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A Greek tragedy in Delhi? A stepmother who nurses a passion for her stepson and, spurned, writes a note accusing him of raping her before hanging herself?Sure, because "there's a lot of incest under the surface of our society", says ex-bureaucrat Bhaskar Ghose, who directed and acted in UK writer David Lan's translation of Euripedes' Hippolytos at Delhi's Habitat Centre.

The plot: a malevolent Aphrodite, goddess of love, decides to punish prince Hippolytos for ignoring her, and instead worshipping the virgin Artemis, goddess of hunting. She makes queen Phaidra lose her heart and her dignity to him. The end: they die unhappily after. The fate of the protagonists notwithstanding, the crackling crisp dialogues and sharp wordplay in the hands of a competent cast made the play anything but tragic.

-Shuchi Sinha

Graceful Punch

Striking Steps: Balamurugan and Vaishnavi

A Greek tragedy in Delhi? A stepmother who nurses a passion for her stepson and, spurned, writes a note accusing him of raping her before hanging herself? Sure, because "there's a lot of incest under the surface of our society", says ex-bureaucrat Bhaskar Ghose, who directed and acted in UK writer David Lan's translation of Euripedes' Hippolytos at Delhi's Habitat Centre. The plot: a malevolent Aphrodite, goddess of love, decides to punish prince Hippolytos for ignoring her, and instead worshipping the virgin Artemis, goddess of hunting. She makes queen Phaidra lose her heart and her dignity to him. The end: they die unhappily after. The fate of the protagonists notwithstanding, the crackling crisp dialogues and sharp wordplay in the hands of a competent cast made the play anything but tragic.

-Arun Ram

Metro Minutes

Mumbai's tiger tots

Adults don't seem bothered about the fate of the endangered Indian tiger. Sanctuary Asia magazine and Britannia Industries Ltd are hoping they can at least make tomorrow's decision-makers sensitive. At a three-day Tiger Mela at Mumbai's Girgaum Chowpatty last week, as part of the Kids for Tigers programme undertaken to spread the message of tiger conservation to children in over 650 schools countrywide, they were given lessons on India's natural heritage. Some said they loved the tiger so they were there; for others it was just a way to have some fun.

One more in a line of exhaustive attempts made by travel agencies and tourism boards to lure Indian visitors to foreign shores. Except that the Malaysian Tourism Board and the Malaysian Airlines threw in some exotica with their models walking the ramp draped in sonkets and tunics in lace and brocade. Native designers Tom Abang Saufi and Sharifah Kirana experimented with unconventional cuts mixed with traditional motifs to create a pleasing array in shades of inks, greens and orange. But the show did not dazzle the judicious Indian consumer. Last overheard: Sri Lanka was offering better discounts.

Another one of those dos for the corporate honchos and the diplomatic fraternity. Only this time-rather it's becoming an annual event-they weren't there just for glitterati and chatterati purposes but to showcase their tennis talents. The Trans Meridian "doubles only" Tennis Tournament, attended by Dabur's Amit Burman and Jim Catchpole of the British High Commission, among others, was sponsored by William Grant's Scotch whisky and the Hyatt Regency. Blending joy with sporting spirit?

-Contributed by Natasha Israni and Himanshi Dhawan

Jewelwatch

In the current wedding season, it's the bridal and jewellery shows that are in vogue. At the launch of watch and jewellery quarterly Timeless Jewels at Delhi's Radisson hotel, barebacked models Yana Gupta, Meher Bhasin, Tapur Chatterjee, Aparna Kumar and Ruchi Malhotra, swathed in shimmering satin wraps, unveiled the Autumn-Winter 2001-2 jewellery line. The mixed collection of gold, Kundan and diamonds, showcased by four city jewellers, hogged all the attention as the audience, suitably represented by watch majors Swatch, Movado and Tissot, watched dazed. The rocks outshone the ramp sparklers-just this once.

-Methil Renuka