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METROSCAPE
METRO MINUTES
Bacchus fans were
neatly divided, musically and milieu-wise-sober sort outdoors, rock-till-you
drop ones indoors. Last Sunday, Central Mumbai hotspot Fire 'n' Ice gave
the twin options-and quite successfully-for its second anniversary bash.
And not to be left behind in the race for appropriating brand "ambassadors",
it announced seven bombshells and brand boys as its own.
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Disco ambassadors take a bow (above); Reshma Bombaywali
with Madhu Sapre (below)
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Among them, are Madhu Sapre, Anupama Verma and
Reshma Bombaywalla. As for those wondering how the second anniversary
came soon after the first, here's the logic: the first bash got delayed,
the second one shouldn't. Who needs a reason to party?
Film memorabilia, specially posters, are
now a chic wall accessory, coming under a broad umbrella of what is (loosely)
called kitsch. Moving with the trend, collector and movie buff Arjun Sawhney
put on sale 40 posters of both English and Hindi films, including those
of Guru Dutt and some delectable ones of Nadia Hunterwali from the 1920s,
at Delhi's Gallery Om. "I got them from everywhere," says Sawhney,
"studios in Mumbai, a slum in Dahisar, a dealer in Jaipur, shops
in New York. And I also discovered that many of the early Hollywood films
got their posters printed in India." Armed with this exciting factoid,
Sawhney has strengthened his resolve to accumulate ... so expect more
shows.
 Fashion
designers Rohit Gandhi and Rahul Khanna have extended their aesthetic
radius to art dealing. Their new vocation emerges from the excitement
of a newly discovered medium. At Palette 2001, an exhibition of works
by more than 40 different artists at India Habitat Centre in Delhi, the
duo also tried to establish a post-modern union between their clothes
(on mannequins, one of which had a strappy bikini and stripped trousers)
and works of prominent artists such as Anjolie Ela Menon (below). As usual,
F.N. Souza (above) needed no supplements.
Shop Lifting
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MARKET OF CONTENTION: The old Meena Bazar
could wind up (above); gateway to the fort (below)
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The entrance to Delhi's Red Fort is the historic
Meena Bazaar, a market that existed even during the Mughal times. It's
now difficult to imagine this whole stretch isolated and bare. But recently
the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) gave eviction notices to all
the 48 shops for security and heritage conservation reasons, much to the
dismay of the shopowners. The notices come after a petition was filed
in the Delhi High Court by the Society forHeritage and Culture, an NGO.
S.M. Hussain, President, Red Fort Bazaar Shopkeepers'
Association is devastated. "My shop was established in 1886,"
he says, "In fact, we are very much a part of the heritage of the
area." Sanjay Kumar echoes his sentiments: "How can we be a
security threat? We get our police verification done every year and get
an identity card from the Union Defence Ministry."
Even the parking lots outside the fort have
been given notices, though they earn Rs 13 lakh per month for the MCD.
"Revenue becomes subservient to security even though we are always
short of money," says J.P. Agarwal of the MCD. Both the disgruntled
groups now nervously await the court's decision.
—Teresa Rehman
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METRO TODAY
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