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METRO
FEATURE
Fastest
Fella First
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| Go Get
It: Nazir with his pride |
Delhi's colonnaded
Connaught Place, more famous for its flurry of neon shop signs and multi-cuisine
eateries, is becoming increasingly adaptive. After Swar Utsav, the India
Today music festival earlier last month, CP hosted another non-mercantile
event-the first ever National Karting Championship that challenged 14
winners from seven regional finals. And the national champ was 25-year-old
Mumbai-based carpet dealer Asif Nazir who sped through the 16-lap race
in the specially vacated B-block parking lot with the ease of a Formula
One pro. Prizes? Nazir walked off with a gleaming Mahindra Bolero plus
a chance to participate in the National Road Racing Championship to be
held in Sriperumbudur. Other highlights included a demonstration race
by ace drivers Narain Karthikeyan and Parthiva Sureshwarenan and the special
ceo race where business bigwigs like Manish Modi of Net Across and Mohit
Burman of Dabur competed. Not to mention the 1,000 plus crowd which showed
up to cheer the racers. "It's a great way to rejuvenate CP,"
says Ajay Sood of the New Delhi's Traders Association who claims the area
had a record four lakh visitors on the day of the final. Next step? "More
karting centres and tournaments to promote the sport," declares Rajiv
Khanna who already runs six centres across India. Motorsport enthusiasts
have never had it better.
-Leher
Kala
Year Look
A
spate of label launches and store openings in the year-ending week have
managed to deepen Mumbai's sartorial dilemma. What is one supposed to
wear at the New Year eve bash? All black or all back? At the low key,
non-ramp opening of upbeat label Energy, where Cote de Rhone and Camembert
mixed well with the festive cheer and stellar casuals, models Nethra Raghuraman,
Aseem Merchant and Zulfi Sayed and quintessential party animal Kishen
Mulchandani were found taking a good hard look at clothes around them.
All seemed undecided. Later, at the Saga Department Store, which celebrated
its Designer Cell when six clothiers including Krishna Mehta, Sangeeta
Desai and Rajesh Aiya showcased their creations, ramp-watchers seemed
equally confused about the sartorial tangle-the clothes were wearable
without being special. So any suggestions? Says Nirad Jhaveri of Energy:
"Basic cuts are very popular and the in colours-black and grey-have
been replaced by lilac and fuschia." And adds Priya Ailawadi of fashion
store The Oak Tree: "Evening gowns are out-people are now buying
clothes that they can wear even after all the partying is over, like capri
and leather pants. But shine and shimmer are really in." Any takers?
-Natasha
Israni
WEAR
AND SNARE: Model Helen Brodie (right) gives a New Year option
of black leather cutwork pants, a red sequins tube top and a gold metal
belt. This replaces the traditional evening gown.
FIFTH
YEAR SYMPHONY: It really began as a club of expat musicians
strumming Bach and Beethoven (the initial corpus was given by Zubin Mehta),
but the Millennium Sangat, a festival of chamber music organised by the
Mehli Mehta Foundation and the Time and Talents Club, held recently in
Mumbai's National Centre for Performing Arts, has now grown to be a global
affair with players from England, Germany and Australia. Now in its fifth
year, the festival drew an enthusiastic response ... especially for its
workshops for children. But what disappointed the organisers was the absence
of local musicians who refused to leave Bollywood, even for a day. "Next
year we'll try harder," said the determined foundation trustee Mehroo
Jeejeebhoy.
-Himanshi
Dhawan
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METRO TODAY
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