My favorite red carpet looks

I don’t have any interest in award functions that are shown on television. But I watch the red carpet bit to catch up on the latest gowns. Gowns… my favorite part of fashion. Yes, dresses are sexy, skirts are flattering, bottoms are essential. But gowns…pure luxury! Its like having the need to buy a car for transport – I should look into technicality of budget, space requirement, mileage etc etc….but I screw the practicality and go in for a fiery red Ferrari!

In fashion I never have a particular favorite. No favorite designer or muse. I have loved different looks at different times… figured I share a few of my favorites…

The particular piece worn by Anna Hathaway is one of my all time favorite red gowns. I love the drape and the flower details. Chiffon does wonders for this flow concept. Nothing more, nothing less could make this look any more perfect!

I wonder if JLO was pregnant while this next snap was taken. The empire waistline is the best solution for sexy mums to be! No need to wear jewellery given the eye catching jeweled neckline. Irrespective a little bling never hurt anyone!

The next gown worn by JLO isn’t very classic red carpet look. But I loved it for the fresh chic daring beach look!

The Hally Berry Valentino piece made history on the red carpet as she gave her historic cry baby speech on winning the oscar! Oh Valentino…why did you ever retire?????

And our very own Carrie Bradshaw on Sex and the city movie premier! She makes a simple green doll dress turn around into a suave hit with that sexy sexy sexy hat! ….Oh did I tell you how sexy her hat is..?!

Irresistible forces

This is the latest book I have read. Yes books are impacting but this story has left me with a lot of questions in mind.

The story is about a happily married couple of 15 years. They both have busy lives; a doctor and a finance director. Their careers are very satisfying. Their busy schedule keeps them apart from each other a lot but also gives them a chance to miss each other and value their time together. Their relationship has great understanding and trust. Despite 15 years of marriage, they have a hunger for each other’s companionship and friendship. They adore and respect each other. They don’t have any friends. After long hours of work, both look forward to come home to each other and share their lives. They hardly understand each other’s profession, yet show immense support in each other’s passion. Only one thing that they both did not agree about was that the husband wanted children, but the wife wasn’t ready yet. Despite this difference in wants, they both managed it not affect the sweetness of their relation. In short their life was perfect. Perfect careers and perfect marriage.

Then one day the wife travels for a project and becomes great friends with the owner of the company she is traveling for. This guy is very impressed with her work and offers her a dream job opportunity with his company. The only hitch was that she would have to shift cities to California, which wasn’t a favorable option considering her husband was well settled in his job in New York. She didn’t feel fair to uproot him for her needs. But she was pleasantly surprised when her husband completely supported her career move by himself getting a job in California. She moved and he was going to follow in three months. She started working in her new company. It was everything she had dreamed it to be and more. However an unexpected thing happened. Her husband lost the new job he had managed in California before he could even join. Thus he was stuck in New York till he managed another job in California and she was working hard to find a foothold in her new company in California.

This whole time the wife and the owner of the new company who she had become great friends with, were getting closer as friends. They had a successful professional relationship and even better friendship. In New York her husband had no one to go home to. He thus started working extra hours and made friends at his hospital. One particular friendship with a lady put him through tough times of being alone without his wife.

They both were suffering. They missed each other. They wanted to meet each other on weekends but their busy schedule kept them apart most weekends. Slowly there was a great distance between them. The frustration was putting a strain on their relationship.
Two months into the shift from New York they slowly slipped out of the marriage and into relations with heir new friendships. They were guilty at first. They had never cheated on each other for 15 years. Then why now. Slowly the new relations changed into love. An “Irresistible force” broke their marriage.

The author of the book made this fate seem beautiful; this ending seem a happy one. But an Indian at heart, I didn’t quite feel happy reading this. Even though its fiction, my heart was sad when a marriage that strong was broken so easily. It makes me wonder, what were the reasons that really took them away? An “Irresistible force” isn’t quite enough to break a strong marriage. Did lack of children make a void in their relation they didn’t realize? Is Fidelity tough? If the marriage seems perfect then why do people wander out? Does every relation have a validity date beyond which things aren’t ever going to be the same and a couple has to make compromises?......and if so many things are at stake, what marriage formula really can work? It seems no permutation is good enough to give a marriage life validity…..I hope this author is wrong. I hope marriage really “can conquer all”

To sumup...

I feel we have a few pockets in our memory which are sorted by importance, relevance to present and future. Why I say that? My childhood spanned over many years, however incidents that I feel have shaped my life or related to my interests today, I remember. While others, just remembered through my unending family albums.

I come from an Army background. I was born in the most prestigious institute of The Indian Army, The National Defense Academy. Father’s postings took me to Bhopal, Udhampur, Chandigarh, Pune, Delhi, Jodhpur. The proud Army life made me a very independent and confident individual and gave me an adjusting an adaptive nature. Within a few years I had shifted homes, cities, friends, schools more than what people manage in their entire lifetime.

Mumbai is my final destination! Thank God for that. Somehow best was saved for last. After finishing school I instantly got hooked to the glamour that the city entices millions of Indians with – Bollywood. Yes! I do have a few modeling assignments to my kitty. I did well. But like most children at my age, “I was finding myself”. My next stop was business. At 19, the first person from my endless generation of Dhanda khandaan, that too a girl, was set to start her own fashion studio. My boutique “Diva” is one of my proud achievements in life. It brought fashion, my biggest passion, in my life.

Soon enough graduation day came. By now I had learnt that a successful business needs more than just a great idea! Thus I shut my business and started looking for a job while applying for post graduation courses. Soon enough a leading fashion brand of India recruited me in Marketing. I worked there for a year before starting my Masters in Business administration, which I am completing currently.

If I were to state the essence of my life, I would say, I have been very lucky. Things in my life have fallen into place, many times out of those not even from my initiation.

“If I was having a bad day and didn’t want to step out of my home, suddenly there was too much rain and my school declared a holiday.”

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The theory of two "L" ..Love..Labels..

“Love…Labels… these two “L” are a girl’s best friends”

Like most ardent followers of the Sex & the city soap…I haven’t missed a single episode or dialogue or a designer piece. It is our (lovers of sex & the city) version of a perfect life. Love…Labels...great friends…dream careers…New York City. If I got a penny for every time I have dreamed while watching the girls ‘live the life’…I would definitely be owning one of the labels shown in the soap!

However there is a reason that sex and the city is a SOAP. Movies and soaps are a stimulant for people to build beautiful dreams…because reality is beautiful…but not as much. Period.

And yet…I find myself trying hard to live the dream as close as I can….wouldn’t we all?
This blog...the Mumbai version of Sex & the city …is another representation of an attempt to live the “Carrie Bradshaw dream”…the writer I could never be…the single gal that I’m not…the city Mumbai (The New York of India)…and of course the Labels…while Valentino is a far cry…I have settled for a few local designers (not quite “L”abels!) and my shoe fetish gets me to Aldo…hoping this blog inspires Dolce to indulge in charity!

Since dreams aren’t reality….I attempt to dream on… I invite all my versions in you to join me in this blog