In her own fashion

Shonal Rawat .

Boy, this leggy beauty sure knows how to travel! From Chowringhee, through Chowpatty to Charing Cross — Shonal Rawat has traipsed her way down the ramp from one hotspot to another. Last weekend our gorgeous model was at the waxwork museum of Madame Tussaud’s, showing off the latest creations of the designer powerhouse Satya Paul. “This wasn’t my first show with them, I’m almost like their brand ambassador now,” reveals Shonal, back fresh from her London jaunt. And it was a heady experience. “The famous statues provided a superb backdrop for the show,” she gushes. But our girl is not one to rest on past laurels. After a break, she’s off to the Fashion Week in Delhi in end-April. Film offers are pouring in, but will have to wait. Ms Rawat, alas, is not “mentally prepared”. That is, not as yet.

 

Jhankaar beats

They’re ready to pull strings of a different kind these days at IIT, Powai. The top-notch institute — famous for mass-producing technophiles — will now add to the variety of instruments in Indian classical music. Dhrupad Sansar, the human values cell of the institute, has come out with its own take on the age-old veena — an invention that has been christened the ras veena. And it’s not going to be like anything you’ve seen before. The ras veena will be sold out on fusion, combining the traits of the North Indian Rudra veena and the South Indian Saraswati veena. And for it, the makers, the famous Natti Babu and his son from Varanasi, have redesigned the shape, structure, gauge of strings — in short, the works. It will help Hindustani khayal singers add touches of Carnatic music to their rendition. So next time you go to an IIT college fest, keep a lookout for the new set of strings.

Bet you thought this was straight out of Temptation Island! Well it isn’t. The two you see here are stars of Che Ne Sara Di Noi. The Italian comedy about teenagers holidaying on an island, has 12 surprise Donatellos nominations — Italy’s highest film awards.

True blue chip

Ryna Karnik is not your average 17-year old NRI. The daughter of Indian immigrants, Karnik has grabbed a $ 50,000 prize in the Intel Science Talent Search. Popularly known as the “junior Nobel”, the award is America’s oldest and most prestigious science scholarship. Karnik’s design for microchips may lead to a marked reduction in their prices.

What rubbish!

Pile on high

The kids of Naples are missing school in the middle of the week. But don’t think they are bunking classes. Rather, it’s the stench on the roads that’s stopping them from leaving their homes. For two whole weeks, garbage hasn’t been collected in this picturesque Italian town and there are rotting refuse and flying plastic bags everywhere. Residents have protested — some have even set fire to the bins in anger — but it hasn’t helped. There is a shortage of incinerators, and the authorities are even planning to send the garbage to other parts of the country to find a way out of the present crisis. But till a feasible solution is found, it’s party time for the kids of Naples.

 

 

AWARD OF THE WEEK

Goes to 13-year-old Pooja Gupta of Mumbai. She passed on a suspect phone number to the police and helped them nab her mother’s murderers.