Bond with the Best

If you want to rub shoulders with Bollywood celebrities,then the newly-opened Dare Club is for you. Claiming to be the tricity’s first “luxurious” family entertainment club,Dare Club has cricketer Harbhajan Singh,actor Sonal Chauhan and model Parvesh Rana as its first set of members.

“We will hold mega events for members like musical nights,celebrity shows and entertain families in a way that makes them feel privileged,” says the club’s managing director Gaurav Goyal. Promoted by Kumar Entertainers,Dare Club will try and host as many as 500 celebrations in 365 days. Membership is currently open and priced at Rs 50,000 annually for a family of four.

For those bored stiff with the staid kitty party routine,the Aspiration Club is worth checking out. Meant for women between 25 and 45 years,it aims to promote dormant talent in its members. “Women often get busy with family and chores and their aspirations take a back seat. Our aim is to give them a platform,” says Monica Singhal,a founder member of the 150-strong club. “The response has been overwhelming and we are now planning to start an Aspiration Plus club for senior ladies,” she adds. Apart from celebrating social occasions,the Club also hosts workshops on latest technologies,yoga,better grooming,finance planning and assistance with medical problems. “We recently held a dental camp and asked our members to present ad campaigns on dental care. The results were so creative,” reminisces Singhal.

Not all clubs are snazzy and activity-driven. The one at quaint park at Lala Lajpat Rai Bhavan in Sector 15 is abuzz every Sunday when members of Cafe Kaffee Kuchh discover the sublime art of hanging out together. “It is an art,” confirms Sukhmani Kohli,founder of this outdoor club-cum-cafe. The idea of a community space where people from varied walks of life can share ideas and skills,watch films,put up their art works and have poetry-reading sessions has been a huge hit. “We encourage each other to take your time and chill over chai,” say another member. Participation is open to all.

The Thursday Ladies Club is another favourite haunt of more than 400 ladies of Chandigarh . They meet every fortnight on a Thursday to let their hair down. “From 20 to 85 years,we have a perfect mix of people,who know how to have fun together,form friendships and be a support system for each other. From festivals to cultural events,we celebrate everything with a gala party. Membership,however,is not open to everybody,” says Sushma Malhotra,former president and secretary of the Club. Cooking contests,picnics,fashion shows,musical evenings,flower arrangement sessions and games are some of the more popular activities at the club.

Coffee,cake and chatter,with some literature thrown in,are the intrinsic elements of another cozy meet. The Chandigarh Ladies Book Club was Simran Grewal’s idea to catch up with old friends,meet their families and get to pore over books. “The idea was to encourage reading,” she says. The venue is homes of the members,with the hostess deciding which book to be read in a month for discussion at the next meet.

At Sharan,members think that loneliness exists only in the mind. “We make sure no one feels alone,” says Chand,who is in her late 40s and formed the club as she felt the need to be surrounded by friends and people. Over the last four years,Sharan has seen people from as far as Delhi and Hamirpur registering with the club and has over 100 members now. A website is being built to reach out to more people.

The city is also home to a unique watch heritage club. Started by a group of watch lovers and collectors in Chandigarh,the club already has members from Delhi ,Bangalore and Kolkata. It plans to open chapters in Delhi,Mumbai and Bangalore too.

To be a member one has to own a watch of any make that was made in1960 or before. For more,one can log on to http://www.watchheritageclub.com