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METROSCAPE
DANCING UP: When Napoleon attacked Russia
in the 1800s, the Kazhaks (Cossacks) of Kuban-a border district of Russia-pushed
him back. "Right up to Paris," says Anatoly Arifiev, a descendant
of the militant clans of Krasnodar. Last week, at an Indian Council for
Cultural Relations event in Kolkata, Arifiev and 13 others showed the
romantic side to the ancient warriors: acrobatic dances and songs of love
and patriotism (below).
And if it wasn't for Arifiev, many of the 300-year-old songs would have
been forgotten-the professor at Krasnodar University goes into the interiors
of Kuban every now and then to dig up old, forgotten ditties. He's revived
about 10,000 already.
-Labonita Ghosh
 SHOULDERING
A SHIRT: With international brands causing a havoc in the shirt market,
oldtimer Charagh Din has been keen on keeping its brand alive. With a
game plan called Past Forward-a 30-minute fashion parade at their outlet
in Mumbai which showcased sartorial styles from the preliterate Stone
Age to the postliterate future (below). The cavewoman or Helen Brodie
had a CD shirt cut up like Wilma Flintstone's and the man of the future,
or Tarun Raghavan, was accessorised with rejected CDs ... or compact discs.
The finale was the unveiling of a 7-ft high 9-ft wide shirt. Perhaps one
day men will be big enough to wear it.
-Natasha Israni
PHOTO
OP: "Will you show us the picture of the naked man and woman
you did?" A few chuckles sounded in the hall at India Habitat Centre,
Delhi, where Prabuddha Dasgupta (above) was conducting his workshop on
glamour photography as part of PhotoAsia 2001, an event billed as "Asia's
largest photography and imaging exhibition". The chuckles got louder
as Dasgupta said, "That was the one I got arrested for." The
other big names at the interactive workshops last week, targeted at professionals
and "serious hobbyists", included William Cheung of Practical
Photography and Robin Nichols of Digital Photography and Design. And even
though the fee (Rs 2,500 per workshop) seemed to cause a few frowns, for
most people there was that unstated carrot: the certificates.
-Samrat Choudhury
STACKUP
Mumbai's morning places to go eat your hearts out
Yazdani Bakery: 5.30 a.m. the aroma of
something nice baking wafts out of this quiet place behind Akbarally's
in a corner of Mumbai's Fort area. People begin to filter in for their
fix of German bread, ginger biscuits and apple tarts-all for less than
Rs 40. And we're talking breakfast for two.
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Parsi place: JimmyBoy
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Jimmy Boy: Aleti paleti. Betu paridu.
Greek to you? Well, aleti paleti is a preparation of liver, chicken and
mutton, betu paridu is egg on lady fingers, and all this is Parsi food
you could try at Jimmy Boy's next time you go to the Fort area.
Gaylords: Just off the Queen's Necklace,
this is the place to sit in the open and gorge on the large helpings from
the "Hearty Eaters" section of the menu.
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Sip while you sit:
Tea Centre |
Tea Center: If your cup of tea isn't here
it must be one rare cup. Tea Center at Churchgate has 15 varieties of
the cup that cheers-from straight Darjeeling to Nilgiri tgfop (tippy golden
flowery orange pekoe) served in traditional Indian earthenware cups. Hacks
love it.
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METRO TODAY
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