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METROSCAPE
Deserving Divas
If you're the wife
of a musician, playing second fiddle to him might be a good thing. Not
for Chandana Chakraborty. She was a talented vocalist who even did her
MA on the subject. Then she married fellow singer Ajoy Chakraborty-and
it looked like the end of the road for a promising career. "Only
one of us could get ahead," says Chakraborty. "And in our society,
it's easier for the man."
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SINGING WIVES CLUB: Jagari at a practice
session in Kolkata
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After putting her ambition on hold for years,
Chandana-and 25 other wives of musicians from Kolkata who did a similar
thing-have formed Jagari, a "musical wives" club to organise
concerts and soirees for the women. Apart from singers, Jagari's accomplished
members include a kathak dancer, a playwright and even an actress. Earlier
this month, they organised a concert for their husbands. On the cards,
though, is a joint performance and the other halves seem thrilled at the
idea. "It'll be wonderful," says a singer. "Let our wives
get the feel of what our lives are really like." Chances are, they'll
love the trade-off.
—Labonita Ghosh
Last Past The Post
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SOUND GUYS:
Deejays Spencer and Paulette of the Ministry of Sound |
At 2 a.m. on September
8 a security guard came running up to the Royal Ballroom of the Parkroyal,
Delhi, for reinforcements-people were trying to gatecrash. For a party
two-thirds through, it was astounding. But then this Bacardi Blast had
music by deejays from London's famed nightspot, the Ministry of Sound.
The 2,000-odd (including some very odd) people who did get in past the
cordon and survived the initial shock of 10,000 watts of blasting music
had to weather a minor tragedy: dry throats. Some blew their sorrow away
in smoke rings of suspicious odours. For others there was more traditional
therapy-dance.
On stage, djs Paulette and Spencer moved to
their repetetive four-four House beats with MTV vj Nikhil Chinappa and
Ministry of Sound's blonde tour manager Gill Kingston for company. Ministry
of Sound is looking for an Indian partner to launch its label, says Kingston.
Oh, and this bit's for global health and the end of substance abuse: Paulette
and Spencer don't smoke or drink; she even does yoga every day. Be darned
if more than 10 people there could say that.
—Samrat Choudhury
Dolls' Story
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| NOT PLAYTHINGS:
Bosteels And Her Figures |
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You'd probably expect a benign Belgian nurse
working in India since 1974 to make dolls in her spare time as a cute
little hobby. What you don't expect is a chilling subversion of the popular
form. Francoise Bosteels, 59, who recently showed 85 of her 4-inch-high
dolls at Delhi's India Habitat Centre, confronted more unnerving themes
like atrocities and exploitation to accompany traditional dancing poses,
a tribal with a bow and a banjarin embroidering cloth. "The dolls
are the expression of my integration into the Indian reality," says
Bosteels. "They're as much a part of me as I am of them."
The rape victim, made of felt, pipe cleaners,
discarded bobbins, wool and cotton balls is the horrific personification
of Budhi Ben who was gang-raped in Anthras village in Gujarat. And the
anonymous women hanging on the fan is a victim of dowry badgers. Indian
reality offers little that makes you smile. Bosteels says that better
than most sociologists.
—Anshul Avijit
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