Friday, February 2, 2007

Sheetal Mafatlal


The glamorous Sheetal Mafatlal is on cloud nine, ever since she was featured in Time Magazine for her new business venture – bringing the international brand Valentino to India. The article mentions Sheetal as “India’s fashion-retain pioneer” and goes on to add, “When a mysterious and beautiful newcomer took her seat at the Valentino Show in Paris in March, sporting a 20-carat diamond ring on one hand and 200-carat emerald on the other, her appearance sent a frisson of intrigue through the front-row crowd. It never occurred to anyone at the basement of the Louvre that Sheetalo Mafatlal was one of India’s luxury dealmakers.”
Sheetal is utmost casual when se talks about how she bagged the deal. She tells Time, “In early 2004, I was having lunch at the jet-set London restaurant Sah Lorenzo, and Mr. Valentino and his entourage walked in. So I sent over a note and Carlos (Souza, the company’s indefatigable major-domo) came over and we talked.” The best compliment Shetal has received has been from Valentino CEO, Michele Norsa. As he tells the international magazine, “Lots of people approached us about a partnership there (India). But it was of key importance to us to work with someone who really understood luxury. In 1.3 billion people in china, you wouldn’t find one like Sheetal.” Wonder what her one-time good friend Sonia Garware would have to say to this.

Royalty Vividly


Balasaheb Pant Pratinidhi, the last ruler of the princely state of Aundh, is often described as the painter king. His legacy of 130 paintings is now to be exhibited at the Deshpande Kala Academy, Prabhadevi.
A painter himself, Balasaheb also collected a number of works by European artists, during his lifetime. He built a museum, Bhavani Chitrasangrahalaya, to house his collection, which he handed over to the state government after Independence.
This exhibition, which begins on January 18, will continue till February 1. The paintings are valued at 3 crores each. The works of other painters, like Raja Ravi Verma and European artists like Francis Goya will also be a part of this two week display.

Sexy Move for Beauty


Is India going the Latin American way? Winning beauty contests has become an unhealthy, calculative, manipulative obsession and young girls are prepared to pay any price to win the crown or even go in for dangerous reconstructive plastic surgery to achieve their goal. While still in its infancy in India, on Latin America, it’s a way of life.
The first time she thought of getting breast implants, Juanna Ramos Mejia was at her pediatrician’s office. “I was 12 or 13 then, absolutely flat, and I asked him whether my bust would grow,” recalls Mejia, a 32 year old secretary in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He said, “Kid, forget it.” From that moment on, I knew I would do it.” Ramos’ precocious interest in cosmetic surgery is hardly unusual in Buenos Aires. Maria Marta Talice Laboratto, 26, eschewed a quinceanera megaparty in order to straighten her nose 10 years ago. The “Hook I had for a nose,” she says, besides attracting taunts might have made it difficult for her to progress professionally in “Argentina’s still male-dominated white collar world. “Almost every girl I know wants to have something done,” she says, “And if they haven’t done it, it’s because of fear or lack of means.” Machismo plays a larger part in South America’s beauty obsession. There is a strong pressure for women to adhere to a European look and if they don’t fit the mould, they suffer harsher judgment, personally and professionally, than in many cultures. You could also say that South American societies suffer from an inferiority complex. The Argentines, for example, have always felt one step away from real modernity ad wealth. In his book, The Masks of Argentina, journalist, Luis Majul describes cosmetic surgery as a quick personal route to the so called First World. Like Brazil and Venezuela, Argentina has a booming cosmetic surgery industry. Although no official statistics are compiled, Argentina is among the top ranked countries in per capita rates of cosmetic surgery, says Guillermo Flaherty, president of the Argentine plastic surgeon’s association.
Now look what’s happening in India. Sushmita Sen has had a breast implant. Shilpa Shetty had a nose job done. Leave alone the major cities, place like Ludhiana and Ajmer, plastic surgeons are performing breast implants and rhinoplasty (nose job) and there is no control on their activities. Horror stories of botched up cases are covered up and startling cases of deformities abound, as a result of plastic surgery gone wrong are common. Young men and women fill the waiting rooms, their vanity fanning this unhealthy obsession and doctors fill their coffers playing on their insecurities. Will some regulatory authority step in before it is too late?

Fali Homi Major new Indian Air Force Chief


For the first time in the history of the Indian Air Force, a helicopter pilot will be taking over its reins. Fali Homi Major will become the chief of the Indian Air Force. This coveted position is usually held by fighter pilots.
Homi Major was inducted into the IAF in 1967 as a helicopter pilot and currently holds the position of Air Officer, Commander-in-Chief, Eastern India Command. He will take over his new position after the retirement of Air Chief Marshal, S.P Tyagi, on March 31.
Since 1967, Homi Major has occupied several important positions, which include a number of command and instructional appointments. However, Homi Major’s major achievement was his participation in the world’shighest battlefield operations in the Siachen glacier, where he commanded a helicopter unit. He was decorated with the Vayu Sena Medal for his IPKF operations in Sri Lanka
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