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METROSCAPE
Fusion Spirit
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| HOLDING FORT: Prasanna (centre) and accompanists |
Pondicherry is no
Calais, agreed. But come July 14-Bastille Day-every year, the small French
community in this quaint, cosmopolitan state takes out a parade to commemorate
the day revolutionaries stormed the Bastille in 1789. This year though,
the Pondicherry Tourism Department did the honours a day later at Bharathi
Park with a fusion music concert titled Esprit de Pondicherry, organised
in association with Music Today. The evening featured Chennai jazz musician
R. Prasanna, better known for his Carnatic renditions on the guitar, with
Maarten Visser from Holland accompanying him on the saxophone, Chennai
musicians N. Ramakrishnan on the mridangam, Keith Peters on the electric
bass and N. Govindarajan on the ghatam. It was watched by an enthusiastic
400-strong crowd that included Pondicherry's indomitable Gauls as well
as local politicians Lt-Governor Rajani Rai, Chief Minister P. Shanmugam,
Tourism Minister A.V. Subramaniam, MLA S.P. Shivakumar and Consul General
of France Christian Bader. With revolution for a theme, and music to liberate
the mind, the evening had the crowds storming their version of the Bastille.
-Kavitha
Muralidharan
 ETHNIC
STROKES: At Mumbai's Cymroza Art Gallery,
Crafts from the Nilgiris, an exhibition-sale of artifacts crafted by tribesmen
from Tamil Nadu, provided insights into the ritual-driven hill life of
the Todas, Kotas and Kurumbas. Organised by the C.P. Ramaswami Aiyar Foundation,
a Chennai-based NGO, to keep tribal art from dying, on display were terracotta
trinkets, Kota temples, Toda shawls, and Kurumba paintings (that sold
for Rs 600 a piece and went to the artist). If only the artists were there
to witness the celebration of their work.
-Natasha Israni
BIZ FIZZ: The
Kingfisher Awards party-liquor baron Vijay Mallya's (far left) lavish
annual do-in Bangalore saw the ra-ra set out in full sparkle. Models Vidisha
Pavate, Dino Morea, Zulfi Syed and Diya Abraham showcased designer Manoviraj
Khosla's summer line. Nouveau-Paris Ritu Beri was there too, to receive
the Kingfisher International Achievement Award. Other awardees: Rahul
Dev and Madhu Sapre for "their contributions to the industry".
Other celebs: Shobha De, Mark Mascarenhas of WorldTel and Sunil Alagh,
MD, Britannia Industries. But too bad that despite the chatterati, corporate
glitz and credentials of organiser Prasad Bidapa, the fizz was amiss.
Perhaps because Sri Sri Ravishankar was missing.
-Stephen
David
Fashion
Freeway
The countdown to the Lakme
India Fashion Week (LIFW) 2001 ...
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Rathore
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The Mehras
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Sure, Raghavendra Rathore will be missed. But
don't ask us by whom. Raghu's decision to drop out of the fashion week
has given the upstartish one-and-a-half-year-old designer label of Shantanu
and Nikhil Mehra the chance to play serious couture. "Being at the
Fashion Week is a fantastic opportunity for us to show our clothes to
the world though we are just a start-up," gushes Nikhil understandably.
Groupiespeak: Rathore believes participation does not make business sense.
The uncharitable version: he's miffed at not being selected by Lakme to
present the sponsored Grand Finale Show this year-what Tarun Tahiliani,
Wendell Rodricks and he did in 2000. Ever the diplomat, Rathore's only
comment is, "I dropped out for personal reasons. I have three big
projects on my hands and I have no time for a fourth." With Rodricks
off holidaying at the time of the fashion week, Tahiliani is the Lone
Ranger left. Will he too change his mind?
-Anna M.M.
Vetticad
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