Aastha Bahl, the young emerging designer of Lakme Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2008 launched her label Mistletoe in 2004, and gives fashion freaks a collection of contemporary, off the rack western and indo-western clothes to choose from. This inspiring designer believes in creating ready to wear, fresh, and comfortable clothing that centers on simplicity and elegant style. An insightful interview with this vibrant woman tells us more about her experiences as a new comer, her future plans and a lot more…

Andrei Tarkovsky’s whole new percept of cinema helped discovering newer boundaries to the medium and aided the formation of some of the greatest directors of the future. Undoubtedly, Tarkovsky is one the immovable pillars in the palace of the seventh art. Tarkovsky’s features are often condemned to be inaccessible and too cerebral. In fact, it is Tarkovsky’s films that expect the users to eschew interpretation and “live the film”. These are films that require viewing with the heart and not the mind. Hence, his films become more of an experiential journey

Alp Bora has been strumming his guitar and humming Turkish tunes since the age of 12. It’s been over 2 decades but his affair with music only seems to get stronger and more passionate. Calling themselves Nim Sofyan, (which took 3 years to put together), Alp and his colleagues have been busy travelling to countries from India to Syria, enthralling audience with their spectacular skills and innovative music – Music that refuses itself to be bound to any conventional style, rhythm or beat. Stunning music…

“A poem is a naked person… Some people say that I am a poet”
He could make people gasp with his sheer defiance; he walked the lonely road to immortality; his footprints have been archived for posterity as testament to his colossal genius… Bob Dylan – perhaps the single most important singer/songwriter in the entire history of popular music. Born in the year 1941, somewhere in the state of Minnesota, in a country which likes to call itself the United States of America, he wasn’t always Bob Dylan to start with…

Anjan Dutt falls in the category of musicians who were born in the late 50s and early 60s. He was never there in the Rollicking 50s, so he never learnt to croon like Frank Sinatra or Dean Martin. Jazz maestros like Louis Armstrong or Harry Belafonte too never got to influence him. His teenage life missed the Swinging 60s by a whisker. Consequently hip-hop rock was also out of the way. Instead his formative years witnessed the most dramatic decade of music history. The 70s were not only a decade of the Vietnam War (as far as the world was concerned)…

Hellmuth Conz, is a German photographer by nationality, but has been capturing the essence of India within his camera for the past 12 years. Pursuing photography as a passion and profession, Hellmuth teaches photography and is based in Bangalore. His work is unique and inspiring and has been on display in regular exhibitions. Hellmuth loves the environment, people and India. A short interview with this meister in photography revealed a lot more about his passion for pictures and some very useful advice. Read along!

After an emotionally tempestuous week during which I receded into a very rarely used shell, I needed something supernatural to get me recharged. And this time, it was a bunch of six guys from different parts of Europe calling themselves Nim Sofyan, who brought me back to life, and restored by faith in the [...]