The Lost Nation
General Musharraf is on the offensive, wielding unlimited powers and taking on the establishment in a bid to whip a battered nation back into shape. But will he succeed? Plus an exclusive interview with the Pakistan President.

Travels In
Veiled Reality
From an optimistic country to one draped in despondency, it's a journey through a nation transformed.

Candle In Wagah Wind Track II diplomacy, the citizen-led campaign for Indo-Pak peace, has bloated into a virtual industry.

Comeback Drive
After two years in reverse gear and scarred by a dented marketshare, India's largest car maker shifts into top gear. With bold new launches and fresh strategies, it strides back into reckoning to regain part of the lost market.

Steering Under Test Even as Indian rally drivers rev up for overseas competition, motorsport within the country takes a beating. A sport that holds enormous revenue potential for the country is stalled by petty politicking as two rival organisations fight for the right to be called the official governing body.

Spray Of Misery
Crippled bodies and minds is a way of life for many in the villages of north Kerala.

SOCIETY AND TRENDS: FASHION DESIGNERS

DESIS FOR HIRE
Borrowed Feathers

Indian designers do small-time work for global brands. Not all like revelling in reflected glory.

They are Indian fashion's guns for hire. Versace, Carmen Marc Volvo and global image management consultancies are eager to hire their sewing machines. Reputed and lesser known, these are the Indian designers who undertake design and embroidery work for some of the most enviable international labels.

UNSUNG HERO: Being in the company of the best minds is a good deal for Varma

While not having their own labels is something of a deterrent for designers like Delhi's Tarun Tahiliani, Raghavendra Rathore and Mumbai's Krishna Mehta and Rocky S ("No way, do you take me for a job worker or a contractor?"), there are others who don't mind revelling in reflected glory. Delhi-based Suneet Varma, Jatin Kochchar and Ranna Gill find working with highly professional international names an irreplaceable learning experience. The pay packets are satisfying too.

The steady stream of global agencies into India is guided by good economics and talent. Research and development in India is a lot cheaper than in Europe or the US, and India is still the only country that takes on small productions as compared to a price competitive country like China. Also in demand are hand beading and traditional Indian designs like tie-and-dye, Bengal's kantha embroidery, Uttar Pradesh's chikan work and Jaipur's vegetable dyes.

JATIN KOCHCHAR Finds working with renowned professionals an irreplaceable learning experience.

Varma-30 per cent of his business comes from global exports-claims to have designed it all, from beaded shoes to handbags to bridal gowns, for labels like Donna Karan and Carolina Herrera. "You get to debate with the best minds and work six months ahead of the season. So when I design my own collections for the domestic market I have an edge over others as to what's happening in the international market," he says.

For designer Ranna Gill, 28, who exports her own label to London, Hong Kong, Singapore and New York, production for bigger labels is a purely business venture. Kolkata-based Lalit and Sunita Jalan have worked on Japanese designer Kenzo's personal wardrobe. The buzz, meanwhile, is that 29-year-old Jatin Kochchar's first assignment for a celebrity image management consultancy in London was designing a black cocktail sari for no less than singer Jennifer Lopez.

Such details are only the tip of the iceberg, with several big designers unwilling to spill the beans. What's not a secret is the increasing number of Indian designers continuing to hitch on to the global brandwagon.

MetroScape

Man In The Mirror
You wouldn't have missed the dark, brooding look in the television promos of Amitabh Bachchan's forthcoming psycho-thriller Aks. Credit the film's surreal halo to 40-year-old cinematographer and ad filmmaker Kiran Deohans.
more...

Looking Glass

Delhi Restaurant:
Eatopia

Kolkata Restaurant:
Ar-han Thai

Delhi Theatre:
Once I Was Young ... Now I'm Wonderful

A renewed legal offensive against former Union minister Sukh Ram foils his political plans in Himachal, besides embarrassing the state Government. INDIA TODAY's
Special Correspondent Ramesh Vinayak reports in
Blast From The Past