From Monday through Friday, you slave away at your office computer, which thwarts you from living a free-bird existence. But the mere thought of the weekend ahead is enough to make you want to burst into a song and dance! In fact, you’ve been known to indulge yourself in a rain dance now and then.
If dancing to the tune of the pitter patter of rainfall is something you enjoy, then spend this weekend soaking in the Monsoon Festival organized by Alliance Francaise de Delhi. An art festival that explores the varied hues of the monsoon, there’s something in it for everyone: art, theater, cinema and readings. Yes, even Bollywood music!
Indulge your taste-buds at the Monsoon mela, complete with traditional snacks, mehendi-wallahs, bangle-sellers, craftspeople, and flower-bedecked swings hung from trees. Watch Ajay Devgan’s sodden and sexy performance in Rituparno Ghosh’s Raincoat, or listen to some foot-tapping hip-hop malhaar music by London-based musician Nitin Sukh. Fancy a lesson in the different kinds of songs from the folk tradition that are sung during the monsoon? Catch it all at this festival.
Don’t take a rain check on this one!
From 28 July - 3 August 2006 at Alliance Francaise de Delhi, 72, Lodhi Estate, New Delhi 03. Programme details at www.redearthindia.com/monsoon.
As a bagel virgin you don’t really get what the fuss is about. After all, it’s just bread with a hole in it. But one bite of a toasted cream cheese-and-chives-smeared sesame bagel, and you’ll be a convert.
So go and get them hot, fresh and with toppings piled high at the new hipster joint, The Bagel Shop. It’s just like Central Perk on Friends, but in Bandra.
You can customise an imaginative bagel sandwich of your own or stick to an extensive menu that includes smoked salmon, low-fat cream cheese, Nutella and avocado varieties. Your gabby girlfriends and you need something potable for your parched throats? Choose from milkshakes, smoothies and a plethora of coffee drinks.
The new age eatery is conveniently located below the queen of kitsch boutiques, Barefoot, in tony Pali Hill. So don’t be surprised to see ladies shop till they drop and then stop in for a caffeine fix.
Before you know it, you’ll be religiously coming by to lounge on the cushy wicker furniture. Or to spy on the hunk reading the paper in the corner.
No wonder breakfast has always been your favourite meal.
The Bagel Shop. Below Barefoot, Pali Mala Road, off Carter Road, Bandra-West. Telephone: 26050178.
You dreamt of him again last night. Like always, he swept you up in his arms and you rode off together into the desert sun.
Sigh! You’re still waiting for the day when your very own swashbuckling Lawrence of Arabia will ride into your life.
Till then, you can take refuge at Visge, the latest Arabic restaurant and lounge.
Relax in one of the private seating areas with diaphanous curtains billowing around you, while you nibble on the Kafta Meshwi or meaty samosas or Rakach Jibane, a cheese and spinach filled patty. For the main course, the chef recommends Mock Manti, a home specialty of macaroni and ground meat, and Egyptian Yakhnie for the veggies.
Ambient low lighting and plush seating sets the mood for a stylish night out — or a very comfortable day dream about your knight in shining armour.
The Visge Lounge, E-12, 4TH Floor, South Extension Part II, New Delhi. Telephone: 2625562.
If Cleopatra could do it, why can’t you? Skinny-dip in milk speckled with rose petals, that is.
Intimmisso Organicaa has just unveiled a baroque-style bath and body basics store for women in suburban Mumbai.
Global brands like Wild Texas, Voda, Woodspirits, Get Fresh, Osea, Juice, Essecia and Philip B jostle for your attention. Pamper yourself with the goodness of organic soaps and shampoos infused with extracts of fruits, vegetables and herbs. Morph your tub into a personal spa with Curious Bath Bombs. Designed to look like scoops of ice cream, each bomb oozes moisturizing butter and fragrant oils.
Organicaa stocks an eclectic range of lingerie, too. From international brands, to functional pajamas, robes and camisoles, to sexy French chantilly lace sleepwear, to quirky edible undies in flavours like banana, strawberry and pineapple crush.
Now that’s something even Cleopatra would find hard to beat.
Intimmisso Organicaa, Shop No 1, Pluto Building, Turner road, Bandra (W), Mumbai. Telephone: 55248203.
They don’t call you the bag lady for nothing.
You have a fine appreciation for the difference between your original Prada and a mere Sarojini Nagar facsimile. But getting bag, oops, I mean back, to it — you are a bag-a-holic, a bag fiend, a bag-o-maniac!
Blue & Blues can help feed your bag fetish with their vast collection of luxurious all-leather bags, wallets, belts and portfolio bags.
They stock a riot of colours. All in leather. And, it’s Italian! (Did I hear a yipeee?)
You won’t be able to stop at one bag, so thankfully there are styles to match all sides of your personality (and all of your outfits). The La Floreale leather bags are hand-painted in floral patterns, and the La Africano line has a tribal look. Dazzle your crowd with La Brilliante, leather bags with a shiny metallic look.
Some addictions are too much fun to fight.
Blue & Blues is located on the 2nd, MGF Mall, Gurgaon. It’s also available at Taj Khazana in the Taj Group of Hotels and Shoppers Stop. www.blueandblues.com
Ah, the long flight. The turbulence. The line at the immigration counter.
You emerged feeling beastly, and wondering if it was worth the trip to load up on fashion and beauty products you can’t get at home.
Your journey will be much shorter now that The Body Shop has opened their first India store here in the hot, haute capital.
This beacon of beauty has been expanding around the world for 25 years with their alluring products, like coconut body butter and peppermint cooling leg gel.
The fragrance section features nine mix-and-max aromas, including Citrella, Zinzibar and Beleaf. You can create a signature scent for yourself, or even concoct a cologne for the man in your life.
The Delhi store carries almost all of The Body Shop’s products, so you definitely won’t feel like you’re stuck with the leftovers. (The make-up counter is coming in September.)
And the best part - they don’t test on animals. So it’s really beauty without the beast.
