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Profile
Re-defining fashion By Rubia Moghees
S
ehr Atif cuts an everyday figure - easygoing, gracious and cheerful but at the same time behind this quiet demeanour, there’s the ever-thinking creative mind with an uncanny capability to achieve excellence. In the recent times when fashion has begun to take centre stage, this promising young woman has come up with striking designs and collections all worthy of praise. “Fashion is taking shape on the ramp and is becoming more professional and creative,” tells Sehr. “Only those who have the real potential will flourish, no run-of-the mill garment can be now used for the fashion shows,” she observes. Sehr, who graduated from PIFD in 1998, was in the first batch and dreamt of doing things bigger and better.“I like the wildness and spunkiness associated with the fashion industry,” she points out. Sehr is recognised for her work and the fact that she covers her head when coming on the ramp doesn’t make her different from others. “My performance speaks for itself which is evident from the complete sell-out of my latest collection in the recently held Mauritius Fashion Week”, she enthuses. Elaborating on this she discloses that it is a blend of bridal, formal, couture and the signature whitethemed compilation. She is equally thrilled about the acceptance of franchise offers and plans to expand her set-up. Sehr is currently heading the department of Design and Textiles at the PIFD and has also set up the unit of the same kind at the Lahore Grammar
School, Ghalib Market. “Fashion is all about a lifestyle heavily dependent on an attitude which I don’t carry,” she points out that masses of women who are intimidated by most designers’ attitude, end up “connecting to a person like me”. Possessing a girl next-door appeal and the shy persona makes her
Sehr Atif
Sehr heaps praises on her female workforce which has woven the intricate fabric that was used by her at the second Fashion Week by the name of ‘Lettuce Lure’
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accessible. Sehr is also being commended for working in the female empowerment sector. Huner and Nagar are the semi-government organisations with which she has associated herself. “I have been working with the rural women from all parts of Pakistan for many years now,” she says, explaining that women are a powerful tool in her company ‘Saai’. Sehr heaps praises on her female workforce which has woven the intricate fabric that was used by her at the second Fashion Week by the name of ‘Lettuce Lure.’ Recently she also arranged the Kayseria catalogue in form of garment style/stitching of the attires which has been noted for its uniqueness. “The silhouettes are going to be simplified,” according to Sehr’s prediction for 2011. “The consumer is exhausted and there is a dire need to change the trend which focused more on volume and the long lengths,” she explains. Her predilection for variety is evident from her acclaimed bridal creations which are highly personalised and exclusive.
clues to happiness The undisputed great writer at his best. The rationale applied to each preference is absolutely top class By Khushwant Singh in one’s own eyes.
A home of your own
H
aving lived a reasonably contented life, I was musing over what a person should strive for to achieve happiness. I drew up a list of a few essentials which I put forward for the readers’ appraisal.
Good Health
First and foremost is good health. If you do not enjoy good health you can never be happy. Any ailment, however trivial, will deduct from your happiness.
A healthy bank balance Second, a healthy bank balance. It need not run into crores but should be enough to provide for creature comforts and something to spare for recreation, like eating out, going to the pictures, traveling or going on holidays on the hills or by the sea. Shortage of money can be only demoralizing. Living on credit or borrowing is demeaning and lowers one
Sixth, do not allow other people to descend on you for gup-shup. By the time you get rid of them, you will feel exhausted and poisoned by their gossipmongering.
Third, a home of your own. Rented premises can never give you the snug feeling of a nest which is yours for keeps that a home provides: if it has a Cultivate some hobbies garden space, all the better. Seventh, cultivate some Richness is Plant your own trees and hobbies which can bring flowers, see them grow you a sense of fulfillment, not and blossom, cultivate such as gardening, earning more, a sense of kinship with reading, writing, spending more or saving painting, playing or them. more, but... richness is listening to music. An Going to clubs or parties when you need no understanding to get free drinks or to more companion meet celebrities is criminal Fourth, an understanding waste of time. companion, be it your spouse Introspection or a friend. If there are too many Eighth, every morning and evening, misunderstandings, they will rob you of devote 15 minutes to introspection. your peace of mind. In the morning, 10 minutes should be Lack of envy spent on stilling the mind and then five Fifth, lack of envy towards those who in listing things you have to do that day. have done better than you in life; risen In the evening, five minutes to still the higher, made more money, or earned mind again, and ten to go over what you more fame. Envy can be very corroding; had undertaken to do. avoid comparing yourself with others. Richness is not earning more, Don’t allow innecessary spending more or saving more, but... richness is when you need no more. gup-shup
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By Saim Sadiq
t started off wonderfully well; a leading Bollywood filmmaker, known lesser for his films and more for his wit and fraternity connections, decided to cash in on his links the way no average host or journalist could. The premise was fresh, simple: get his friends, our movie stars, dressed well enough for an Oscar ceremony and make them sit on the couch, hide the cameras behind the walls, make them comfy enough and then get their tongues flashing! And boy did they flash! With the very first episode, this beverage fantasizing talk show became the talk of the town, making koffee seem kooler than ever. The stars came on, from Kajol to Kareena Kapoor to Preity Zinta to Shahrukh Khan to Abhishek Bachchan, all draped in glamour and glory, and there was actually fascination in watching them all spill beans and drop comments. Because no talk show had managed to give these celebrities the atmosphere that Koffee with Karan did. The show managed to scoop out such awesomely fun one-liners from them all that we had no choice but to succumb to even those repeat telecasts of Season 1. The next season followed up very well, indeed. The pairings were doubtlessly interesting. While Johar couldn’t resist bringing in his debut film trio in the first episode, he managed a magnificent coup by bringing in debut season’s joke point, Mallika Sherawat, and that too with the oncefame-now-lame director, Sanjay Leela Bhansali. And we applauded both episodes with gratitude and glee! Because the formula was new, the questions were tricky and Johar was much interested and much successful in actually digging the gossip out. And today, all that has unfortunately changed. Season 3 of Koffee with Karan began with an annoyingly obvious, lacklustre pair that no one was interested in hearing from, those little Bachchans. The fresh blood of Bollywood, Ranbir, Imran, Deepika and Sonam came to the much-needed rescue and provided us with genuinely pleasurable episodes, simply because they are the today of the industry. They are the cool, composed and just-trying-to-have-some-fun ones of the biggest factory of Bombay. But what followed after them was
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A clever Priyanka Chopra easily dodges the revelation that she is dating Shahid Kapoor, allowing her legs to remain the highlight of the show catastrophically dull! The questions, firstly, were too obvious, ones that tabloid journalists could ask with more poise than Johar does. The rapid-fire is so shamelessly repeated that out of all these episodes, you can’t dig out five quotable quotes that successfully created a genuine stir. The pairings are unimaginably unimaginative. Also, the guests have all hired possibly better publicists now and more ‘preparation’ goes into their appearance than their look displays. Hence, a clever Priyanka Chopra easily dodges the revelation that she is dating Shahid Kapoor, allowing her legs to remain the highlight of the show. Wow! And blah; since we had seen them, and way more, in Dostana already! Even calling an old-star-but-new-guest like Ajay Devgan and making him fly solo didn’t really work. Why? Well, because he’s Ajay Devgan. But worse than that, frequent visitor Shahrukh Khan also came solo. Khan, last seen in his wonderfully restrained My Name Is Khan, here infuriatingly dissolved into nostalgia, letting his characteristic charm evaporate into thin air. Ha! As if he wasn’t embarrassing himself enough with his own TV show! But, majorly, the problem lies with the host whose distinctive cheekiness still made for some watchable episodes. But once shrewdly paving the way for startling revelations, Johar today seems content with anything the writers and the guests of the show throw at him; his pay check enough and only reason for him being on that show now! Perhaps, it’s high time for him to wake up and smell what he’s only been serving so far! Star World should buck up, not take us or any show brand name for granted, and spare us a season finale. And a season four! Because summers are here! And even otherwise, this was the last of us buying a coffee that starts with a K! P.S – Only stuff this season proved: Rani Mukherjee is past her prime and nobody in Bollywood can look better than Kareena Kapoor. Sigh! We even knew this already!
Music turns ‘Laal’
‘Laal’s videos are produced at a fraction of the cost of regular videos. They are all financed by whatever we earn’
By Asad Haroon
L
aal, one the most recent and successful entrants in the Pakistani music industry, is a band known for singing socialist political songs. Post receiving commercial attention during the Lawyers’ Movement, the band – comprising Taimur Rahman on guitar and vocals, Shahram Azhar as lead vocalist, Mahvash Waqar on backup vocals and Haider Rahman on flute – has gained recognition all over Pakistan within a short span of time. Their online fan club invites everyone to join the ‘Laal Brigade’, a team of young and enthusiastic revolutionaries committed to setting the country’s people free from social and political shackles. “Pakistan is balancing on the border between democracy, religious fanaticism, and military dictatorship. Democratic values and institutions are still extremely weak in Pakistan,” claimed Taimur during a recent interview with Pakistan Today. When asked to elucidate the agenda of their band, he explained that Laal is very active in the fight against the menace of religious fanaticism that is tearing the country apart. He said Laal aims to instill confidence in
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people so that they speak out against these destructive extremists. Q. When did you start playing the guitar? A. I started playing guitar in my teens but I didn’t really learn how to play well till I entered college. Then for several years after college I stopped playing. But I would take my guitar to my classes to liven up the atmosphere with a song or two. Q. How did you meet Shahram Azhar and form Laal? A. Shahram was my student at LUMS. He took several courses with me and was also my teaching assistant. Together we began playing for workers and peasants. I coined the name Laal when we released our first video. It is the colour of the progressive labour movement. Q. What inspired you to come up with this revolutionary band? A. Laal is simply an extension of the work I was doing as an activist and as an academic. The only difference is that those ideas are also now being expressed in the field of music and culture. Q. How do you finance the production of Laal’s music videos? A. I myself have directed and produced Laal videos. Instead of paying heavy fees for
filming, editing and so on, I decided to learn how it is done and do everything myself. So Laal’s videos are produced at a fraction of the cost of regular videos. They are all financed by whatever we earn. Q. What is your opinion regarding the assassination of the former Governor of Punjab, Salmaan Taseer? A. The murder of Salmaan Taseer was a tragedy. It is worse that people are hailing his killer as a hero. The incident sheds light on the dangers of religious fanaticism. Q. Where do you see Pakistan in the next ten years? A. If Pakistan cannot get rid of religious fanaticism, there will be complete anarchy; but if progressiveness and rationality prevail, we will prosper and grow. Q. Is Pakistan a true democratic state in your opinion? A. No. Pakistan is balancing on the border between democracy, religious fanaticism, and military dictatorship. Democratic values and institutions are still extremely weak in Pakistan. Q. Any favourite quote you would like to share with our readers? A. “Philosophers have only interpreted the world, the point however is to change it.” This is a quotation by Karl Marx.
‘The murder of Salmaan Taseer was a tragedy. It is worse that people are hailing his killer as a hero’
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Recipes
Chef Abdul Manan has worked with Royal Palm, World Fashion Cafe, Hot Wok Cafe in Lahore, Eye Television Network, ALite, Masala, Style360 and APlus, and also runs his own catering business by the name of Urban Gourmets.
Fiery Pepper Chicken Ingredients
Chicken 2 breast fillets (250) g Capsicum 30gm Onion 30gm Tomatoes 30gm Oyster sauce 30gm Chili oil 10gm Salt To taste Crushed chili To taste Soy sauce 10ml Corn flour slurry 10ml Oil 20ml Garlic 5gm
Pineapple Zinc Ingredients
Malee Teen Red Grape Juice Malee Pineapple slices Lemon Juice Sugar
4ml, 4 pieces 1 table spoon 1table spoon
Method Dice chicken breast and marinate with ½ teaspoon each of pepper, crushed chili and salt along with a table spoon of corn flour. Deep fry till light golden. Heat oil in a frying pan, put in garlic and sauté. Then add capsicum and onion along with fried chicken; sauté for a while, now start adding sauces and seasonings and stir well. Lastly add corn flour cook for few seconds till gravy thickens, then add diced tomatoes. Serve hot with garlic or plain rice.
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Glamstock
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