The road not taken

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SUNDAY 13 | JANUARY 2013 A model poses with jewellery designed

by F&P

Brides now prefer to deck up with floral jewellery for their wedding ceremonies

The road not taken Former CEO, present day dogooder Maximus Chandra tells us how to scale India on foot AYSWARYA MURTHY DECCAN CHRONICLE

On January 8 at 3:22 pm, Maximus Chandra reached Delhi. Wrapped in a modest shawl to shield himself from the cold, his walking stick slung over his shoulder and his arms raised in triumph, he looks like Vin Diesel who has just survived a post-apocalyptic movie. 100 days, 2,361kms and 3,498,884 steps later, he informs the thousands of people on Facebook who are now vicariously following him on his journey across India, ‘Made it!!!’. And he did.

Not on a bike, not by bus, but on foot.

The half-German, half-Indian Max, who in another lifetime was a successful CEO in London, is half-way through his three-year mission to cover the length and breadth of the country on foot, in aid of One Step At a Time, a charity he founded. “I am doing these walks in the hope of stumbling across people or situations that I can possibly help,” he says. From helping set up a home for disadvantaged children in Chickballapur, Karnataka to assisting a child rescue charity in Goa acquire medical equipment for its mobile unit, it doesn’t get more grassroot than this.

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Posie-ing with charm wedding and when I came across floral jewellery, I knew this was it. I had the entire set and the best part is I smelt Wondering what to do for your wed- awesome the entire night,” she chuckles. ding that’s round the corner? Here is One of Upasna’s friends, who is set to the an idea, floral jewellery! No, we are not tie the knot in February was so taken by talking about gold ornaments with floral the idea, that she too ordered the exact motifs; we are talking about accessories design for her trousseau.

While garlands made of flowers made from real flowers. have been around for centuries, Brides seem to have taken a earrings and headbands is a new great liking to ornaments concept that is taking the wedmade from fresh rajanigandContinued on ding industry by storm. Gold, ha (tuberose) and orchids in the city. Twenty-five year g l a m - s h a m silver and stones, though an integral part of the cereold Upasna Katyal, a new monies, have been done to bride, adorned herself with 20 death. “For my mehendi, one of the innovative pieces at her our old family friends gifted me sangeet. “I wanted something the jewellery. beyond the ordinary for my ZOYA PHILIP

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Maximus Chandra

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Bengaluru Chronicle

The power of friendship India, I made Bengaluru my home. I absolutely love the place, despite all that people grumble about.”

She also dabbles in pencil portraits, is a poet, a yoga buff, a basketball player, Ted X speaker, a own circumstances and do blogger and a nature lover. what is expected of us. “The book is set in Many of us in India still Bengaluru and Chennai, do not stand up to our two cities I have lived in. It family and parents. We also features Maldives. My end up sacrificing our per- real life experiences influsonal needs, for their sake, ence my writings. But the and over a period of time, writer in me also adds a dash of imagination to this results in it, like the seasonextreme frustraing,” she says. tion,” she Many Indian It was a trip states.

But what don’t stand up down memory lane, she really trigto their shares, “I was gered it for reminiscing Preeti was, parents about my “When a school days, few people PREETI SHENOY as the book close to me, AUTHOR starts with a 16passed away at year-old protagoa very young nist. Even though the age. It made me want to convey a powerful world was different when I message about how short was a teen, teenagers and unpredictable life today still do the same really is, and why it is things, when it comes to important to follow your crushes and hanging out with friends. There is heart.”

Preeti says, “Bengaluru something magical about is a city that I have spent that phase in one’s life. the maximum amount of And sometimes, even after my life in. I have lived here twenty years, you can still for a decade now. When I recall many things in relocated from UK to vivid detail.”

Preeti Shenoy gets candid about her book, inspirations and life NAMITA GUPTA DECCAN CHRONICLE

Preeti Shenoy

In this fast p a c e d w o r l d where everything seems to be moving at the speed of light, there are times when you want to sit back and ponder about the pressing issues in life. And friendship is one among them. Preeti Shenoy, who launched her racy book The Secret Wishlist in the city on Friday talks about the meaning of friendship.

Rated as one of the top five authors in India by CNN-IBN, Preeti shares her tale. “This is a heartwarming tale about friendship, following your heart and doing what you truly long to. Very often, we are the victims of our

Posie-ing with charm Continued from Page 17

Continued from Page 17 Prior to 2005, Max had never set foot on Indian soil.

“Although I was brought up by my mother and grandparents, who are originally from near Kolar, I wasn’t really introduced to the whole Indian way of life while I was growing up. I almost knew nothing about the country,” he says. “I still can’t shake off the initial shock at seeing the levels of poverty here, and the thought of how different my life would have been if my grandfather hadn’t chosen to migrate, has stayed with me all these years. I think about it often during my walks, when I find myself negotiating isolated stretches of land, to distract me from the pain and the fatigue.”

It’s difficult to imagine how exhausting the walks could be, until you hear it in his own words, “I usually aim to cover 30-60 kms a day, depending on where I am. When I am walking through large tracts of barren land, I have to push on until I reach a village or town. In the more populous areas, I allow myself a slower pace to interact with as many people as I can. I have learnt to carry only the bare minimum — a change of clothes, extra pair of socks, my camera, GPS phone, water bottle and a medical kit.” The kit, the heaviest of the lot, is loaded with supplements and pills to keep him going. “At the end of my last walk, I was two days away from total kidney failure and I now have to take extra care of myself,” he says. But neither this, nor a close encounter with a wild elephant in Kerala nor an attempted robbery in Andhra Pradesh have deterred Max. “It’s all part of the learning curve. Now I know elephants don’t like their pictures taken,” he jokes matter-of-factly.

With three stages (out of the six stages of walks planned) behind him, he takes his customary three-four months break to prepare himself for the next walk, sort out administrative issues at his charity, plan new projects and revisit the people he met and projects he funded during the walk. The fourth stage of his mission will see him journey from Delhi into Leh, through Manali, and back to Delhi via Punjab and Haryana. The final leg of his journey will end in his ancestral home in Karnataka a few months from now.

Mang Tikka and a necklace made from fresh flowers by FNP

owner of Rings and Roses, a seasoned wedding planner says that they have been incorporating floral accessories in all their wedding for years now. “It has almost become like an unwritten custom,” she says. Another popular wedding planner, Sowmya Crasta of Purple Rings, concurs that the trend is fast picking up with the brides-to-be becoming more adventurous with Ashwati Parameshwar at her mehendi their wedding ensembles. “We do a lot of wrist bands, hair clips and neck pieces and are swarovski. And if a veteran course at an added cost.

Flowers are a fundamental also planning to incorporate designer’s touch is what you crave for, then Tarun Tahiliani part of any wedding. Where other accessories in our agenis your man. He also designs for there is a wedding, there have to da,” she says.

While the main weddings FNP’s floral jewellery, though of be flowers. Rosemary Ratnam, PICTURE CREDIT : THE CANDID PHOTOGRAPHY

It was gorgeous,” says Ashwati Parameshwar, who got married on January 5. It brings in the much needed freshness to the age old tradition. “The idea to do something like this conceptualised from that very thought. We began doing it and it turned into a massive success,” says Pavan Gadia, CEO Ferns N Petals (FNP), a company that designs the jewellery.

Fresh orchids, carnations and roses subsumed with tuberose buds create a piece oozing with elegance and opulence.

A set that comprises, a mang tikka, earrings, necklace, rings, along with an arm and waist band cost approximately `15,000. The jewellery can also be customised to suit the bride’s preference with added embellishments like pearls and

The road not taken

ceremony follows traditions closer to home, the sangeet and mehendi is where the young couple, though more often the bride, lets say, gets a little venturesome. “No one wants the same concept or itinerary anymore.

It’s all about pushing the limits and being creative at the same time. And I think floral jewellery is definitely the ‘extra’ mile of the extravaganza,” says Sowmya.

However, if you are pondering over the floral jewellery, there is a list of do’s and don’t that they come along with. So do read the instructions carefully before wearing them.