India8217;s first branded pot pourri has seen the whole world before deciding to stop by here. Sixth Sense, one of the biggest pot pourri producers worldwide, comes to India 8212; courtesy Ramesh Flowers in a tie-up with EndarCorporation, an American company. Six exotic fragrances and seven packages make the range rather limited, but then what could look better than a glass bowl of multi-coloured dried flora and fauna, wafting exotic fragrance throughout your home, car or office?

Available at all leading retail stores

Picture perfect

Feel like your wardrobe needs a change, but you are not sure how to go about it? Well let Aakarshan help you. This catalogue8217;s latest issue has just hit stands and it has dozens of designs for you to choose from.

Modelling in the latest issue are Fleur Xavier, Lara Dutta and Aditi Govitikar. There many styles to choose from, from trendy short and figure hugging salwar kameezes to the traditional long kurtas with churidars. Worth a dekko if you want to know what today8217;s trend is.