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Love shopping, clothes and ethnic fashion? ... Then you'll love the clothshow at NEC in Birmingham. This year's show will include a brand new feature, the Fusion Village, dedicated to delivering the very best in Asian fashion, jewellery and accessories, as well as specialist eastern services, including massage, aromatherapy and henna tattooing. Further, it will also serve as the launchpad for the first British Asian Fashion Awards on December 9 in the British Heart Foundation Fashion Theatre that'll celebrate the wealth of talent in the UK, simultaneously raising awareness of an issue that directly affects the South Asian community-Coronary Heart Disease.

-Ishara Bhasi

The Lady's Turn Now

PRIZED POSSESSION: Meena Pathak with her OBE

The Pathak family can now boast a "his/hers" OBE. "It's pretty rare," agrees Kirit Pathak, who, with his wife Meena, runs Patak's, one of the most successful Indian food companies in Britain. He picked up his Order of the British Empire four years ago "for services to the food industry and for exports". Meena, 45, was given hers at an investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace last week. She wore a creation by Mumbai designers Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla. Unlike most Indian women who greet members of the royal family with a namaste, "I curtsied," says Meena. The Queen was remarkably well briefed about Patak's, which started from a small shop in London's Drummond Street, but now has a turnover of £60 million. "The Queen said she had many friends in India. She also said she liked Indian food," discloses Meena. Kirit resisted the temptation to offer to send Her Majesty a complimentary jar of Patak's mild mango pickle.

-Amit Roy

A Fresh Perspective

INSPIRING CONFIDENCE: Livingstone at the function

Prize-giving ceremonies in London schools normally tend to be internal affairs. This year, however, proved to be different for the Islamia Primary School and the Brondesbury College for Boys when Ken Livingstone, the mayor of London, became chief guest at their awards evening. Praising the academic progress of the pupils, Livingstone said that society is diminished if the full potential of all its members is not developed. "A politican's job is to unite the people of his community, to find the things about which we agree, not divide us," he added.

-Jyoti Chanrai