Talents galore at Fashionite'06; City Express; The Indian Express,July24'06

TALENTS GALORE at FASHIONITE'06

Talent, creativity and style, Fashionite'06, a fashion show held to mark the fifth anniversary of the Indian Institute of Fashion Technology on Saturday, had it all.

The show was kicked off with a performance by Shaimak Davar's dance troupe.

B.Vedhagiri, IIFT Director said, " The institute started with only four students in 2001 and today it has about 200 students.IIFT is creating a plztform for budding fashion designers. Here students are not confined only to academics, but are also trained in entrepreneurial strategies. They are creating waves and have won a number of prizes at National-level competitions.

The slogan of Fashionite'06 was 'Save the Planet.' Awards in various categories were given away to budding designers. The themes for the Best Creativity category included Dolphin--inspired by the friendliness of dolphins.Chili--inspired by its color and spiciness.Other themes in this category were Lightening, Bamboo, Cactus, Feather, Angel, Eyes, Starfish, Perception and Taj Mahal.

Designer Pavithra walked away with the award for her 'Bamboo' theme.

The second category of awards was for 'Best Theme'. The themes displayed in this round were Kuvempu, Krishna, Hoysala, Meerabai, Magnet, Road, and Tsunami---inspired by its mighty waves, speed and force; and Newspaper ---inspired by its quality of information. The award for the 'Best Theme' was bagged by Saurabh for his theme ' Magnet.'

The other sequence of awards were for 'Best Accessory,' 'Best Technical Outfit' and 'Overall Best Award for Best Costume.' The overall Best Award for Best Costume.' The Overall Best Award went to Taskin Taj for her theme 'Soil.' The costumes designed by the designers were displayed by leading models of Bangalore.

Azeezullah Baig, MD, Karnataka State Small Industries Development Corporation, said, "The budding designers of IIFT have excelled in their designs, presentations, contemporary outlookand choice of fabric."

The last round was dedicated to Lord Krishna where models turned out in 'Gopi' outfit s. The bright colours and designs used in the costumes stood out. This was immediately followed by Bohemian Rhapsody or free flowing fabric sequence. The scintillating dance performance by Shiamak Davar's troupe, that included salsa and Indo- jazz dance forms, were impressive.

Monalisa Biswas & Richa Gaur

Parents cite reasons for pressurising kids (City Express-The New Indian Express, July 8, 200)

At an interactive session organised to discuss the issue of parental pressure on children in Bangalore on Thursday- "If parents are forcing kids on what to be"-the reaction of the audience was anything but unanimous.

Organised by Oxford Bookstore & Mattel Toys in collaboration with Radio City, the session hosted by Radio City RJ Vasanthi Hariprakash, threw up questions on whether parents were pushing too much burden on children and robbing them off their childhood by making them concentrate only on studies.

A number of parents, especially mothers turned up along with their children at the session.Some parents honestly confessed that they do force their children to focus on the career chosen by their elder siblings ignoring the interest of the younger one.

Sabira, a children's coordinator said,"Though my daughter fares well in other activities, apart from studies,I would like to push her a bit so that she excels in everything she does."

When the audience were faced with a question as to whether the children do have a right to "not to do anything", pat came a reply from a woman sitting with her little daughter, "In today's world of tough competition you cannot allow your child to do that.Children love to laze around but as concerned parents we can't let them waste their time."

Another mother was heard saying, "We want the best for them and hence we want them to get exposed to everything right from now so that they can face the world boldly in future."

When it appeared that the discussion was proceeding in a single direction, Leela, a mother said,"Parents are no more the same;they should thrust their opinion and decision on their children.They cannot force them to do anything or everything."

As if to support Leela's argument Trishaala said,"My parents want me to be something in life. But they never force me saying that I should go for engineering or medical studies."

However when the parents were asked whether they forced their children to attend summer camps, the reply came from the children in chorus, "We love summer camps."

The two hour session drew to a close with a dance performance by years old Veda V Bhatt & a magic show by 11 year old conjuror Karun Krishna who enthralled the audience with his sleight of hand.

Monalisa Biswas,

Bangalore