6 My city
DID YOU KNOW? In 1952, Joseph Stein (the architect of India Habitat Centre) was invited by Nehru to head the Architecture and Planning Department of Bengal Engineering College
New Delhi, Friday October 10, 2008
Days in DELHI
Theatre, arts and Bollywood dancing — have a great week ahead
Damini Purkayastha
A
s the festival week flags off and you return to work, let this week’s resolution be to keep the spirit alive. Get out of office early everyday, do one cool thing for sure and live it up. Here’s are some things we’ve picked out to help pack in the party punch.
Friday 6.30 pm: It’s Friday and you know you’ll be on your feet till the wee hours. Get some slow-paced intellectual inputs first at the Film Club Meet where you can talk about movies made Alan Schneider. At 6.30 pm, India Habitat Centre, Lodhi Colony. Tel: 43663333 7.30 pm: And now for some spending. Since you’re in the vicinity check out the Kuch and Kuch festival bazaar and pick up some funky fashion accessories. It’s one of those designer-dos, so if you’re low on dough, get some window shopping done. At: Agah Khan Hall, Bhagwan Das Road, Connaught Place. Tel: 23782157. 9 pm: Ten minutes from Bhagwan Dass Road is Khan Market, where you get the world’s best kebab rolls at Khan Chacha. Tucked away in a gali of the high-end market, this little shop is affordable by everyone. 11 pm: Since you’re being adventurous and keeping the spirit alive check out DJ Duo Ashish and Freeze. Heat up the dance floor with the latest house, hip-hop and commercial numbers. F Bar, The Ashok Hotel, 50-B, Diplomatic Enclave, Chanakya Puri. Tel: 26110101.
Saturday These weekend mornings are sacred. If you’re not housecleaning you’re sure to be sleeping in. Plan your outing post lunch. 3 pm: Star Movies is showing Just Like Heaven, a Reese Witherspoon starring romantic comedy. All workoholics out there should catch this one, it’s about a young girl who has to slip into a coma to realise that she’s missing out on life. Oh and in that coma she manages to find love. Some people have all the luck! 6.30 pm: Take a stroll in Defence Colony market and whet your appetite with some bhel puri. Our fashion correspondents recommend picking up party-wear for the night from Unisex within a budget of Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,500 9 pm: For dinner we recommend the Swedish dishes from master chef Mark Phoenix. Swedish cuisine is known to be hearty, practical and sustaining. At Machan, Taj Mahal Hotel, 1, Man Singh Marg, Tel: 23026162. 11 pm: It’s time to get some Bolly-dinchak into your life. Groove to DJ Aqeel’s famous Bollywood mixes at IndoChine, Aurobindo Marg , Lado Sarai. Tel: 29523330
Sunday The weekend is going to finish soon! So go back to sleep. Do not surface till 2 am or you will regret it all week. Get someone around you to serve you bed tea, toss a coin with your family members. It’s a
luxury that will sustain you through the week. 3 pm: Have a very late Sunday at Le Café, Crown Plaza Surya, NFC. Eggs, sausages, bacon, ham, fruits, French toast, hash browns, pastries and pancakes, quiche, large roasts of meat are part of the menu. 6.30 pm: Enjoy some theatre with Kanjoos, a play directed by Fareed Ahmed, an adaptation of French playwright Moliere’s The Miser. At 7.30 pm at Epicentre, Apparel House, Gurgaon Sector 44, Gurgaon. Tel: 2715000. 9 pm: Check out the Sunday night movie anywhere in the city. Maybe a short two hour English movie will ensure that you don’t have a late night before the dreaded Monday morning.
Up in smoke Zabeeh Afaque
A
s Delhi gets used to smoke-free zones and ‘nosmoking clauses’, it’s the local cigarette vendors and pubs that are feeling the heat. While some are facing a drop in numbers since the law came into place, others are hopeful that the crowds will return once the festive season is over. “The market has actually become slow and our sales have gone down by 10 per cent,” reveals Sidhartha Kanwar from Café Morrison. According to Kanwar the walk-in customers have been particularly affected. “Even those who walk-in to discuss something over a drink are distracted by the non-smoking clause and can’t really kick back. It’s especially tough for the chain smokers, even if they are out with loved ones.” Though Ashish Mahajan, manager of Bennigan’s, says that volumes have dropped, he is not entirely unhappy. “We are running low, but then its good for health. People will gradually adapt to it. Yes, it’s presently a
With nosmoking rules in place, clubs and vendors face empty nights as Delhi chooses cigarettes over outings
Monday 6.30 pm: Seher is on, and today Guru Durga Charan Ranbir and Nrutyayan group (Bhubaneswar) bring to life the Purana Qila. A must-see for anyone who enjoys artistic excellence against the backdrop of history. 9 pm: Head to the India Habitat Centre en route to CP and check out the Open Palm Court. There’s always an exhibition on here and tonight you can see Layers of Thoughts: Exhibition of Pantings by Deepak C Aria. 11 pm: End your evening with a quick drink at TGIF, it’s nowhere near Friday but being macabre can sometimes be fun. Besides, there’s like a good hangover to keep your feet firmly on the ground.
Tuesday 7 pm: Watch El Carnaval De Sodoma (Carnival of Sodom) at the ongoing Mexican Film Festival. The screening begins at 7 pm at India Habitat Centre, Lodhi Colony. Tel: 43663333 9 pm: Head to Big Chill, Khan Market for a midweek feast. We recommend pasta in piri piri sauce and an oh-so-sinful New York cheesecake. Work out extra tomorrow if you must, but this will keep you going till Friday really comes around. 11 pm: You should be tucked in bed by now before your boss starts noticing the bags under your eyes and those mid-days siestas you slip in.
Wednesday 6.30 pm: You must see this one. Yeh Hai Delhi Meri Jaan, a play presented by Indu Art Theatres & Film Society about Bola, a innocent village boy who comes to Delhi. At Alliance Francaise de Delhi, 72, Lodhi Estate. Tel: 43500200. 9 pm: If you want to hob-nob with media-types head to The Island Bar for their Media Night. (For media professionals only). At The Island Bar, Shangri-La Hotel, 19, Ashoka Road, Janpath, Connaught Place. Tel: 41191919 11 pm: Have a midnight coffee at the Yellow Brick Road at Ambassador Hotel. It’s a cosy little place that is perfect for a pre-winter midnight. But be sure to be in slumberland by 1 am, you need to save your energy for that weekend up ahead. Have a blast and make the most of the next six days in Delhi. damini.purkayastha@hindustantimes.com
PICTURE FOR REPRESENTATION ONLY
distraction because you have to move out again and again but it’s only a matter of time before it becomes a way of life. Cigarette vendors outside nightclubs and pubs are also reporting a fall in business since these areas are particularly well-patrolled by the antismoking squad. But smaller vendors say people are quite bold. “Log to aate hain aur khareedte hain... yahin per pite hain (People come and buy cigarettes and smoke them right here),” says a vendor outside Jamia Hamdard University. Despite such reports, smokers say things aren’t going well. Deepak, a chain smoker, says a feeling of insecurity has crept in. “I keep looking around — you never know when you’ll be challenged. Smoking is the same as planting a bomb in public.” Youngsters who revel in the smoking-drinking sessions also say that the charm of going out is gone. “We would rather go to someone’s house and chill out. What’s the point of going drinking if you can’t smoke. Maybe we will head out again once they have smoke-chambers everywhere, but even then, things will not be the same,” vents a 27-yearold pub crawler. zabeehafaque@hindustantimes.com
Ola Mexico
Damini Purkayastha
I
t’s time for tequila and cinema all this month in Delhi as the Embassy of Mexico in India celebrates, From the Cutting Edge of the Volcano, a festival of the best Mexican Cinema. Conrado Tosado, the cultural attache to the embassy, says that there are several reasons why the festival is being held in India now. “With documentary filmmaker Gabriel Marino’s movie, Barto, portraying a Mexican’s travels through India, the time is right to introduce audiences to the cinema from the land,” he says. He goes on to add, “Mexican film has experienced a boom period over the last four to five years after a long lull from the 60s to the 80s. Today there are several young people making movies and a lot of experimentation is going on. Cinema has opened up to outside, multinational influences. There are films in this festival that draw on Brazilian and Dominican novels.” The festival features seven short films and six feature films.The short films have won awards in Expresion En Corto, the largest annual film festival held in Mexico, while the feature films have been
The Embassy of Mexico hosts, From the cutting edge of the Volcano, a celebration of the best of Mexican cinema made in recent times chosen in collaboration with the Instituto Mexicano De Cinematographia. “The movies have been so chosen that they form a series of films that span generations, including Paul Leduc, who is a master of Mexican cinema to some of the younger filmmakers,” he explains. Besides the 1940s (often considered the golden age of Mexican cinema) when Mario Moreno became a household name, not much is known internationally about Mexican cinema. However, cinema from that part of the world has always been known for its use of the fantastic and the magical realism.
must-see movies Monday, October 13 Gulmohar Hall, 7 pm It’s Real Easy (Es muy fácil), Directed by: Pablo Fulgueira Pastor (2007, 21 min) Silent Light (Luz silenciosa), Directed by: Carlos Reygadas (2007, 144 min)
Tuesday, October 14 Stein Auditorium, 7 pm Flash Lesson (Lección relámpago), Directed by: Alejandro Lubezki (2007, 9 min) Carnival of Sodom (Carnaval de Sodoma), Directed by: Arturo Ripstein (2006, 119 min)
Monday, October 20 Stein Auditorium, 7 pm Distinguishing Features (Señas particulares), Directed by: Kenya Márquez (2007, 11 min) The Last Look (La última mirada), Directed by: Patricia Arriaga-Jordan (2006, 124 min) The festival is on at the India Habitat Centre till October 22. Passes may be collected from the Embassy of Mexico, C-8 Anand Niketan.
Marriage, love et al HT City Correspondent
W
hat’s the right age to get married, who’s more likely to prefer a livein relationship, why men want to marry older women— a new relationship survey gets Delhi’s responses. 1. The right age for marriage: For men it’s 27.4, and for women 24 yrs 2. Money matters: A significantly higher percentage of females (18 per cent) consider adequate income as one of the most important attribute for their relationship as compared to males (10 per cent) 3. Love marriage or arranged: Over two-third considered love marriage better in terms of frank disclosure of past, understanding and communication between partners, while75 per cent consider arranged marriage better in terms of smooth adjustment with parents and society 4. Who wants to live in: Men between 18 and 24 and with high income levels are more likely to be in favour of live-in relationship. 5. Homosexuality: Around 38 per cent do not hate people involved in homosexual relationships but disagree with the behaviour/lifestyle. However the same percentage of respondents accept people that its personal choice. 6. Extra marital affairs: Men (around 36 per cent) are more open
What do Delhiites think about these issues? A survey reveals...
minded about their spouse's extramarital affair as compared to women. 7. Older women: For men, the key reason to marry somebody older is for their mature approach to career. Women, on the other hand, still say that their reason is love. Survey conducted by AbsolutData Research and Analytics, 288 people in Delhi, from different age groups, gender and marital status were surveyed in online interviews