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METROSCAPE
Ground
Beneath The Fort
The Archaeological
Survey of India (ASI) has, for a few months now, been digging trial pits
in Delhi's Red Fort. And not for relaying the lawn (which also needs maintenance).
Assisted by a map of 1852 about the structural topography of the fort,
ASI sleuths are searching for original buildings particularly those opposite
the Rang Mahal and the Diwan-e-Khas. Already evidence has been found of
cloisters of enclosures as well as a perplexing circuitry of water channels
around major palaces. As one senior ASI official said, the idea is to
identify original features, understand why they were razed (probably by
the British after the Revolt) and "bring back the lost glory".
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| ROYAL SECRETS: Digs near the Diwan-e-Am
(right) with the Hammam and the Moti Masjid (built by Aurangzeb) in
the background |
They need to do it fast. The Red Fort, built
by Shahjahan in 1648 and once an emblem of Mughal improvidence, now resembles
an emperor whose clothes have been selectively ripped off. The façade
is still imposing, almost in the sandstone pink of health, but not when
you notice that many canopies and walls have been whitewashed by officials
who suddenly became archaeological aesthetes. Most of the damage inside
had already been done by the predacious Persian Nadir Shah and later the
British, but the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, currently one of the
co-keepers, is another conspirator in crime. Electric switchboards stick
like leeches to the edifice, wires run like creeperss and new additions
around the fort are incongruous with medieval harmony. Certainly time
to dig up the old ... but also wipe out the new.
-Anshul Avijit
BRIDAL SCARE: Feeding
on the country's insatiable appetite for ramp gazing, Delhi's Parkroyal
hotel hosted a design show to kick off a three-day bride and groom exhibition.
The event was imaginative, as the bewildered audience soon realised-when
the emcee announced a "fusion" wedding display, what followed
were figures in black robes and masks dancing eerily to the Aks number
Aa ja gufaaon mein (below right). Quite inexplicable, unless it was a
possible warning to dowry mongers. Spooky chic apart, there was jewellery
display by Delhi socialites Romi Dev and Nafisa Ali and wedding outfits
by 15 new names, of which Uma Rathi's understated achkans and Pakistani
designer Najiba Zulfikar's lehenga ensembles were notable. Fleur Xavier
and Sheetal Mallar (below, left) shone on the ramp but most models flaunted
paunches-the new wedding accessory?
-Shuchi Sinha
Match Your Wickets
 And
you thought that they were a bunch of losers. For all those who bit their
lip and cheered first reluctantly and then unabashedly for Bhuvan's (Aamir
Khan) motley XI in Lagaan now have a chance to play against them. The
cricketing campaign has been promoted by Britannia biscuits and involves
the simple task of filling up a coupon and the more difficult task of
waiting for the draw of lots. Fifteen chosen "players" will
get a chance to clash with Khan's bunch in Mumbai in December. Test players
are not eligible ... otherwise we might have had a fight on our hands.
-Himanshi Dhawan
METRO MINUTES
 At
a recent day-long workshop in Delhi's IIC, over two dozen journalists
from well-known publications were told by veteran newsman and retired
professor of journalism at Cardiff University, Val Williams, where they
were going wrong in fine art of feature writing ("Don't use big words,"
he vigorously reiterated). But Williams' rather ascetic viewpoint on where
Indians should spend their money (definitely not on petcare products)
met with a calm but derisive rebuttal from the assembled hacks. Never
too late to learn.
 This
time the heads did the rolling. At the three-day White Mischief Corporate
Bowling Championship 2001 held last week at Bowling Company, over 170
corporate captains from 40 Indian companies tried a swing as band-aids
and palliative sprays were kept handy. Star CEO Peter Mukherjee had to
contend with second place after being beaten by Fiat India's Italian MD
M. P. Bianci (left). No major injuries were reported apart from a couple
of swollen toes and an equal amount of bruised egos.
 "It
was like an enormous bridge of sighs," says 40-yearo-old Paul Harris
describing the ominous sculptures of skulls which greeted him on the way
to the historic Karakoram Pass in August 1997. Harris, who presented his
journey through a slide show at IIC, Delhi. Is the first foreign national
to trek down the altitudinous pathway after almost 50 years. Advice for
other Karakoram aspirants: carry white flags so that the Chinese don't
attack you.
 Bangalore's
new open-air jail at Parapana Agrahara village, 30 km west of the city,
was the setting for a 75-minute magic show by city magician S.P. Nagendra
Prasad, last week. "I blend my items with social messages,"
says Prasad, who is planning one show next month to highlight the ills
scourging government-run hospitals. In one act, he miraculously vanished
a whisky bottle and produced the Bhagavad Gita instead. "Throw away
the bad things and read good books," he told the prisoners. He also
wriggled himself out of a pair of handcuffs and a locked cage ... but
seems he was categorically told not to reveal the trick.
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