2015 singles

L14

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THURSDAY, MARCH 5, 2015

Books

Q&A | KAMILA SHAMSIE

‘You do what’s in your character to do’ PRIYANKA PARASHAR/MINT

The novelist on writing non­fiction, labels that annoy, and why more men win book awards

B Y E LIZABETH K URUVILLA elizabeth.k@livemint.com

······························· akistani writer Kamila Shamsie’s sixth novel, A God In Every Stone, was shortlisted for the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature 2015, an award worth $50,000 (around `30 lakh) that finally went to Jhumpa Lahiri for her novel The Lowland.

If award nominations are indicative of a writer’s strength of imagination, Shamsie’s is formidable.

Her first and third novels, In The City By The Sea and Kartography, respectively, were shortlisted for the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize, and her fifth, Burnt

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Shadows, for the Orange Prize.

The author, who lives in Karachi and London (till 2006, the US was her third home), speaks about why awards make a difference to a writer’s life, the gender bias among award juries, and being particularly bad at writing short stories. Edited excerpts from an interview: A lot of the plots of your novels develop in Karachi or other parts of Pakistan, like Peshawar in ‘A God In Every Stone’. And you live in the UK. Was it important for you to move away from Pakistan to write about it?

Actually, it’s sort of the opposite.

When I wrote my first five novels, I was living and writing in Karachi. I only moved to London seven years ago, as I was working on Burnt Shadows. So it was while I was in Karachi that I was writing the Karachi books, so very much about the world around me. And it is since I moved to London that the writing has shifted away a little.

A God In Every Stone is actually the first novel that I have written

totally outside, and that has bits in London, bits in Turkey and the bits in Pakistan that it has is Peshawar, which is not about a Pakistan that I know. So it is more like the Karachi novels were written when I was in Karachi and now a different kind of writing seems to be happening.

You’ve said before that your writing about London is sluggish. Has that changed?

It was interesting because some years ago, I tried writing something set there—I was spending some time there, it was a city I had a relationship with—and it just felt dead on the page. And then I moved it to Karachi and it took off. But with A God In Every Stone, there is a section in London, although a much earlier London, and I didn’t feel the same problem, so maybe something has changed.

I think it is very hard to put in words or know for sure the connection between your imagination and the places you worked in. Peshawar is not a city I know; I spent one afternoon there. And it was halfway through writing the

Dedicated to the novel: Kamila Shamsie at the recent Jaipur Literature Festival.

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A CONTEMPORARY ARTIST MEETS THE LEGENDARY BRITISH ABSTRACT ARTIST AHEAD OF AN EXHIBITION OF HIS WORKS INSPIRED

BY INDIA

book that I went there. And I went to the old parts which had been around in 1915 and 1930, the times I was writing about, so that was a city I had to access almost entirely through my imagination. Whereas when I wrote about Karachi, it was about what was very much around me. So I think I am changing as a writer.

Is it important for you to weave in the political in your novels?

Let’s say it’s interesting to me. I find politics and history very interesting. If I’m writing a story, the question, what was going on at the time, is one that I automatically ask myself. There are some places in the world where it is much easier to make that separation between what is happening at the political level and what is happening in people’s lives. But if you grow up in Karachi, you don’t have that separation.

So, from the beginning, when I was writing about a character’s life, it would be: Was there a strike on at the time, was there a riot, was it during a dictatorship?

Those are very basic questions you ask yourself in terms of atmosphere. But more than that, it is just an interest.

With your interest in history and politics, you’ve never considered writing non-fiction?

I do shorter pieces. I do columns; I used to write for The Guardian quite a bit, so the occasional essay here and there. But if I’m going to commit a year or two or three of my life to something, it tends to be the novel. It is how my brain works. (In my writing) it seems increasingly that there is a non-fiction aspect of it, but then I like being able to make things up in between.

You have several writers in your family. Did that inspire you to be one yourself, or the way you think of your stories? Is there a connection there?

I think the important thing about a family full of writers was that they were also readers, lovers of literature. So I grew up in an environment where people were reading and talking about books and poetry. I think that’s a more formative thing. And because I would see my mother (writing) in her room, it struck me as an option of what you might do in life. It’s not that there was ever an expectation from anyone in the family that I would do it.

In terms of what I write, my great-aunt Attia Hosain wrote a novel called Sunlight On A Broken Column, which was set around Partition. And then I wrote one called Salt And Saffron, which has a backstory around Partition.

There are certainly echoes between her novel and mine. Stylistically they are very different, but my Partition stories were ones she lived through. I think with the more recent work, there is less resemblance.

Do you write short stories?

I’m not very good at it. I think like a novelist, so my short stories will sound like a bit of a novel. It’s a form that I really admire and enjoy. There was a phase of my life when I was doing more of them but it has been a while.

How important are awards to you?

They make a big difference to a writer’s life, and I learnt that when my last novel, Burnt Shadows, was shortlisted for the Orange Prize. What’s happening increasingly is that you have so many books being published all the time, competing with each other for readers’ attention, and prizes become one way for books to be out in the front of the shop, and also for people to hear about them. So you get that many more readers, I think. That makes a difference.

It’s nice to think a group of people sat in a room with a lot of books and decided that yours is one of the better ones. You don’t write for it and you don’t sit around expecting it to happen. So

I think any writer who writes and thinks now I’m going to win the Booker Prize is setting himself up for disappointment. So it’s always a lovely surprise when it comes along.

Do labels—Pakistani, woman writer—annoy you?

It doesn’t annoy me if there are many labels. It would annoy me if there was only one. So if I were only talked about as a woman writer, whereas men are never talked about as men writers, that I find problematic. But I’m perfectly happy to be on a panel with other women writers to talk about particular things that crop up around women writers. And I’m fine with being on a panel with other Pakistani writers because we are writing about a common history, so there are mutual reference points, so that makes sense.

But you need to have a lot of labels on you. So you need to be also just talked about as a writer.

The label woman writer is particularly irrelevant, isn’t it?

I think it is very interesting how it gets talked about, so (a panel discussion) on gender bias in publishing...can be fruitful.

I think with the Orange, the Baileys Prize, which is for women, there was a real point to setting that up which had to do with how male-dominated certain lists were, (how) there were certain kinds of books that were regarded as more significant than others.

Is that still true?

It’s still true. It’s less true but it is still true. I have been on a number of prize juries and the interesting thing you notice is that the male judges—and a lot of them will admit this themselves, I’ve seen—tend to know and have read the male writers, and the women will have read both. So there is an interesting thing that happens, which is that because the men are being read by men and women, the consensus forms around them more. And that, as a judge, I notice increasingly. I also notice a lot more books that are submitted by publishers for big prizes are written by men because they assume that it’s a certain kind of novel the judges want, so they will submit those.

So is there some way to address these issues among the community of writers?

Unfortunately what happens is that issues that surround gender—and gender is men and women—tend to be seen as issues for women to talk about.

Writers, essentially, their work is solitary, but you do at various points have them getting together.

The most recent was when a huge number of writers got together to sign petitions on the Amazon issue: We did have a kind of writers’ group forming around that. There were other issues as well where you briefly see the writers, but then everyone goes back to their respective desks.

What was your stand on the Amazon issue?

I understand that Amazon and the publishing houses, Hachette particularly at that point, were battling it out over royalty and that kind of thing. But no one knew the details of that, so I am not in a position to say who was being fair. But the problem that all the writers came around for was that Amazon removed the “buy” button from a lot of the Hachette writers.

So what all of us were saying is that if you are having a professional dispute between the publishers and Amazon, go work that out, but don’t hold writers hostage to it. Don’t use them as a negotiation tactic. So that was, and remains, my point on that.

Is it important for writers to hold an activist point of view?

I think the question is, is it important for human beings to hold an activist point of view? I don’t know that writers necessarily should be something else. You do

L18 FLAVOURS SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2015° WWW.LIVEMINT.COM

DELHI’S BELLY | MAYANK AUSTEN SOOFI

The genial adventures of Mrs Kaul A veteran Page 3 diva who celebrates and humanizes the revolving fortunes of the Capital’s high society

S

he is from Kashmir, but her real home is Page 3.

A regular on the party pages of Delhi’s newspaper supplements, Ratan Kaul is often spotted with the powerful and the famous. She has been photographed with President Pranab Mukherjee; Congress president Sonia Gandhi; Tina Ambani, former actor and wife of industrialist Anil Ambani; former cricketer Kapil Dev; dancer Sonal Mansingh; Bennett, Coleman & Co. chairperson Indu Jain; and Congress MP Shashi Tharoor.

Delhi doesn’t lack Page 3 divas. Some of the most frequently featured socialites include emcee Shivani Wazir Pasrich, entrepreneur Vandy Mehra, wellness expert Vesna Jacob and art curator Sunaina Anand. But unlike them, the 60year-old Kaul has no profession.

Her husband exports handcrafted builders’ hardware (door knobs, etc.) to Europe. Her only daughter got married last year.

Kaul, who has lived in the Capital since her student days at Delhi University’s arts faculty, is the turbo-charger of a social setup that relies on being seen, heard, spoken to and spoken of at the right places, where longstanding friendships with names that matter the most are sustained by a combination of genuine liking and an opportune use of fame.

During the recent launch of a book written by an author whose name also happens to be Ratan Kaul, Prasar Bharati CEO Jawhar Sircar jokingly told the audience, “When I first saw the invite, I thought maybe it’s the Ratan I know who has written the novel, but on second thoughts I realized it couldn’t be her, since she was so busy being on Page 3.”

Is a public relations firm keeping Kaul in the newspapers?

“Are you mad,” says Kaul, laughing so exuberantly that her body shakes. “It’s just that I have been attending parties long before the Page 3 arrived.”

She is reclined on the long sofa of her apartment in south Delhi’s Greater Kailash-II. It’s one of the rare evenings when she is at home. She says, “Last Tuesday, I saw Sonia Gandhi and her daughter Priyanka at the wedding reception of (Congress MP) T. Subbarami Reddy’s grandson. Priyanka was accompanied by her daughter Miraya—a stunner, so tall, and

MANOJ VERMA/MINT

:

she was dressed in a yellow anarkali.”

A few days earlier, Kaul was spotted at the India Habitat Centre with vice-president Mohammad Hamid Ansari’s wife. Another evening, she was sighted presenting a bouquet to the Turkish ambassador at his Prithviraj Road residence.

“Sebnem is an anthropologist!” she says, referring to the envoy’s wife, adding, “I love both of them.”

Kaul has similar feelings for the Kuwaiti ambassador. She perks up at the mention of the Danish ambassador. “I know all the ambassadors and their wives,” she says.

Flitting across town in her chauffeur-driven Honda, Kaul sounds like a frequent flyer.

“After Oxford, I had to rush to

“

‘WE ARE NOT SHALLOW PEOPLE WASTING OUR TIME. SERIOUS BUSINESS TAKES PLACE IN THESE PARTIES.’

Sri Lanka”—by that she means a drive from the Oxford Bookstore in Connaught Place to the residence of Sri Lanka’s high commissioner in Chanakyapuri.

Her busy evenings illuminate the modus operandi of the Capital’s high society.

“We are not shallow people wasting our time,” says Kaul.

“Serious business takes place in these parties.”

Last year, for instance, she says she helped promote two books on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “The authors approached me for publicity. I arranged a sponsor and we did the event at the Durbar Hall in the Taj Palace hotel. Senior ministers Arun Jaitley and Prakash Javadekar sat on the dais (so did Kaul) and the audience included A-listers like the chief of army staff, Gen. Dalbir Singh Suhag, (banker)

Naina Lal Kidwai, (former attorney general) Soli Sorabjee, and a battery of ambassadors. I wore a saffron sari.”

Saffron is the colour of Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which had then just replaced the Congress-led UPA as the ruling establishment. In picking that colour, Kaul showed her sense of occasion, even survival instinct.

“I’m an apolitical animal; I vote Nota (none of the above),” she says. “I have friends in all three parties—the Congress, BJP and AAP (Aam Aadmi Party)— not because of their party affiliations but because they are good persons.”

Two years ago, Kaul says she helped kickstart the annual Delhi Literature Festival. It was held at the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, and then Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit spoke on the first day.

“Last year, we had Kejri in a talk with (newscaster) Barkha Dutt,” she says, referring to AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal, who was the chief minister at the time too.

It’s tempting to see this gregarious woman as just another smooth-talker who keeps Delhi society running. But the disarming Kaul defies the type—she doesn’t even carry a mobile phone. She shows no snobbery; she is not possessive of her contacts and generously nudges her important friends to give their visiting cards to upcoming artistes and authors who need connections. Kaul is a character who humanizes Delhi’s high-powered social order.

Born in a railway officer’s family, she arrived in Delhi in

the late 1970s for her postgraduation. Not long after her marriage, she was hired as a programme officer in a nonprofit organization called the Indian Federation of United Nations Association. “That job set me off,” she says. “All the time, I was meeting visiting heads of state, and diplomats and ministers. My first high was when I shared the dais with (president) Giani Zail Singh. It was my first photo with a VIP.” Today, Kaul has dozens of photographs with such VIPs (those pictures make up the bulk of her website). And she likes getting clicked with them, almost for a lark.

“I don’t try hard to make contacts,” says Kaul. “There are four or five big business chambers in Delhi. I’m on the mailing lists of all of them, and they regularly send invites for their events. I go, clap, smile and make friendships that I nurture over years. I wish these friends on their birthdays. I’m helpful.

I’m nice. That’s why when I email an invite to them for my events, they all turn up.”

She, too, turns up at every important gathering in the city.

Kaul is always seen at the annual Hindustan Times Leadership Summit, and at the India Today Conclave. Last year, she says she was invited as a “complimentary guest” to The Economist magazine’s 2014 India Summit.

Setting down her glass of piping hot kehwa on the coffee table, Kaul playfully shouts, as if speaking on a podium, “Public diplomacy is my forte.”

And her unique selling point too.

“People get in touch with me if they want to do some grand launch,” says Kaul. “Currently, I’m fixing a book discussion for a politician’s wife who has written on poverty. I’m also ideating for a glossy magazine’s annual award function to be held later this year. I’m helping them design the show, get the VIPs, get the chief guest, get the guest of honour. Of course, I get paid.”

In other words, she is a onewoman PR company.

“No, no, no, no, no,” exclaims Kaul cheerily. “I’m an MA first class! Don’t have to pass down a PR company to my daughter. I pick up parties for fun. When Subbarami Reddy asked me to come to his party the other day, I dressed up in a Kanjeevaram, drove to the Ashoka hotel, had chicken tikkas and got myself clicked with Simi Garewal.

Simple.”

But some things are not as easy. Kaul has still not fully assimilated into the club of the Capital’s new rulers. She wasn’t invited to the recent wedding reception of BJP leader Amit Shah’s son. “I’m not heartbroken,” she says.

In any case, Kaul’s diary is full.

In the coming days, she is hosting an International Women’s Day award function at Le Meridien hotel. Soon after, it wil l be time for the Delhi Literature Festival, for which she is the adviser. She must also show up at the book launch of her “bum chum” Tharoor. And she also has to drop by at the office of the Turkish Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

“Every day is different,” says Kaul. “There’s no time to relax.

Not even to look at Page 3.” mayank.s@livemint.com

CULTURE L17 THURSDAY, MARCH 5, 2015° WWW.LIVEMINT.COM PHOTOGRAPHS

BY

VIVEK MUTHURAMALINGAM

LOCAL GEOGRAPHY | RAJAJINAGAR 2ND STAGE, BENGALURU

Neon signs and a ‘kabadiwala’

Retracing parts of a childhood walk in a neighbourhood that was once home to a lake and the 80 Feet Road

Time travel: (from above) The Milk Colony Ground, with the Brigade Gate­ way towers in the back­ ground; the Milk Colony in 2009; and Amarnath Singh at the Amba Bha­ vani Medical Stores.

Intimate takes on city neighbourhoods

B Y V IVEK M UTHURAMALINGAM ···························· efore my family made its way to the boondocks of Yelahanka in 2002, we lived in Bengaluru’s Rajajinagar 2nd Stage residential extension for 18 long years.

Among the many memories that I have of growing up in the Rajajinagar neighbourhood, the long walks with a school friend remain vivid. We would take breaks in between our halfhearted attempts at homework and walk to the Iskcon temple on West of Chord Road, a good kilometre or two. We felt very adult about it, walking to clear our mind and all.

Rajajinagar sat on hilly terrain and no two streets looked similar. We would often change routes to beat the monotony and sometimes discover the homes of classmates by accident.

Cycling, too, was always exciting, and near the Kamalammana Gundi (KG) Grounds, a particularly challenging street with a really deep trough would leave us gasping for breath.

Local cricket teams used the playground on weekends, and it was believed that a dilapidated bungalow overlooking the grounds was haunted. We would sometimes stand outside the compound wall and imagine we were seeing things.

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In the post-Orion Mall era of today (and with it, the Brigade Gateway, the World Trade Centre, Sheraton hotel and, more recently, One Bangalore West—an uber posh apartment complex that is coming up in the vicinity), I decided to retrace parts of that walk. I was apprehensive, and had very little hope of finding the relics of my childhood.

The first thing I observe are the chequered lights of the World Trade Centre dominating the skyline, accompanied by the red safety lights of a gigantic crane hovering over a concrete edifice nearby.

The Ganesh Juice Centre near our school is still there—a mango milkshake used to cost `5 then. The menu has now expanded to include butter-fruit shake for `40 and an Arabian pulpy grape juice. On the opposite side of the road, a flight of steps leads to the Punyadhama Temple, which is still a fine place to sit and watch the passing traffic. A little further on, the many decades old Prabhu Sweets appears on the right. A frail-looking chap, whom we assumed was Mister Prabhu himself, used to serve us samosas during the tiffin break on Saturdays when we wouldn’t carry anything from home. His samosas had potatoes with peels

intact, but they were tasty enough to be devoured hot. I see the signboard missing and ask the man at the Pavan Book and Stationers shop nearby if Prabhu is still around.

He says: “The shop shut down just a month ago. But don’t worry, his kitchen is still running.

Go up this road and take the second left. It’s the second or third building.”

I heave a sigh of relief.

Continuing further down the road, the Bhaktha & Sons photo studio appears on the left. Right behind it was our favourite pastry shop; it’s no longer there.

The shopkeeper there used to speak good English and seemed to be this well-mannered and

perfumed specimen from another world, and we assumed it must be the Cantonment area in his case. His chilled Black Forest cake was an indulgence when we had the money.

Udupa’s, at the end of Chord Road, which once served the best idlis and sambhar, has met a similar fate. The idlis have now moved close to Navrang Theatre, I am told, and have made space for Malabar Gold and Diamonds.

From the Vidya Vardhaka Sangha Saptharishidhama, a Kannada-medium school, we would take a right and the street would begin its ascent. The houses ended abruptly and, with them, the street lights too. Back then, a rough and uneven path, interspersed with shrubs and a water tank, used to lead up to the Iskcon temple. We would linger, chatting in the dark, away from the city lights and thoughts of homework.

The Iskcon temple stood on a hillock then; rough steps led to the structure that looked like a makeshift warehouse with a roof made of asbestos sheets. Every year, during the painting contest that was organized there, my brother and I would happily settle down on the rock surfaces surrounding it and draw our masterpieces. Today, the temple is huge—multistoreyed, with the air of a luxury hotel—and opinions are divided on whether it’s a brilliant piece of architecture or an eyesore.

The 80 Feet Road, renamed Dr Rajkumar Road, now has offices of global banks. I assumed there would not have been any space for the humble Amba Bhavani Medical Stores and Santhosh Café of yesteryear. Miraculously, the former survives in its corner.

There weren’t many pharmacists in the neighbourhood back then, and this store would remain open till 11pm.

I was eager to talk to its owner, Amarnath Singh; initially, I couldn’t recognize him. He

filled me in on everything from the time of his birth at the KC General Hospital to the current family dispute between his brothers over a house in the same neighbourhood.

The Milk Colony Ground, which used to be a lake, is a builder-sponsored, manicured recreational facility with an athletic track and basketball courts. The White Horse bar nearby has thankfully survived the ravages of time. It is safe to assume that it is because of its timely reincarnation—fancy décor, neon signage, waiters dressed as sales executives and a brand new name, 1522 The Pub. The Vinayaka Paper Mart, our friendly kabadiwala, has made it to 2015. My brother would spend time after school helping arrange stacks of newspapers to earn himself a book or two. It helped him build a library of Tinkle magazines, and Amar Chitra Katha and Tintin comics.

Balaji Stores—where my father’s friend, Ramaswamy uncle, would get his brand of cigarettes—is still run by Srinivas, who tells me that the rent for a single-bedroom house in the area is now as high as `6,000 a month. Sri Keshava Stores and Sri Venkateshwara Provision Stores, both grocery shops, survive too, with very little cosmetic change. It is the skill and resilience of the Setty clan, I assume. They still have clients who buy on credit. And you can buy “loose” oil there.

Taking a turn into one of the by-lanes, I am delighted to see that very little has changed.

Many of the houses still have little garden fronts, terraces with “rooms” for the adolescent son or daughter seeking privacy, the strong aroma of a hing (asafoetida) overdose from Brahmin kitchens, and coconut palms swaying gently where the architecture acknowledges their presence.

The streets have retained the unmistakable signature of this neighbourhood—little children out on the streets prancing about from one compound to another at 8 in the evening, away from the watchful eyes of parents.

Write to lounge@livemint.com

CULTURE L17 SATURDAY, MARCH 28, 2015° WWW.LIVEMINT.COM

q Wallet Ninja

$9.99 (around `620), plus shipping, www.walletninja.com This flat multi-tool, made from heat-treated steel, is as slim as a credit card. Incredibly, this variant packs in 16 different tools, including a ruler, peeler, screwdriver, bottle opener, box opener, nail puller, hex wrenches, smartphone stand and can opener.

p Bobble $9.99, plus shipping, www.waterbobble.com It is not always easy to access clean drinking water while travelling. The Bobble bottle solves that problem. It is fitted with a carbon filter that filters out the chlorine in the water. Each replaceable filter is good for 300 complete refills. Bobble is available in multiple colours and three sizes: medium, large and classic.

p Ricoh WG­M1 $249.95, plus shipping, www.pentaxwebstore.com

RUGGED

TECH

This flask-shaped camera is shockproof—it can survive 6ft falls. The camera can stay under water up to a depth of 10m for 1 hour. It can work in sub-freezing temperatures of minus 10 degrees Celsius also. The WG-M1 has an impressive 14megapixel sensor and a 1.5-inch LCD screen, and can record Full HD (1,920x1,080-pixel) videos. The large control buttons on the camera make it easy to switch between different shooting modes even while wearing gloves. The WG-M1 also has a smartphone app, letting you control the camera, and what it captures, from a distance.

Travel smart with gadgets that can brave the elements

BY VISHAL MATHUR

E

veryone travels with gadgets these days. Some actually help you on your vacation, while others need protection while you are swimming or diving off a cliff. Here are some gadgets and accessories that will withstand the most adventurous holidays, and some that will help you deal with harsh conditions.

p Trunkster

vishal.m@livemint.com

p Panasonic Toughpad FZ­M1

$325 onwards (around `20,230), plus shipping, http://trunkster.co

`1.25 lakh http://in.panasonictoughbook.asia

Trunkster is a trolley bag with a sliding door that can be opened quickly and takes up less space than a zipper system. The handle stretches from one side of the bag to the other, helping you manoeuvre it better than a regular periscope handle would. Trunkster is GPS-enabled, letting you track its position in case it is lost or stolen. It has a 12,000 mAh battery pack that allows you to charge your phones and tablets, and a digital weighing scale that allows you to weigh your bag just by lifting it.

Trunkster is currently in the pre-order stage, with shipping scheduled for late 2015. It will be available in two variants: 22-inch Carry-On and 27-inch Checked. A combo is also available.

t Krusell SEaLABox Waterproof Case 3XL

£24.99 (around `2,320), plus shipping, www.krusellcases.com This is a universal waterproof smartphone case made by Swedish company Krusell. The dimensions are 139x76x16mm, which makes it compatible with a variety of screen sizes, including the BlackBerry Z10, HTC One, Microsoft Lumia 920, Asus Padfone 2 and Sony Xperia Z. The waterproof capabilities are rated as IPX7, which means the case can stay in 1m of water for up to 30 minutes without any damage to the phone inside. There is a neck strap as well, in case you don’t want to hold the phone in your hand.

For those who cannot get away from work even on vacation, this is a tablet that can withstand the elements. The FZM1 has an IP65, US military rating for dust- and water-resistance and is 150cm shock-resistant. This rugged Windows 8.1 tablet packs in an Intel Core i5-4302Y processor, 4 GB RAM, a 7-inch (1,280x800 pixel) touch-screen display and a 128-GB solid-state drive. It weighs 540g.

q Nikon Coolpix AW120 `17,950 www.nikon.co.in

p JUNE

€129 (around `8,640), plus shipping, www.netatmo.com This bracelet tracks your exposure to ultraviolet rays through the day. It syncs with the JUNE app on your Android phone or iPhone, and based on the measured exposure to the sun, offers real-time suggestions on protection—right down to which SPF cream to use or when to wear a hat. JUNE has multiple sensors, which keep reading the live statistics. The safe UV range is adjusted in accordance with your skin type—you feed this data while setting up the app. JUNE is available in platinum, gold and gunmetal colours.

This camera is waterproof up to a depth of 18m, and the shockproof construction means it can survive a 2m (6.5ft) drop. The AW120 is dust-proof and can survive cold climates better than most other cameras—it will work in temperatures as low as minus 10 degrees Celsius.

The 16-megapixel sensor with Nikon’s EXPEED C2 image processing feature allows for crisp and vibrant photos. The camera also has built-in Wi-Fi, letting users transfer and share images on smartphones and tablets easily.

Braven BRV­1 $99.99, plus shipping, www.braven.com This portable Bluetooth speaker can take your music wherever you want it to. The BRV-1 is adequately protected against direct rainfall, powerful water jets aimed directly at it, and splashing water. It can also be immersed in 1m of water for up to 30 minutes. This is a 2.1-channel system—there is a 70mm-wide subwoofer for bass, and each speaker provides 3-watt audio output. The builtin microphone allows you to use this as a speakerphone for calls. If the phone you are streaming music from is running low on battery, the BRV-1’s built-in battery pack can charge it while the speaker continues playing music.

www.livemint.com

THURSDAY, MARCH 5, 2015

L9

Play NAYAN SHAH/MINT

TENNIS

Leander Paes: if not him, then who?

At 41, India’s most successful tennis player continues to win at Slams despite off­court troubles

B Y D EEPTI P ATWARDHAN but what he was already working ···························· on was hand-eye coordination here is a sense of shock and and reflexes.” awe every time Leander In elite sports, almost no one Paes wins a Grand Slam. survives beyond 40, largely due Shock that at his age—he is 41 to the gradual erosion of reflexes now—he continues to win. Awe ( t h e b o d y c a n h o l d o n t o because he continues to make it strength and endurance for look easy (you saw that casual much longer). But at 41, Paes is behind-the-back volley that still lightning fast at the net. Serplonked right inside the sideline bia’s Nenad Zimonjic, who has during the semi-final of the Aus- played with and against Paes, testralian Open mixed doubles, tifies: “He has one of the quickest right?) Not an interview goes by pair of hands at the net and that when he’s not asked how he does can put a lot of pressure on the it. opponents to go for more and The man himself—just back more difficult shots. By being at after winning his 15th Slam, the the right place at the right time, he Australian Open mixed doubles makes the court look very small title with Martina Hingis—meets for his opponents.” the question with an element of Perhaps genes played a role: incredulity. Why shouldn’t I win? “Leander was born with fastIt’s not a sense of entitlement, twitch fibres,” says his father. Dr but the expected outcome of a Paes was a hockey player, part of process. A continuous, persistent the Olympic bronze-winning and meticulous devotion to train- team at the 1972 Munich Games. ing, playing and thinking about His wife Jennifer was a national tennis that began over three dec- basketball player and captain. ades ago and has shown little sign “We had a strong team of of decelarating. coaches and trainers looking after “If you have actually lived it day him from an early age and giving to day, you realize it is going to him the support he needed,” Dr happen,” he says. “If you train Paes says. “But despite all of that, hard enough to be a professional it’s his sheer competitiveness athlete, you are going to get that has kept him going.” there.”

Competitiveness. It’s Even by elite-sport standthe one word that has ards, Paes’ training had governed his career started early—before he had more than any. A comlearnt to crawl. His father petitiveness so edgy and Vece Paes, a doctor, hung hard core that it often balls of different colours, GRAND comes across as egoistic to sizes and weights on the a fault.

SLAM cradle to develop his hand- DOUBLES “It is probably not ego, it TITLES is the pride of performeye coordination. He was introduced to reflex training ance,” Paes says. “The at 7, and speed drills at 10. hard work one’s put in, the years “According to sports scientists, that one’s persevered. The respect reflexes begin to slow down after I have for my coaches and teachthe age of 8,” Dr Paes says. As a ers, who have helped me, and child, Paes did a lot of reflex exer- who continue to take time away cises, hitting against the wall from from their families to help my close quarters or doing catching career. That pride of performance drills. One of the exercises is for all these reasons. I continue involved dropping a ruler, and to be a student of the game, of catching it before it hit the life.” ground.

In Melbourne, during the Aus“I used to play a lot of video tralian Open from 19 January-1 games as a kid too,” Paes says. February, Paes had Hingis, one of “Dad used to give me some the brightest talents of the game, money every day to go and play on his side of the court, and Marvideo games; for me it was fun, tina Navratilova, one of the all-

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time greats, in his corner. But a game, one shot away. key lesson, possibly the missing “Looking at our individual piece of the puzzle, came from a careers, I knew it (the partnership wheelchair player, Gordon Reid. with Hingis) would click. Also “In Chennai and Auckland I Martina and myself are undekept on chipping my backhand, I feated in World Team Tennis (a didn’t have my roll return,” Paes league-format tournament in the says. “In the men’s doubles in US) over the past two-three seaMelbourne (with Raven Klaasen), sons. I have been asking her for we lost to the eventual champions the last three years to play (mixed (Fabio Fognini and Simone doubles in Slams). What makes Bolelli) even after winning the Martina so unique is her humility. first set only because I wasn’t hit- For someone who has won so ting my backhand return. much, she was humble enough to “And then I came into say, ‘No, no I’m scared to the indoor courts to pracplay with you because, what tise. I saw these two if you lose?’ Also I think wheelchair players doing there was a certain stress 4-minute drills. Gordon (because) I had achieved so (Reid) is left-handed, and much with (Martina) his upper body is big, GRAND Navratilova, who is one of SLAM strong. He was hitting the MIXED her heroes and whom she forehand normal, but on DOUBLES was named after, that she the backhand he was hit- TITLES had to live up to that.” ting on the same side of The Australian triumph the racket, so it wasn’t turning capped not just a remarkable first over. It showed how the upper four weeks for him—he reached body, and the acceleration of the the final of the Chennai Open and upper body, can create so much won the Auckland Open—but control. I realized that by acceler- also announced a return to form. ating more you get more spin, With the focus shifting to the more spin means more control. I court of law, where he is fighting a had been trying to get control by bitter and public custody battle swinging slowly and the ball was over his daughter Aiyana with his flying on me.” partner Rhea Pillai, tennis court Paes let the backhands rip from results had suffered last year. He then on, bringing a much needed had a win-loss record of 26-16 stability to his returns. It was cru- and his ranking dropped to 29 by cial that he held that end up, the year-end. especially in the mixed doubles “Last year I was going through final when he faced familiar foe such a rough time with my perDaniel Nestor. The Canadian, 42, sonal life,” he says. “My team, my is every bit as experienced as Paes core team, they helped to still in doubles play and serves with enjoy what I do and keep my head venom. above water in the toughest times.

But Paes and Hingis, seeded And everyone goes through hardseventh, steered past that mine- ships. We can’t control when field impressively to beat Nestor adversity comes. But now that and his French partner, Kristina one’s got perspective of the whole Mladenovic, 6-4, 6-3. In their first thing, I know what I want out of it. major together, Paes and Hingis, Tennis is my bread and butter, it’s two of the savviest minds in ten- how I earn my living. And I want nis, had not only claimed the to keep enjoying it.” title, but claimed it without He was quick to get back on dropping a set. track, playing in the Champions “That was special, that was Tennis League to make up for the huge,” says Paes. “It’s about lack of match time during the seadiscovering new highs all the son late last year, and training rigtime. At this level, to play the best orously in the off-season. “Putting in the world and not lose a set! it in perspective, 2015 has already Especially in this scoring format, been, in the first month of the with the no-ad rule, where it’s one year, better than the whole of 2014.”

It can be seen in the dips and peaks of his ranking as well—he

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Smart training: (above) Paes is focused on the bigger events; and with Martina Hingis at the 2015 Australian Open.

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SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2015

Style TREND TRACKER

How to see red If you’re serious about fashion you can’t forgo red. Here’s how to wear every hue of it—from vermilion to wine red marsala, Pantone’s colour of the year B Y S UPRIYA D RAVID ···························· t the 2015 Golden Globes last month, nearly 13 top actors donned various shades of scarlet. Lena Dunham wore a Zac Posen rosy-red satin gown with a high-low hemline, her Girls co-star Allison Williams was in a blood-red sequined Armani Privé dress, Viola Davis was in a beaded red Donna Karan dress, and Kate Mara sported a cherry-red Miu Miu gown belted at the waist.

At home, red was actor Tabu’s choice for the crêpe sari she wore at the Life OK Screen Awards; US first lady Michelle Obama paired her black slim pants and black jacket with a sleek red top at the Republic Day parade last month.

The colour has been a constant star in Indian fashion. “Red is the Indian neutral. We are naturally inclined to veer towards this family of colours,” says Aditi Prakash of Pure Ghee Designs, who makes fabric bags.

No wonder, Indian Spring/Summer 2015 collections saw designers conjuring up all kinds of crimson.

Rohit Bal’s line Gulbagh, which paid homage to Kashmir with impeccably crafted lehngas and sherwanis, most of them in ivory, was sprinkled subtly with red. Models wore roses and red carnations as maang tikaas, even as red flowers became the motif for many of his ivory and gold ensembles. An amaranth coloured anarkali jumpsuit with a deep-red border, worn with a floor-length black and gold jacket, was a regal play on the same colour scheme.

“Red is energy,” says couturier Anju Modi, who uses the colour liberally in her collections—prêt or couture. “Red is an organic, powerful colour that evolves as we do, to our moods, and to our needs at that time,” says designer Anupamaa Dayal.

Red requires balance to look stylish instead of garish. “The gradation of how we use red determines its vibrancy,” says Modi. In winter, Modi says she veers towards a slightly “English-y mix of combining accents of indigo and navy with a deep red. But a summer red is paler and goes beautifully with a sea blue”.

“One must balance the colour cleverly—that’s the key to make red work,” advises Modi.

“If it is a strong shade of red, sometimes a scarf will be enough,” says designer Poonam Bhagat of the label Taika, adding that the kind of red one must use depends on the skin tone.

“Burgundy, vermilion or Bengal red look best on brown skin tones,” says Bhagat. Taika’s summer silhouettes were inspired by the tapestries of Central Asia, where red plays a prominent role. Her interpretation had appliquè and prints where she played red against ecru, white, blue and gold.

There has to be some amount of visual relief when using red.

A

“You don’t want to look like a Kingfisher air hostess,” laughs David Abraham of Abraham & Thakore (A&T). He cites the example of Sanjay Garg of Raw Mango, who pairs his saris with imaginatively off-kilter coloured blouses to fabulous effect.

“For instance, the parrotgreen blouse Sanjay pairs with his red Chanderi sari is a great combination,” says Abraham.

For A&T’s collaboration with Ekaya, the Banarasi sari boutique in New Delhi and Ahmedabad, the duo created weaves in rich oranges and purples that were emphasized with sumptuous red borders with sprinkles of gold. For their Spring/ Summer 2015 collection, they worked with dyed dhotis, adding vermilion borders to tunics, separates and skirts—elevating the pieces to modern classics.

There are some who prefer a conventional rendition. For Oscar-nominated singer Bombay Jayashri Ramnath, red is a beautiful reminder of her mother’s kumkum (vermilion). “The colour is an abiding memory of my childhood. It immediately rings in a sense of celebration, auspiciousness and positivity,” says Jayashri. “I have never not worn red. Even if I am wearing an indigo or a peacock-blue sari, there will definitely be generous touches of red in it—either on the border or on the blouse,” she adds.

It is not a coincidence that Pantone, the global colour authority, announced marsala, an earthy wine red, as the colour of 2015.

Pantone experts believe that with the growing popularity of floral prints and stripes, variations of the earthy red hue will carry over into men’s and women’s clothing throughout this year. The Pantone colour forecast also suggests marsala as a popular choice for jewellery and fashion accessories, including handbags, hats, footwear and wearable technology.

Red is an organic, powerful colour that evolves as we do, to our moods and to our needs

Crimson tide: (clockwise from above) Nida Mahmood’s fuchsia coiled headband; Louis Vuitton’s Dora PM bag; Bobbi Brown’s Valentine’s Day line; Rohan Arora’s shoes; Gucci’s Spring/Summer 2015 collection; A&T for Ekaya; and Anju Modi’s Spring/Summer 2015 collection.

The pairing of fiery red with earthy wine itself is a potent mix in fashion. Just the stance designer Nida Mahmood took for her Spring/Summer 2015 line. She highlighted her earthy tunics with headbands in red and fuchsia coiled into dramatic knots and roses.

Spring/Summer collections on global runways were awash with shades of red. Roksanda Ilincic’s neon red was teamed with a Pepto-Bismol pink to delightful effect. At Louis Vuitton, there was a 1970s vibe with A-line silhouettes in diagonal stripes of red eel skin. Dolce&Gabbana continued with their red lace dresses while Comme des Garçons drenched the entire collection in various shades of crimson. Céline showcased a minimalist version of red and black florals while Carolina Her-

rera played with beige accented by brighter pinks and her signature red.

When it came to bags, the options were dizzying. Louis Vuitton had a whole range of sling bags (including a red and black monogrammed version) and totes, while Valentino and Mulberry showcased sumptuous red evening clutches.

Closer home, Kolkata-based shoe designer Rohan Arora is the new go-to guy for most haute steppers. Last year, he created a series of shoes inspired by 26 shades of red.

“Only film actor Govinda can carry off that all-red ensemble,” he laughs. “But to really carry off a pair of red shoes, you need to tone down the rest of your outfit,” he advises.

Red’s sensual maximalism seeped into make-up trends as well. At Tarun Tahiliani’s Spring/Summer 2015 show inspired by The Singh Twins, the London-based artists, Mickey Contractor, director of make-up artistry at M.A.C cosmetics, conjured up the designer’s vision of the red smoky eye.

“Red is an excellent colour for Indian skin tones,” says Contractor. M.A.C has just unveiled its “Red Red Red” collection, while Bobbi Brown’s special Valentine Day edition has 32 shades of lipsticks in reds and rusts.

All these artists agree red is about confidence—lipstick, bag, shoe or dress, loud or subtle, it has to be worn with verve.

Write to lounge@livemint.com

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SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2015

L7

Style

TREND TRACKER

How to wear red If you are serious about fashion you can’t forego red. Here’s how to wear every hue of it—from vermillion to wine red Marsala, Pantone’s colour of the year B Y S UPRIYA D RAVID ···························· t the 2015 Golden Globes, nearly 13 top actresses donned various shades of scarlet—the most-worn hue on the red carpet. Lena Dunham in a Zac Posen rosy red satin gown with a high-low hemline, her Girls co-star Allison Williams in a blood red sequinned Armani Privé dress, Viola Davis in a beaded red Donna Karan dress, and Kate Mara in a cherry red Miu Miu gown belted at the waist.

Red was actor Tabu’s choice for the crepe sari she wore at the Life OK Screen Awards; US first lady Michelle Obama paired her black slim pants and black jacket with a sleek red top at the Republic Day parade.

Red has been a constant star in Indian fashion. “Red is the Indian neutral. We are naturally inclined to veer towards this family of colours,” says Aditi Prakash of Pure Ghee Designs who makes fabric bags for all occasions. No wonder Indian Spring/Summer 2015 collections saw designers conjuring all kinds of crimson. Rohit Bal’s line Gulbagh that paid homage to Kashmir with impeccably-crafted lehengas and sherwanis, most of them in ivory, was subtly sprinkled with red all over. Maang tikaas made from roses and red carnations were worn by models even as red flowers became the motif for many of his ivory-andgold ensembles. An amaranth coloured Anarkali-jumpsuit with a deep red border worn with a floor length black and gold jacket was a regal play on the same colour scheme. “Red is energy,” says couturier Anju Modi, who uses the colour liberally in her collections—prêt or couture. “Red is an organic, powerful colour that evolves as we do, to our moods, and to our needs at that time,” says designer Anupamaa Dayal.

Red requires balance to look stylish instead of garish. “The gradation of how we use red determines its vibrancy,” says Modi.

Towards winter, Modi says she veers towards a slightly “English-y mix of combining accents of Indigo and navy with a deep red. But a summer red is paler and goes beautifully with a sea blue,” she adds. “One must balance the colour cleverly—that’s the key to make red work,” advises Modi.

“If it is a strong shade of red,

A

sometimes a scarf will be enough,” says designer Poonam Bhagat of the label Taika who adds that the kind of red one must use depends on the skin tone. “Burgundy, vermillion or Bengal red look best on brown skin tones,” says Bhagat. Taika’s summer silhouettes were inspired by the tapestries of Central Asia where red plays a prominent role. Her interpretation had applique and prints where she played red against ecru, white, blue and gold.

There has to be some amount of visual relief when using red.

“You don’t want to look like a Kingfisher airhostess,” laughs David Abraham of Abraham & Thakore. He cites the example of Sanjay Garg of Raw Mango known to pair his saris with imaginatively off-kilter coloured blouses to fabulous effect. “For instance, the parrot green blouse Sanjay pairs with his red chanderi sari is a great combination,” says Abraham. For A&T’s collaboration with Ekaya, the Banarasi sari boutique in Delhi and Ahmedabad, the duo created weaves in rich oranges and purples that were emphasised with sumptuous red borders with sprinkles of gold. For their Spring/Summer 2015 collection, they worked with dyed dhotis adding vermillion borders to tunics, separates and skirts—a simple touch that instantly elevated the pieces as modern classics.

There are some who prefer a conventional rendition of how red should be worn. For Oscarnominated chanteuse, Bombay Jayashri Ramnath, red is a beautiful reminder of her mother’s kumkum (vermillion). “The colour is an abiding memory of my childhood. It immediately rings in a sense of celebration, auspiciousness and positivity,” says Jayshri who is always immaculately dressed in the choicest of Kanjeevaram saris. “I have never not worn red. Even if I am wearing an indigo or a peacock blue sari, there will definitely be generous touches of red in it—either on the border, or on the blouse,” she adds.

It is not a coincidence that Pantone, the global colour authority

Firstword: captions to come here cap­ tions to come here captions to come here captions to come here captions to come here cap­ tions to come here captions to come here captions to come here captions to come here cap­ tions to come here

announced Marsala, an earthy wine red as the colour of 2015.

Pantone experts believe that with the growing popularity of floral prints and striping, variations of the earthy red hue will carry into men’s and women’s clothing throughout next year. The Pantone colour forecast also suggests Marsala as a popular choice for jewellery and fashion accessories, including handbags, hats, footwear and wearable technology.

The pairing of fiery red with earthy wine itself is a potent mix in fashion. Just the stance designer Nida Mahmood took for her Spring/Summer 2015 line.

She highlighted her earthy tunics with headbands in red and fuchsia coiled into dramatic knots and roses.

Spring summer collections on global runways were awash with shades of red. Roksanda’s neon red was teamed with a Pepto-Bismol pink to delightful effect. At Louis Vuitton, there was a 1970s vibe with A-line silhouette in

diagonal matt stripes of red eel skin. Dolce and Gabbana continued with their red lace dresses while Comme des Garcons drenched the entire collection in various shades of crimson. Céline showcased a minimalist version of red and black florals while Caroline Herrera played with beige accented by brighter pinks and her signature red.

When it came to bags, options were dizzying. Louis Vuitton had a whole range of sling bags (including a red and black monogrammed version) and totes, while Valentino and Mulberry showcased sumptuous evening red clutches. Closer home, a Kolkata-based shoe-designer, Rohan Arora, is the new go-to guy for most haute steppers. Last year, he created a series of shoes inspired by the 26 shades of resham. “Only film actor Govinda can carry off that all-red ensemble,” he laughs. “But to really carry off a pair of red shoes, you need to tone down the rest of your outfit,” he advises.

Red’s sensual maximalism seeped into makeup trends as well. At Tarun Tahiliani’s Spring/ Summer 2015 show The Singh Twins, Mickey Contractor, director of Makeup Artistry at MAC, conjured the designer’s vision of the red smoky eye. “Red is an excellent colour for Indian skin tones,” says Contractor. Translating the look to reality, MAC has just unveiled its ‘Red, Red, Red’ collection while Bobbi Brown’s special Valentine Day edition has 32 shades of lipsticks with various reds and rusts.

All these artists agree red is about confidence—lipstick, bag, shoe or a dress, loud or subtle, it has to be worn with verve.

L8

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SATURDAY, MAY 2, 2015

Style B Y R ACHANA N AKRA ······························ his year started on an exciting note for Narendra Kumar. The designer, who is also the creative director at e-commerce firm Amazon India, launched a swanky new store in Mumbai in March. He was in New Delhi later that month for the first fashion week after the Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI) announced its tie-up with Amazon as the title sponsor.

The tie-up was another feather in the hat(s) Kumar no longer has a fetish for. Just as he reinvented himself professionally with this new tech-savvy avatar (he spends four days a week in Bengaluru), like a fashion chameleon he quietly shed the fedoras he would sport. “Everyone started wearing them,” he dismisses. So now they sit on the topmost, hardest-toreach shelf in his wardrobe, remnants of a time gone by.

Kumar’s wardrobe, in his 19thfloor apartment in central Mumbai, feels like a mini-bar version of his store. Neat, colourcoded and well-organized.

Charmingly, Kumar merchandises his personal wardrobe too.

“That’s the least I can do as a designer,” he says. But the most striking feature is the many, many pairs of sneakers and shoes in pastels, neons, metallic colours, even prints. Kumar is clearly shoe-obsessed. The “right pair of shoes” determine his state of mind every morning.

He speaks about his love for footwear, and how someone in lime-green pants and animalprint shoes fits into the corporate offices of an international technology giant. Edited excerpts:

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Which, according to you, are the right pair of shoes?

It is the pair that puts me in the right frame of mind before I leave for the day. Whether I want to feel a sense of sportiness or formality, my shoes help. I could only have a bad day if I didn’t wear the right pair. For me footwear finishes the look and defines a person because it shows that small things about a person are really important. I decide the many things I would do in a day and the shoes that would go with most of them because I don’t go home and change for an evening out. In India, you just don’t get great shoes, so every country I travel to, I buy some.

PHOTOGRAPHS

BY

SANJAY BORADE/MINT

OUT OF THE CLOSET | NARENDRA KUMAR

Good shoe days For the fashion designer, his pick of 175 pairs of shoes determines his look, his state of mind, and the kind of day he has How long does it take you to get ready in the morning?

I decide what to wear every morning in 5 minutes. My look today is more youthful and sporty. I wear a lot more T-shirts because I have to move constantly between factories and studios and it is quite hot. In the evening, I throw on a jacket over it and I am ready. But whatever I do, there will be a sense of tailoring. Even if I am wearing a coloured chino, I will put on a smartly tailored jacket. So there is an element of sophistication. You understand style through its fundamentals, but you don’t let the fundamentals define yourself.

Do you always wear casuals?

It has been a long time since I

How to wear belts Cinching is a summer trend. Here is how to get it right by mastering proportion B Y S UPRIYA D RAVID ······························ elts are the unsung heroes in the accessories department.

They can give definition to any outfit—sari, jacket, skirt or dress—but are unforgiving if not worn right.

Belts abound this season. Sabyasachi Mukherjee showcased them with leopard clasps over floor-skimming floral skirts at his 1970s inspired Big Love show at Lakmé Fashion Week’s (LFW’s) Summer/Resort edition in March. Payal Pratap and Nikhil Thampi used dramatic Japanesestyle Obi belts. Thampi also experimented with thin versions criss-crossed across long gowns, while Pratap styled them on her kimono-kurta and saris. Tarun Tahiliani used cummerbundstyle belts over dresses and saris, while Anamika Khanna’s gold belts supplied a dramatic flourish to differently draped sari pallus.

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Kiran Uttam Ghosh’s slim belts came with gilded jackets over a dupatta and a cape-like kurta. New talent Shweta Kapur jazzed up a casual monochrome white jumpsuit with a broad white belt for some spunk.

Globally, at the Spring/ Summer 2015 shows, Dolce & Gabbana accessorized their elaborate Sicilian “mamma” dresses with ornate trophy belts, while Chanel let it hang with lowslung hip belts. Rather oddly, Rochas showcased feminine dresses worn with webbed military belts cinched high above the bust—a trend worth mentioning, if only for its sheer absurdity. However, the most popular trend for optimum waist-whittling benefits was the versatile Obi belt seen in many avatars at BCBG, Rebecca Taylor

went to work in a proper suit. I always break my suits with colour or prints through shirts, shoes or a pocket square. For a corporate meeting, I’ll wear darker-coloured shoes, but there is always colour.

There is a sense of energy, sportiness and creativity in my look that comes with mixing colours. I like challenging people’s notions about what clothes should be like, to tell them it’s not about the clothes but the person wearing them.

Clothes need to have a sense of fun. That fun is not always exposed to other people.

You know what you are wearing and that is what energizes you.

How has your personal

Style mile: (clockwise from top) Narendra Kumar at his Mumbai home; belts with striking buckles from Switzerland; his new favourites—an Avi­ ator watch and leather wrist­bands; lace­ups by Alberto Guardiani and Sacha floral shoes.

and Alexander Wang, among others. Artistic renditions of the harness belt also made a comeback at Dior, Rodarte and Giorgio Armani. We offer some tips on how you can be elegantly waisted.

Nikhil Thampi, designer

Indian women are curvaceous so the belt must wisely highlight the narrowest part of the torso.

The 4-inch metallic Obi belt is perfect to hide flab. For a curvaceous girl, I suggest a skinny belt over a long maxi dress, just under the bust. Sometimes, a belt works well to highlight the cut of a smoking jacket. Be careful while using a belt. Less is more. Avoid printed belts on a busy dress.

Waistland: (left) Actor Parineeti Chopra in a Nikhil Thampi outfit; and a look from Sabyasachi’s LFW Summer/Resort 2015 collection.

style evolved?

When I was young I used to alter a lot of my clothes on the handmachine that my mom had, play around with the flare of my trousers, etc. My father was stylish—even at that time he had his suits tailored in London by Burton. My first job was selling Xerox machines and later selling milk bottles to the government, and I wore khaki trousers with pinstripe shirts. If there was one day that liberated my thinking, it was when I joined the National Institute of Fashion Technology (Nift). That’s when all my inhibitions were let loose; I began experimenting and felt free

Neon belts as well as those with narrow, 1-inch versions with big buckles need to be fully done away with. A belt is an accessory, it shouldn’t be the USP. Also, avoid creating a double waist. If you are wearing a low-cut pant/ skirt, don’t add a second waist by using a belt.

Payal Pratap, designer

A belt is a versatile accessory but use it only if you really feel it would accentuate your attire.

An Obi belt is rather wide and will suit a tall torso. It can be worn with a tunic, shirt or jacket for dramatic effect. Skinny people are blessed with a small waist so they can carry off both a thin or thick belt, but only if the garment requires it. For a curvaceous woman, a thin belt works better.

Use different ways of knotting to increase functionality and variety (reversible belts are a great buy!). If you do choose to wear a belt, have the confidence to carry it off. Nothing is worse than a forced belt on an underconfident woman. Avoid belts on cocoon shaped garments or anti-fit silhouettes.

enough to try new things.

Did it concern you that you might be expected to change your look to fit Amazon’s corporate offices?

Not at all. I wore electric-blue trousers and a light-blue fine linen checked shirt for my first interview in a building full of software developers where everybody wears jeans. I wore lime-green trousers with a blue shirt for my induction, and for the first time they had seen anyone, women included, wear that much colour. It created an identity for me. Two weeks after I joined, the team decided to have a day where they all wore coloured trousers. But even though I am still wearing colour, I wear it in finely tailored fashion for sophistication. I think I have got the corporate to fit into my style rather than me fitting into it. You can’t afford to be in the fashion business and dress like you’re from the 1960s.

Is your attire a statement of your personality?

I find myself the most convenient ambassador of my own brand. And there is a sense of pride that we set off certain trends— we were the first people to use linen, introduce slim-fit styles, and coloured trousers into menswear.

How much of your wardrobe is Narendra Kumar? Where else do you shop?

At some point, 70% of the clothes were mine, but my style has evolved over the last few years to sportier and more casual. We don’t make that many casual clothes. For denims, I like G-Star (Raw), I don’t think that there is anyone that makes jeans that fit so well. I like to explore new brands, such as Scotch & Soda, and prefer high-street brands such as Zara, H&M, Cos, & Other Stories, etc. But my jackets are all from my own label.

For shoes, I like Yohji Yamamoto, Smith’s, Alberto Guardiani, Cesare Paciotti, Gianfranco Ferré. I had to get legal permission to get my python print Botticelli shoes to India. I usually go for brands that are originally shoemakers and craftsmen. If I can get three pairs of shoes in the price of one branded pair, I would rather buy that.

Write to lounge@livemint.com

Melika Imoru,

design director, womenswear, Koovs.com Belts are required either for styling or functional purposes. Personally, I think it is possible to wear most belts with most body shapes. A slim individual can wear a belt on the hip to accentuate her shape/curves, while a curvaceous girl can wear it at the start of the waist as this will flatter her physique. Just remember, the belt should not be too tight. It should be like a shoe—comfortable. So a good fit is everything!

Tarun Tahiliani, designer

A belt ought to be cinched at the waist for the perfect look. After all, that is the best part of a woman’s body. A belt will instantly turn a simple outfit into something sexy, stylish and young. Belts can be used over saris by slim and tall people. The Indian and Greek styles of dressing are all about draping—and both are very similar. They usually wear waistbands over gowns so these belts work to add that extra bit of Indo-Western look to a sari.

Write to lounge@livemint.com

www.livemint.com

SATURDAY, APRIL 4, 2015

L9

Style TREND TRACKER

Is couture the new prêt?

WASEEM GASHROO/HINDUSTAN TIMES

It’s a wrap: (above) Twenty­five designers at AIFW finale; and a Namrata Joshipur trench­ coat inspired from a basket of marigold flowers.

Ready­to­wear gets a facelift as designers gravitate towards occasion dressing B Y S HEFALEE V ASUDEV shefalee.v@livemint.com

···························· n the shadows of the flamboyant finale of the Amazon India Fashion Week (AIFW) Autumn/Winter 2015, held at New Delhi’s Pragati Maidan last Sunday, lay a postscript. As a representative idea of their journey in Indian fashion, the 25 participating designers chose to send out couture garments. All right, so it was a celebratory show themed “Crafts of India” to mark 25 seasons of Indian fashion weeks with red, orange and pink, but it left me wondering whether there was a mandate to show fussy, pretty, overdressed couture or had the designers chosen these garments (two each) as representations of their work over the years? Barring a couple, the repertoire was dominated by elaborate lehngas, draped gowns, long dresses in luxe fabrics, flowing jackets on heavy ensembles, bedecked cholis, slick pants with embellished edges, luxurious sherwanis, striking headgear and jewellery that would make a bright baraat (wedding procession) pale in shine and dazzle. Not a single sari in the 50 garments, please note.

It was an engrossing spectacle and not just because designer Rohit Bal broke into one of his ebulliently carefree dances. It triggered some basic questions: Can Indian designers not show a procession of crafts of India without resorting to couture especially at a time when global fashion is clapping for normcore? Or, is local prêt widening its definition to legitimately incorporate aspects of couture—which is anyway the status quo of Indian wardrobes. Or is fashion democracy at work here which, on the one hand, tries to make style accessible, and on the other, widens the market by offering couture-like clothes at prêt prices?

These questions are timely for a bunch of reasons. Even in global fashion, the sigh-evoking haute couture of the last century has largely given way to a whimsical mix of high street with select pieces of couture. What’s often seen is eccentric but engrossing. It is both casual and dressy. It also syncs easily with the Indian sensibility of shringar (adornment) and dressing up. No wonder, at least a

I

few shows at AIFW’s recent Autumn/Winter 2015 event revealed how some designers, including Namrata Joshipura and Pankaj & Nidhi, primarily known for ready-to-wear, are trying to create clothes that are sophisticated, impeccably tailored, and made from expensive fabrics with a fine finish.

It was prêt bordering on couture; as were ready-to-wear clothes by ace couturiers J.J. Valaya and Anju Modi. In inspiration and effect, these collections are contrary to the emphasis laid on recycling, for instance, by Abraham & Thakore, Paromita Banerjee or Amit Aggarwal at the same event.

“My collections have always been the ‘couture of prêt’,” says Valaya about his line, the Bolshoi Bazaar, which showed faux fur trims on saris, some worn with elaborate Russian headgears.

There were plain or embroidered lehngas with net veils, and velvet menswear jackets paired with printed scarves among a variety of other garments in pure silks, crêpes, georgettes and tulle. “India has an indigenous definition of couture, which means wedding finery as well as an indigenous definition of ready-to-wear which includes dressy garments,” says Valaya, adding that in his personal dictionary true style is about a combination of high street and couture. He emphasizes that Indian prêt should not be judged through the prism of a global definition as what’s created for buyers in West Asia is different from the prêt created for the European market. “These differences help in understanding what we mean by couture as prêt,” he says.

He makes a valid point. The reason why some designers are inching towards “occasion-wear” is to widen the customer base. Occasion-wear may even be India’s peculiar answer to the Western culture of diffusion—second-tier lines created by big brands that sustained their halo but drew in customers at lower price points.

Anju Modi may agree. “I work in the Indian luxury market but I also realize that besides weddings or very formal events, people now attend many gala evenings on a day-to-day basis. So instead of simple prêt, an elite line makes more sense, which is a watereddown version of couture. It is as

stylish but not as intricate or heavy,” says Modi. Her Autumn/ Winter 2015 line called How To Write A Fairy Tale was a good instance of couture-like prêt. Churidars, saris, shirts, straight inner kurtas, gowns, coats and menswear ensembles had been created with outline embroideries and mixed with appliqué and prints to create the effect of heaviness, but without the effort that bespoke haute couture demands. The lightness of the entire collection was enhanced by the way Modi used sporty shoes, and three-four layers—from shirts to top jackets—to create attractive looks. She calls it “intelligent tweaking”, mixing up raw silks, Chanderis and pashminas with printed fabrics.

Pankaj & Nidhi don’t call their clothes “occasion wear”, but agree that obsessive emphasis on the finish and detail defined their Autumn/Winter 2015 line Rouge Minerale. “There is an astonishingly high demand for this kind of fashion in India,” says Pankaj Ahuja. Their new collection, an assembly of striking ensembles, all Western, including printed trouser

IT IS IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT NAGARKAR’S PLAY WAS OPPOSED

BY HINDU FUNDAMENTALISTS NEARLY A DECADE BEFORE ‘THE SATANIC VERSES’ CONTROVERSY

sets, dresses, appliqué soft jackets, and trousers with voluminous side silhouettes, took their work a notch higher. “Our work has always been craft and embellishment-centric, with extensive use of threadwork, wool cross-stitch on leather, etc., but yes for the first time we used crystals to bring in a richer vibe,” says Pankaj. He explains how red crystals were faceted to look like flattened rubies, sequins were cut out from leather sheets, zippers were especially imported from Italy to match the sophistication of the clothes and materials, including high-end wool from Austria, and double neoprene in special colours like tea and icy pink were used. “We emphasized tailoring to get away from a sporty, casual feel,” says Pankaj, accepting that this could be prêt bordering on couture. Pankaj & Nidhi now have an equal number of local and global buyers and Pankaj says that it won’t be long before the clothes seen on their runway will be on storeshelves without being watered down.

Prêt bordering on couture is not bespoke but some pieces are as painstakingly created. For instance, one of Namrata Joshipura’s garments in her recent collection, a trenchcoat which she says was inspired from a basket of marigold flowers, had 15,000 dots (bindis) which were laser-cut. “I no longer watch shows, I am inspired by street style. I recently took more than 200 photographs of people on the streets of Tokyo, Paris, New York, as that’s the look I want to create but in a very fine way to represent a strong idea of womanhood,” says Joshipura about the extensive use of texturing, felt, sequins or how she deconstructs the Indian choli to create corset dresses.

Her beautiful collection inspired

by Nyx, the Greek goddess of

night, was dedicated to the Indian women’s hockey team that notched a win at the Hockey World League Round 2 on 15 March. Besides body-conscious silhouettes in colours including sand, gold, marigold orange, deep red, moon grey and navy, Joshipura sent out garments with panel-placements, stripes at side seams, cut-work wraps, faux-fur textured trenches, belted satin dresses, trench-style dresses, cutout gowns, coats and culottes in satin, shimmer acetate tulle, silk georgette and neoprene.

Prices of these collections hold up the argument of couture-like prêt. Valaya, whose brand is cleanly sliced into ready-to-wear, occasion wear (note, the two are different), couture and Valaya Muse (single edition pieces), says his ready-to-wear starts from `7,000-8,000 (for shirts and tunics) and goes up to `60,000 and more.

Modi’s clothes range from `3,500 for basic shirts and go up to `80,000 for gowns and mixed ensembles. Pankaj & Nidhi’s ready-to-wear ranges from `8,000-80,000 and Joshipura’s from `10,500-90,000.

Interestingly, while designers are trying to create finer fashion at higher prices for various markets, back home, Amazon.in launched the Amazon Designer Store and is trying to democratize the fashion market with these same designer names. “It is an opportunity for Indian designers to create products that range from the cheaper to the more expensive. This is what happened in the West, where single-store brands spread across into multiple branches by making their product relevant to larger communities of buyers,” says Narendra Kumar, the creative director of Amazon.in. He adds that “a better understanding of price points” is what will eventually clinch business. Couture or prêt.

L7

www.livemint.com

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2015

Style OUT OF THE CLOSETOVERHEAD | APARNA BADLANI

I’d never be seen in an Anarkali The owner of Mum­ bai’s multi­designer store Atosa on structured dressing, sharp­edged acces­ sories and why

B Y R ACHANA N AKRA ······························· rom structured pinstripe coatdresses to soft, draped silhouettes; from quirky, printed trousers to solid coloured shifts - Aparna Badlani’s wardrobe has a split personality.

And yet it is these contrasts that make the style statement that is uniquely her own. The owner of Mumbai’s multi-designer store Atosa, who has been a fashion entrepreneur for more than 15 years started out as a micro-biologist. “I didn’t grow up flipping through fashion glossies,” she says.

Badlani was expected to follow the old India script of career ambition: become either an engineer or a doctor. But as fate would have it, a short summer gig with a fashion brand turned into a full-time job. From then on, fashion draped her future.

A mix of Indian and international designers, high street and flea market finds, Badlani’s wardrobe is eclectic.

This thoughtfully spontaneous process is reflected in the collection at her store which she says mirrors her personality. Here she tells us about her love for structure, tribal jewelry and growing up with curly tresses.

Edited excerpts:

F

How would you describe your

style?

My wardrobe is mostly western and I wear a lot of pants. While I do wear dresses, I am more oriented towards structure and prefer clean lines. At the same time I also wear drapes and antifits—so it is either complete structure or absolutely the contrast for me. Indian wear is limited to festivals and occasions.

In my private time, I dress easy jeans, long dresses, linen pants or shorts. On a working day I make it a point to dress a certain way because at the store it is

important to stick to the image you’re creating for the customer who is walking in.

From a student of science to working with fashion brands and now owning your own store—did your style change over the years?

Yes, it has been a very long drawn process. I was not born with a flair for fashion. I come from a family of engineers and doctors, but I have always had a keen eye and interest in fashion. I

:

THE BODY

SHEFALEE VASUDEV

THE YEAR OF THE B CUP

T

he Georges Hobeika outfit that Nimrat Kaur, the deglammed housewife of the film Lunchbox wore at the 2015 Bafta awards wasn’t a great fashion choice. The gown could have done without the cape detail and the colour was a bit plastic-ky.

But her style confidence in choosing one in candy pink slashed right down her cleavage made other facts fuzzy. If the only way for a woman to wear her breasts well is to display their curves with verve, Kaur got it right. Fashion follows the footsteps of a woman who knows how to harmonise her body with the body language—and she conducted that orchestra well.

Just last month at Lounge, we listed Kaur as the fashion face to watch out for in 2015. Taken by her Titan advertisement in which she mirrors a single woman’s steely-cheeky aura, we rooted for Kaur because she “illustrates how a woman who knows her mind

frames glamour in a unique way”.

Her Bafta appearance underlines the way she is minting herself as an interesting presence, if not a stunning one on the international red carpet. She wore her hair sweeped up, small diamante earrings, a ring and a soft nude pink nail colour on her nails. That an Indian actor, known back home for one terrific performance of a woman who looked like she had never had a facial and an equally terrific break in American television series Homeland, should choose an ultra-glam way to script her noticeability factor at a global event itself is a story to follow.

We have seen Indian boobs out there on those carpets before of course—most notoriously on Mallika Sherawat. Ms Sherawat, whose cup flowed alarmingly over allowed them to get in the way of her very presence and relevance at Cannes the first time she went there with Jackie Chan to

Firstword: US actress Julianne Moore poses on the red carpet for the BAFTA British Academy Film Aw

started out not knowing better, looking at other people and thinking OK I like this look, and maybe I should try that and through that I realized I could team up various garments and accessories and make them look good. Earlier I used to be very bohemian—long, layered dresses. I still have a slightly tribal sensibility in accessories, but otherwise I focus on the silhouette of the garment. And of course age has changed things. I can no longer wear the little dresses I used to.

How important are accessories to your look?

Very much. My clothes never have any embellishments but I wear a lot of jewelry. That is the reason I prefer monochromatic clothes, so that I can freely accessorize. I like chunky, statement pieces. Interesting earrings, cuffs, flow chains, pieces from here, there, everywhere! I can wear anything that catches my eye—it could be made from metal, acrylic, thread, fibre or plastic. I like sharp edges and tribal styles from brands like En Inde.

Since you also buy fashion for your store, how and where do you shop for yourself?

It has become a quick process for me. I glance at the store and know if something from there will work for me or not. Otherwise I have my favourite designers— Priyadarshini Rao, Savio Jon, Amit Aggarwal and the label Rishta by Arjun Saluja. The only places I shop at are flea markets.

I do a lot of thrift shopping in Goa, Brazil, London where I find interesting things. My favourite

promote the film Myth. Hers were not sexily slashed gowns or plunging necklines—they were garments designed to push the breasts to the headlines of the day. Since then How Not to Wear Boobs like Mallika and How Not to Fake an Accent like Mallika became the glamour trends to follow—certainly for Indian celebrities. Since then Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has revealed half a cleavage now and then whereas Frieda Pinto has largely stuck to being a leggy lass. She wore two lovely dresses slashed incisively deep to show off her shapely legs—a lime green Versace Atelier in 2012 and a gold sequined Gucci in 2013, both at Cannes. But boobs? Not really.

But 2015 seems to be the year of the B-cup. Just last month, Sonam Kapoor sat in the front row at the Armani Prive Spring 2015 show in Milan in a gold dress from the collection. Her prettily revealed, glisteningly bronzed breasts were the conversation point in her ensemble. Ditto for Priyanka Chopra who turned up at a Grammys after party this year in a black, embroidered Zuhair Murad dress—with a plunging neckline— her cleavage-boobs displayed with a buxom attitude.

though is New York for the prices and the fact that you can get everything there. I am a recent online shopping convert. I was very apprehensive earlier but I started shopping online six to eight months ago and am enjoying it. I have bought clothes at Koovs.com, Sense.com, Net-a-Porter. But still, nothing beats the experience of going to a store.

Which fashion trends do you refuse to follow?

I will never be caught wearing an Anarkali or a gown. In fact, I don’t attend events where the dress code is ‘gowns’. Today fashion is more about comfort for me. I never wear fitted clothes, I want to be able to eat what I want and be comfortable without worrying about what I am wearing. I used to wear heels all the time earlier but it’s an absolute no now. If one is going to be standing for 6-7 hours like I do at my store, then it takes a toll on the back. I am a fitness fanatic and can’t go into a yoga session with a sore back.

So what do you wear for traditional occasions?

I don’t like embellishments and only wear saris in traditional weaves. I have everything from a Jamdani and Paithani to a Banarasi. For Indian occasions I also have a pinafore style kurta by Vaishali S that I wear with black tights, a long dress by Priyadarshini Rao that I count as my Indian outfit. For a friend’s sangeet I wore a lungi skirt and one-shoulder drape top by Nupur Kanoi accessorized by chunky jewellery.

What mistakes do you see Indian women making when they come to shop at your store?

Indian women seem to chase fitted clothes. They want to hide their flaws but still want the clothes to be fitted. Most are not willing to experiment with silhouettes. I think Bollywood is such a big influence, and women are buying into it with very little thought about how these clothes look on them.

How was it growing up with curly hair in a country obsessed with long, straight tresses?

Growing up I was never allowed to grow my hair because my mum found it hard to manage it and wanted me to focus on my studies. I grew my hair in college but I hated it and would try and

Across the world’s most glamourous events in 2015 so far, breasts have emerged as the new black in style. From Julianne Moore at the BAFTA in a red Tom Ford front slash dress to J-Lo at the Grammys in an unabashedly low cut silver dress. If The Guardian’s Hadley Freeman dubbed J-Lo’s dress as “why are you looking at my face, don’t you see my face?”, the Daily Mail in London called Beyonce, Nicki Minaj and Kim Kardashian’s choice in red carpet dressing as “extreme cleavage”.

Nimrat Kaur’s recent appearance has brought this exciting trend full circle for us. At the recent, 2015 Filmfare Awards held in Mumbai, the original choli queen of Indian cinema— Madhuri Dixit Nene wore a navy blue off shoulder gown by Jade. It wasn’t slashed down at the front but it pushed up her cleavage to lovely, noticeable heights. No other actress though seems to be polishing the boob act so far.

Why? Indian modesty or the fact that the new Indian heroine is smaller than size 34 B— considered the minimum yardstick in fashion files to whip www.livemint.com up a frenzied storm in a cup.

ToSo read Natasha’s previous columns, here’s unsolicited advicevisit for www.livemint.com/natasha ­badhwar Indian celebs and stylists beginning to slot their fittings for Cannes later this year. Let your boobs breathe girls. And stylists,

L7

www.livemint.com

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2015

Style OUT OF THE CLOSET | APARNA BADLANI

I’d never be seen in an Anarkali The owner of Mum­ bai’s multi­designer store Atosa on structured dressing and sharp­edged accessories

B Y R ACHANA N AKRA ······························· rom structured pinstripe coatdresses to soft, draped silhouettes; from quirky, printed trousers to solid coloured shifts - Aparna Badlani’s wardrobe has a split personality.

And yet it is these contrasts that make the style statement that is uniquely her own. The owner of Mumbai’s multi-designer store Atosa, who has been a fashion entrepreneur for more than 15 years started out as a microbiologist. “I didn’t grow up flipping through fashion glossies,” she says.

Badlani was expected to follow the old India script of career ambition: become either an engineer or a doctor. But as fate would have it, a short summer gig with a fashion brand turned into a full-time job. From then on, fashion draped her future.

A mix of Indian and international designers, high street and flea market finds, Badlani’s wardrobe is eclectic.

This thoughtfully spontaneous process is reflected in the collection at her store which she says mirrors her personality. Here she tells us about her love for structure, tribal jewelry and growing up with curly tresses.

Edited excerpts:

F

How would you describe your style?

My wardrobe is mostly western and I wear a lot of pants. While I do wear dresses, I am more oriented towards structure and prefer clean lines. At the same time I also wear drapes and antifits—so it is either complete structure or absolutely the contrast for me. Indian wear is limited to festivals and occasions.

In my private time, I dress easy jeans, long dresses, linen pants or shorts. On a working day I make it a point to dress a certain way

because at the store it is important to stick to the image you’re creating for the customer who is walking in.

From a student of science to working with fashion brands and now owning your own store—did your style change over the years?

Yes, it has been a very long drawn process. I was not born with a flair for fashion. I come from a family of engineers and doctors, but I have always had a keen eye and interest in fashion. I started out not knowing better,

Firstword: come here come here come here come here come here come here come here come here come here

caption to caption to caption to caption to caption to caption to caption to caption to caption to

THE BODY

SHEFALEE VASUDEV

THE YEAR OF THE B CUP

T

he Georges Hobeika outfit that Nimrat Kaur, the deglammed housewife of the film Lunchbox wore at the 2015 Bafta awards wasn’t a great fashion choice. The gown could have done without the cape detail and the colour was a bit plastic-ky.

But her style confidence in choosing one in candy pink slashed right down her cleavage made other facts fuzzy. If the only way for a woman to wear her breasts well is to display their curves with verve, Kaur got it right. Fashion follows the footsteps of a woman who knows how to harmonise her body with the body language—and she conducted that orchestra well.

Just last month at Lounge, we listed Kaur as the fashion face to watch out for in 2015. Taken by her Titan advertisement in which she mirrors a single woman’s steely-cheeky aura, we rooted for Kaur because she “illustrates how a woman who knows her mind

frames glamour in a unique way”.

Her Bafta appearance underlines the way she is minting herself as an interesting presence, if not a stunning one on the international red carpet. She wore her hair sweeped up, small diamante earrings, a ring and a soft nude pink nail colour on her nails. That an Indian actor, known back home for one terrific performance of a woman who looked like she had never had a facial and an equally terrific break in American television series Homeland, should choose an ultra-glam way to script her noticeability factor at a global event itself is a story to follow.

We have seen Indian boobs out there on those carpets before of course—most notoriously on Mallika Sherawat. Ms Sherawat, whose cup flowed alarmingly over allowed them to get in the way of her very presence and relevance at Cannes the first time she went there with Jackie Chan

Firstword: US actress Julianne Moore poses on the red carpet for the BAFTA British Academy Film Aw

looking at other people and thinking OK I like this look, and maybe I should try that and through that I realized I could team up various garments and accessories and make them look good. Earlier I used to be very bohemian—long, layered dresses. I still have a slightly tribal sensibility in accessories, but otherwise I focus on the silhouette of the garment. And of course age has changed things. I can no longer wear the little dresses I used to.

How important are accessories to your look?

Very much. My clothes never have any embellishments but I wear a lot of jewelry. That is the reason I prefer monochromatic clothes, so that I can freely accessorize. I like chunky, statement pieces.

Interesting earrings, cuffs, flow chains, pieces from here, there, everywhere! I can wear anything that catches my eye—it could be made from metal, acrylic, thread, fibre or plastic. I like sharp edges and tribal styles from brands like En Inde.

Since you also buy fashion for your store, how and where do you shop for yourself?

It has become a quick process for me. I glance at the store and know if something from there will work for me or not. Otherwise I have my favourite designers— Priyadarshini Rao, Savio Jon, Amit Aggarwal and the label Rishta by Arjun Saluja. The only places I shop at are flea markets.

I do a lot of thrift shopping in Goa, Brazil, London where I find interesting things. My favourite though is New York for the prices and the fact that you can get everything there. I am a recent online shopping convert. I was very apprehensive earlier but I started shopping online six to eight months ago and am

to promote the film Myth. Hers were not sexily slashed gowns or plunging necklines—they were garments designed to push the breasts to the headlines of the day. Since then How Not to Wear Boobs like Mallika and How Not to Fake an Accent like Mallika became the glamour trends to follow—certainly for Indian celebrities. Since then Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has revealed half a cleavage now and then whereas Frieda Pinto has largely stuck to being a leggy lass. She wore two lovely dresses slashed incisively deep to show off her shapely legs—a lime green Versace Atelier in 2012 and a gold sequined Gucci in 2013, both at Cannes. But boobs? Not really.

But 2015 seems to be the year of the B-cup. Just last month, Sonam Kapoor sat in the front row at the Armani Prive Spring 2015 show in Milan in a gold dress from the collection. Her prettily revealed, glisteningly bronzed breasts were the conversation point in her ensemble. Ditto for Priyanka Chopra who turned up at a Grammys after party this year in a black, embroidered Zuhair Murad dress—with a plunging neckline— her cleavage-boobs displayed with a buxom attitude.

enjoying it. I have bought clothes at Koovs.com, Sense.com, Net-aPorter. But still, nothing beats the experience of going to a store.

Which fashion trends do you refuse to follow?

I will never be caught wearing an Anarkali or a gown. In fact, I don’t attend events where the dress code is ‘gowns’. Today fashion is more about comfort for me. I never wear fitted clothes, I want to be able to eat what I want and be comfortable without worrying about what I am wearing. I used to wear heels all the time earlier but it’s an absolute no now. If one is going to be standing for 6-7 hours like I do at my store, then it takes a toll on the back. I am a fitness fanatic and can’t go into a yoga session with a sore back.

So what do you wear for traditional occasions?

I don’t like embellishments and only wear saris in traditional weaves. I have everything from a Jamdani and Paithani to a Banarasi. For Indian occasions I also have a pinafore style kurta by Vaishali S that I wear with black tights, a long dress by Priyadarshini Rao that I count as my Indian outfit. For a friend’s sangeet I wore a lungi skirt and one-shoulder drape top by Nupur Kanoi accessorized by chunky jewellery.

What mistakes do you see Indian women making when they come to shop at your store?

Indian women seem to chase fitted clothes. They want to hide their flaws but still want the clothes to be fitted. Most are not willing to experiment with silhouettes. I think Bollywood is such a big influence, and women are buying into it with very little thought about how these clothes look on them.

How was it growing up with curly hair in a country obsessed with long, straight tresses?

Growing up I was never allowed

Across the world’s most glamourous events in 2015 so far, breasts have emerged as the new black in style. From Julianne Moore at the BAFTA in a red Tom Ford front slash dress to J-Lo at the Grammys in an unabashedly low cut silver dress. If The Guardian’s Hadley Freeman dubbed J-Lo’s dress as “why are you looking at my face, don’t you see my face?”, the Daily Mail in London called Beyonce, Nicki Minaj and Kim Kardashian’s choice in red carpet dressing as “extreme cleavage”.

Nimrat Kaur’s recent appearance has brought this exciting trend full circle for us. At the recent, 2015 Filmfare Awards held in Mumbai, the original choli queen of Indian cinema— Madhuri Dixit Nene wore a navy blue off shoulder gown by Jade. It wasn’t slashed down at the front but it pushed up her cleavage to lovely, noticeable heights. No other actress though seems to be polishing the boob act so far.

Why? Indian modesty or the fact that the new Indian heroine is smaller than size 34 B— considered the minimum yardstick in fashion files to whip www.livemint.com up a frenzied storm in a cup.

ToSo read Natasha’s previous columns, here’s unsolicited advicevisit for www.livemint.com/natasha ­badhwar Indian celebs and stylists beginning to slot their fittings for Cannes later this year. Let your boobs breathe girls. And stylists,