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METRO
FEATURE
Lord
Of Colour
 Lord
Ganesha has always fascinated artists. When 61 artists from all over India
presented an exhibition of Ganesha paintings, sculptures and metal relief
works at the Vinyasa Art Gallery in Chennai, it was, literally, a riot
of colour. And structure. The Ganesha show has been an annual affair since
the Vinyasa Art Gallery was opened in 1996. "The response from artists
and the public has really increased over the years," says Viji, an
artist herself, who runs the show. The elephant-headed God assumed myriad
forms, playing various musical instruments, dancing and meditating. In
some pictures, he's even riding a cow. Prints of artist M. F. Hussain's
two-headed Ganesha were favourites at Rs 2,275. Like they say: Ganesha
gives.
-Arun
Ram
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Kaaya
Calling
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| Delhi
designers Ashima and Leena Singh are trying to add some zing to their
image. And business. Their flourishing trousseau store Kaaya now has
a new addition-a trendy, upbeat Italian eatery, Cafe Fascino. "My
NRI clients are very particular about where they eat," explains
Leena and smiles, " Now they can shop and eat at the same place."
So you can munch on a pasta salad, and sip a cappuchino while sifting
through zardosi saris and designer jewellery. "It's all health
food," insists Ashima. "After all, fashion is the theme."
Well, let's see. Remember JJ Valaya's disastrous foray into restaurants
a few years ago? |
Fire
Power
If
you put Sushma Swaraj, Jaya Jaitly and Suhasini Ali in one room, expect
fireworks. Last week, when Calcutta's Ladies Study Group organised a talk
on "Women in Politics in India" with these three firebrands,
moderator Victor Banerjee promised: "I won't let them hold their
punches back." Those expecting verbal (and ideological) brawls would
have to wait for another day. Gender equality, it seems, will always find
meeting ground. While BJP's Swaraj and CPI(M)'s Ali spoke at length about
the recent Women's Reservation Bill, Samata Party General Secretary Jaitley
held forth on domestic violence. Even now, only 49 out of 543 MPs are
women. "We're half the nation, we should be everywhere," Ali
said with an accompanying thump to the podium. However, talk never got
around to issues like health and education. "You want to get through
to all the people," Jaitly later said on the merits of such a forum.
That's easy. When these women talk, everyone listens.
-Labonita
Ghosh
Pg.
2
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If
the markets don’t recover in the next 48 hours expect the worst, says
V Shankar Aiyar in 
