Roving Eye

Chunri, an exhibition of salwar kameez in tussar and thick cottons, ranged form Rs 800 to Rs 2,000. quite reasonable, going by the cost of cloth, stitching and embroidery, all combined.

And stores like Gulatis and Kohinoor also offered great bargains with lots of suits, sarees and dress materials to choose from. One could see girls and women trooping into the stores, all set to strike a deal and get some cool stuff for marriage season is just round the corner.

Other than the stuff available on sale, hand embroidered dupattas combined with muted crepes, chiffon sarees with heavily done pallus, nets, particularly in white and hand-painted dupattas are also much in vogue. In fact, the thrust this season seems to be on nets and fine embroidery with a touch of dabka or zardosi.

Well, that8217;s great news for all those getting their trousseau done for the weddings and also those ready to show off their finery at the most happening events in town. Let8217;s wait and see.

Bold and beautiful
It was glitter and glamour at the private show of Babi8217;s Designer Wear, held at the Jail House Rock. The show was staged to introduce the select few to creations of designers like JJ Valaya, Rina Dhaka, Geetanjli Kashyap and Ashish Soni which are now available at Babi8217;s Designer Wear. The clothes are available at affordable prices as they are the designers off-season creations.

What was definitely worth viewing were the guests, who were dressed in their designer best. So you could know by looking at them what the latest in town is, as far as jewellery and clothes is concerned.

Though scheduled for 7.30 p.m the show started at 8.30 p.m. But it was definitely worth the wait. The models to present the collection were local lasses. But the choreography was very professional and so were the models who did not display any kind of nervousness.

The first round was of J.J. Valaya8217;s collection for women. He incidentally belongs to the City Beautiful. Valaya8217;s collection was not out of the world. The costumes were formal wear and were mostly shararas and lehngas with rich embroidery, done both in thread and gold. But he definitely does better with the men8217;s wear. His outfits for men were also displayed, which were worth a dekho. Mostly for grooms to be, done in sober shades, they were wearable traditional wear. Shervani8217;s, Kurta Pajama8217;s with off beat cuts, richly embroidered were pleasing to the eye.

The next round was clothes by Geetanjali Kashyap. Geetanjali experiments a lot with her designs, fabrics, cuts and embroidery. And that showed in the collection that was displayed. With aari and zardosi work, the clothes were in satins and silks with attractive colours. Her collection was formal, traditional, yet wearable.

The best part of the show was that it moved at a fast pace. It had no long sequences, no fillers. Everything was managed so professionally that the models took just seconds to change and were ready for the next round.

Rina Dhaka8217;s clothes again were were formal. Nothing to set them apart from the other designers, except that they were cut in a classic shape. The cuts and the embroidery were basic though there was a lot of experimentation with the colour combinations. But what all the clothes had in common were the exquisite craftsmanship. The kind you can find only in this country.

Ashish Soni is famous for blending the modern with the traditional and the result is sheer magic. And that what Ashish8217;s collection was all about. The cuts were very modern and in-style.Some of the creations were quite bold. So we had lovely salwar kammez designs which were simple yet stylish. A must see.

But ironically it was Babi8217;s own collection that took the cake and can definitely be termed as best. The collection had exquisite taste in cuts, designs, materials and embroidery. With beautiful shades it was elegant, simple yet formal. Babi deserved more claps than the designers and that8217;s what she received!

Santa Sabharwal
For the lifelong boxwallah Mohni M. Sabharwal, the 76-year-old President Emeritus of Help Age India, charity begins at home. Literally. The tall and sprightly pucca sahib, dressed to the nines and unfailingly charming, has bequeathed his Panch-sheel Park home, conservatively estimated at Rs 5 crore, to his favourite cause 8212; HelpAge, the worldwide charity that has seen him putting in 18 years of his life after retirement.

8220;I8217;m thankful to the God for giving me so much in life. I couldn8217;t have asked for more,8221; says the 1942 St Stephen8217;s graduate who began his working life as an apprentice in Dunlop, which he later headed as Chairman. 8220;I have put in everything in this house. This is all that I have saved over the years,8221; he continues. 8220;Though I want it to be turned into an old-age home, it8217;s now up to the charity to do.8221;

His nutritionist wife, Kamala Puri, died in 1973, and he has no children to lay claim to the property. 8220;Though at one time my wife was planning to adopt a child, somehow I couldn8217;t bring myself to do it. Simply because it needed total commitment and at that time I wasn8217;t ready,8221; explains the Hanuman-bhakt who retired in March as Chairman, Help Age, after a 12-year stint. As they say Sabharwal is a jolly good fellow. Let8217;s say three cheers to that!

Mika, Who? Mikalal!
For those who8217;ve wondered what that guitar-toting Nep is doing in the all-Sikh Daler Mehndi troupe, here8217;s the dope. The gent is none other than Amrik Singh and he is Daler8217;s 24-year-old younger brother. As for his chinky looks, Mehndi doesn8217;t say much except that he was born in Durgapur, West Bengal, on June 10, 1974. That doesn8217;t make Mika, as he8217;s known among friends, a candidate for this column. It8217;s just that the long-haired Mika won8217;t be seen at shows with Daler anymore. No, the two brothers haven8217;t had a falling out. But Mika has finally stepped out of big brother8217;s shadow to cut an album of his own with BMG-Crescendo. Titled Sawan Mein Lag Gayi Aag, the racy number with Bollywood baddie Gulshan Grover, it also features Malini Sharma, the ramp model who8217;s making her video debut. It8217;s been shot exclusively near the picture-postcard Barokh, near Kasauli, by none other than Adi Pocha, who like Mahesh Mathai of Sunoh and Sifar is an adman-turned-music video maker.