SUNDAY 11 OCTOBER 2009 CHENNAI TIMES

3

Unlike beer and

wine, all spirits are

originally

completely

clear and

colourless.

Their

golden

browns

and other

hues are the result

of the ageing

process.

The perfect

Lakshmi-Ganeshpooja

Have you always wanted toperform the perfect LakshmiGanesh pooja but never

knew how? Times Music’s latestoffering Lakshmi Poojan is notjust another Deepavali devotionalalbum but also a comprehensivestep-by-step guide to performingan authentic Lakshmi Ganeshpooja right in your own home.Conceptualised and produced byDr BP Vyas & sung by KshitijTarey, the album not only in-cludes the authentic aartis to berecited during the pooja but alsoan entire list of materials re-quired and instructions throughcommentary. It also elaboratelyexplains the significance of thepooja and the various rituals to becarried out. With all of this avail-able on a single audio CD, it’s thebest Deepavali gift your moneycan buy this season.

It was the silver jubilee anniversary celebrations ofa popular art gallery in the city, and as expected,artists, photographers and well-wishers flocked

in to partake of the celebrations.The host for the evening was the gracious Sha-

ran Apparao, who made sure guests were well-en-tertained and mingled freely with everyone.

On the occasion, ace fashion photographerMonika Ghurde made her presence felt in an un-derstated-yet-elegant sari and her husband, pho-tographer Bharath, was his cheery self.Artists Thyagu, Mark and Ra-machandra had fun chatting andenjoying the celebrations togeth-er, while Shilpa, dressed in atrendy kurta smiled pret-tily for the lensmen.

The event proved tobe a cosy-posy get-to-gether, all in the name ofart!

That grey, gloomy morning,just hours after the deadly2004 Indian Ocean tsunami

had struck; Sangeetha Stanley took astroll along the beach. A stroll thatlasted six hours and changed thecourse of her life. And when, ten dayslater, she went back to the same place,she saw pictures of dead loved onesoutside every home, some dead in theTsunami, others dead by choice, itstrengthened her resolve to do some-thing for the affected. Therein beganher journey of reconstructing lives,building hope and spreading the love.

But the foundation for her voyagewas laid long before this, when in1986, Sangeetha’s in-laws took in twodestitute children. “But it was whenthe Tsunami struck that we startedworking with women in the coastlineof Tondiarpet,” recalls Sangeetha, “Iwanted to do something substantialand sustainable. So I got them trainedin stitching and embroidery.” And thiswas how HandsnCrafts, their handi-crafts venture, was born in 2006, withthe main focus of providing a properjob to the less fortunate. The enter-prise which sells craft items made bywomen, has three units in the city—Aynavaram, Tonidarpet and Peram-bur, and her friends from the UK de-sign the items (all made from naturalproducts) for her.

Last year, to enhance the marketing,

they opened a retail outlet, and alongwith it, a café (a franchise of a popu-lar coffee chain), where Sangeethacounsels any one who needs a helpinghand and an empathic ear. Shesmiles, “Coffee and counselling is agreat concept and my dream was totalk and listen to people over a cuppa.But the usual coffee places were prov-ing to be too noisy. And so, I decidedto start up my own café. Anyone whowalks in can avail of the service. Iwant my café to be like a Banyan tree,where people can come and find a per-sonal place for themselves. I wanteveryone who comes in to leave smil-ing and with their heads held high.”Sangeetha has people of all ages,shapes, sizes, and social and financial

standing, pouringtheir hearts out toher. “Most of myclients are young-sters. Teenagerscome withparental woes,

while the slightly older bunch comeswith pre and post marital worries,”she elucidates.

Both these ventures come under onecommon wing — The Aark, that is cel-ebrating its first anniversary today.“The sole purpose of The Aark is tobridge the gap between the rich andpoor, give the physically challengedand underprivileged a chance to earnand be proud of themselves and mostof all, make people happy. Seeing peo-ple smile makes all the road blockswe’ve faced, worth it,” gushesSangeetha.

And what are the road blocks theyhave faced so far? “Since I manageeverything on my own, time manage-ment is a huge hassle,” she sighs,“Things would be a lot easier if I wereto centralise the three crafts units, butthen the very purpose of providingjobs would be lost.”

What keeps her going, then? “Theimage from the Tsunami is my biggestinspiration. This apart, my God andmy family have been major strengths.At the end of the day, my enterprise isall about empowerment, and I need tostay empowered myself for that tohappen!” she concludes with zing.

ANUSHA VINCENT

CAUSE ANDEFFECT:SangeethaStanley

CAUSE ANDEFFECT:SangeethaStanley

SITTING PRETTY: MonikaGhurde

THREE CHEERS: Thyagu, Mark and Ramachandra

DESIGNDELIGHT:Rangan

Photos: SL Shanth Kumar

PEOPLE

IN GLEE: George

Celebrate artCelebrate art COLOURPLUS:Sophie

CLICK ON:Anamika

BOHOCHIC:Shilpa

HOST POST:SharanApparao

SAY CHEESE:Benitha and Shantha

LOOKING ON:Bharath

AStinger is madewith brandy andwhite crème de

menthe, shaken andserved in a cocktailglass. During the hey-day of its popularity, itwas considered an ide-al ‘nightcap’ for anight out.In fact, even the filmKiss Them For Me,

starring CaryGrant featuresseveral scenesin which themain charactersenjoy Stingercocktails.Using green crème dementhe in place ofwhite in this drink re-sults in a Green Hor-net.

It is one the most popular duococktails, which contains a basespirit and a liqueur. When acreamy ingredient is added, itforms a trio.

Type Cocktail

Primary alcohol by volume Brandy

Served Straight up; without ice Standard drinkware Cocktailglass Commonly used ingredients 3 parts brandy 1 part white crème de menthe

Preparation Mix in a cocktail shaker andstrain into a cocktail glass. Mayalso be served on rocks in arocks glass.

Get stung by the stinger!

MISSION

POSSIBLE

DID YOU

KNOW ?

TIPPLER’S

DIARY

COFFEE,counselling and crafts

Successfully entering I 4th year of Men’s fashion

now totally RE NOVATED

JAIN COLLECIION 1 fl0/Sp1 Discount

- 1 ‘.1/0 on all Brandse x c l u s i v e m e n s w e a r rilI DIWALII SHIRTS I TROUUSERS I lEANS I T-SI-IIRTS I ACCESSORiES

CHALLA MALL (Opp GLOBUS), Pondy Bazaar, Chennai - 17 Ph 24347315 Email ja in_coiiection©yahoo Co in

Store All Canisters Cool n’ Fresh Store Smart Star Bowls

season

To know more about Tupperware and its products SMS TWT to (0) 9810978215. ALSOEXPERIENCE TUPPERWARE AT AT BIG BAZAAR ON:

25th to 27th Sep., 09. SaIapu�a Towers, #22 Koramangala , Industrial Layout, Hosur Road & at

KSRTC Bus Stand, Mysore Road 2nd to 4th Oct., 00. Salpuria Nova, No . 1 & 2, Varthur Road,Near KR Puran Flyover, Old Madras Road & at # # 446, Jhans i Lakshmi Bal Road , ChamarajPuram, Mysore 9th to 11th Oct., 09. Jaya Nagar Gateway, 9th Block, 45//1 Maarenhalli , J.PNagar, Phase II & at Double Road, BMTC Bus StandStand, Nr. Lal Bagh Main Gate .

Tupperware Distributors : • V.Surekha Godavari , Vijay Nagar M : 9844118072 • Kochurani John,Bwoopsandra Main Road M :9845051117 • Sheela Ramoo, Koramangala M :9845213938 • Mathura Rajan ,Basawangudi M :9845005221 • Ranjana Kusram, Indra Nagar M :9845178131.

Tupperware®®

__ C eleb rate

Style

Ideal gift s th festive

SEL�C1�D

5�rIiniidINDIA

CON$UMER VALIDATED

A A UNIT OF ORIENTAL CUISINES PV1 LTD.

Celebratin

of your patronage

______

Get 25% off on your bill at China Town.

��� y Walk in between 25th September & 21st

October and avail the fabulous discount.

-

___

China T0�No. 74 , Cathedral Road , Gopa lapurarn , Cheniiai-86. Ph: 28112246