Features | PLAYING WITH THE PASSAT

In the 70s, with the charm of Beetle floundering and no possible way of ‘tweaking’ it to keep up with the competition, Volkswagen was forced to finally break out of its staid ‘old is gold’ compliance and take a leap towards modernity. The result was the Passat, the first ever front wheel drive from the VW stable.

One Car, Many Names

In a segment that is occupied by hybrids and mini coupes, the Passat is filling the void of a fuel efficient, high performance, high-end car. Introduced in 1973, the Passat took VW back up the scales of profit on the merit of being a modern car, homogenised with efficient technology and effortless classic style. Since its launch, the Passat has been slotted in a completely new segment, an amalgamation of the family and executive saloon segment. The plush car sold initially as Dasher in the United States, had steadfastly maintained its market and garnered quite a fan following.

Global Citizen

The Passat is truly an international car, with models available as far as Brazil and even Iraq (the 70s models can still be seen on the streets of Baghdad)...read more>>

words TUTU DHAWAN

Features | LOGO MOTIVE

The ubiquitous golden arches of Ronald McDonald’s kingdom might catch you by surprise even in the remotest villages across the globe. But even more surprising may be the fact that the arched M, which comprises of two upturned V-shaped arches, took almost ten years to fully merge into an M. Or for that matter, the clownish Ronald McDonald was a nonentity, until 1962, back when the burger empire ran on its initial mascot of the Speedee chef.

Logos are more than bare necessities. A logotype – popularly known as a logo – is a company’s name or initials or symbol that serves as its visual identity. It’s basically their business card to the world. Coca-Cola’s red-and-white script style, whether in Arabic, Mandarin or Hebrew, can be easily identified at the throw of a glance.

A distinctive logo allows you to communicate nonverbally subtle characteristics of your company. From Nike’s athletic swoosh to the classic interlocked C’s of Chanel, logos help instill the brand identity. Rebranding campaigns such as those by UTI Bank and Hutch, in their move towards becoming AXIS Bank and Vodafone respectively, helped bring out the shift in organisational setup, with campaigns that focused on a single message – we are still the same, using twins and other such analogies...read more>>

words Megha Mahindru

Features | SWINGING WITH THE LADIES

Recently, I indulged in some much needed closet cleaning. Along with umpteen love letters, forlorn valentine cards, preserved chocolate wrappers, movie stubs and dried flowers, I also stumbled upon a diary from when I was 13. Flipping through the angst ridden, preteen musings encased within its pages, I smiled when I came across reams of scribbled notes, descriptions and poems about my then crush – she (yes, she), in all her alabaster white, tall and bony beauty. Her long, black, poker straight hair, brown eyes and perfect figure seemed to have been the topic of a majority of the pages and my imagination back then.

My obsession, which supplemented itself in the form of quite a few letters, peeping tom-esque voyeurism, ferreting gifts away for her and embossing her name in whitener and markers alike, were the subject of much ridicule. Wait, let me rephrase. Being in an all-girls boarding school, despite the opposite sex presenting itself to us on and off, there were quite a few like me who harboured feelings such as these. ‘Girl crushes’, I believe, is the term given to them.

Same But Different

Taking into consideration the intensity of my feelings at that point of time, many I know had quite a few well-deserved doubts about my sexual preferences ... read more>>

words ISHA SINGH SAWHNEY

Features | DAWN OF THE PLASTICS

Surfing the gamut of late night programming, this particular show caught my eye. The screen turned a pristine white with the slick entrance promo; shots of the perfect body entwined with a surgeon sketching on it, all along the soundtrack echoing, “Make me beautiful….the perfect face, the perfect eyes…”

Aptly named Nip/Tuck, the programme is centered on plastic surgeons in Los Angeles, California, where the number of fake noses probably outnumber the real ones. Astonishingly successful in the era of fleeting TRPs, the show is just one example of an image obsession that has taken root in popular culture. ‘Make me beautiful’ are words no longer whispered while kneeling by the bed in prayers; these are words now spoken with utmost aplomb while sitting in the swank modern-design-meetsostentatious- interiors consultation room of plastic surgeons the world over.

Puberty, Say Hello to Botox, Silicon, Lipo

In a household where my mother measured her love in terms of the butter on my toast and the sugar in my dessert, it wasn’t long before I ballooned (to put it lightly). Then puberty hit, and with it came boy bands, teeny bopper movies and teen magazines with photoshopped-to-death magazine covers...read more>>

words PREETIKA MATHEW

Lead Feature | THE RISE AND RISE OF HARMAN BAWEJA

Ok let’s be upfront about it. I’ve known Harman Baweja since he was seven years old. So this is not your regular celebrity journalism piece. It can’t be. No apologies there. So even as I flout the rules of celebrity journalism, I try to bare glimpses of the boy I know. It’s not an easy task. Nor was it easy trying to pin him down all of last week for the many questions I had.

Not a single release to his credit and the actor has no time to call his own. Last month he was busy shooting for his films, the Manmohan Shetty production Victory, along with Brett Lee, Michael Hussey, Stuart Clarke, Allan Border, Brad Hogg, Geoffrey Boycott, Ishant Sharma, Shoaib Akhtar, amongst others, and Sanjay and Boney Kapoor’s It’s My Life, at the same time finding a day to shoot for this cover story. Last week he was busy in meetings with Ashutosh Gowarikar who signed him for his film What’s Your Rashi?. Next week he will be in Bangalore and Hyderabad announcing marketing tie-ups for Love Story 2050. Day before he walked the ramp for Rohit Bal’s finale. Yesterday he performed on stage for the first time at the IIFA awards in Bangkok, even as he jammed his knee in an accident an hour before the performance. Today, the discomfort of a swollen leg notwithstanding, he is finishing some dubbing for Love Story 2050, even as he calls me in between to assuage his guilt, as he puts it, for having kept me waiting. He knows he’ll be forgiven. He has the charm to pull it off...read more>>

words and art direction MEENU • photographs FARROKH CHOTHIA • make-up STEPHEN
• hair NALINI • stylist RAJAT K. TANGRI

Features | TOON FANTASIES

It’s like a second coming. India has long been decried for being the epitome of hypocritical morality and self imposed prudishness. As we market with shameless gusto the Kama Sutra, in the same breath we manage to frown upon the so-called sexual freedom of western societies. But finally, we have our very own adult comic, based on the ubiquitous, out-of-reach sexy bhabhi (sisterin- law) figure, that goes to town poking fun at Indian stereotypes and ‘traditions’.

With pens dripping with irony, the makers are the mysterious Deshmukh, Dexstar and Mad. Working under the banner of (what I’m guessing is newly formed and very officious sounding) Indian Porn Empire, Savita Bhabhi, is a refreshing break from her alter egos we’re fed on from the saasbahu serials of Indian television. She doesn’t detract from tradition, actively sporting her mangalsutra (which she keeps on during her adulterous romps to remind the reader of the inappropriateness of the act), sindur, red bindi¸saree, chaste hair et al. However, all attention is instantly drawn to her heaving, unnaturally well-endowed bosom.

Carnal Webs

Bored and left alone by her husband, Savita, whose behaviour clearly borders on nymphomania, seeks out first the travelling bra salesman, and then two cricket playing kids ... read more>>

words ISHA SINGH SAWHNEY

Features | A POWER RIDE IN LUXURY

The silent air of a 5.30 dawn is suddenly permeated by a powerful roar, and then another one, and then two more in quick succession. It’s early Sunday morning, and all we have on the streets are revellers trudging home after a hard night of partying and some really serious joggers. The noise is hauntingly beautiful. And then they come around the corner, one after the other. The big boys on their big bikes.

Whether fat or thin, big or small, in every hue (natural and modified), these cruiser bikes are mean machines. Riding them are a motley crew of bikers, some quintessential, a few not. While I look for the bald heads and tattooed arms, there are few who look like they just stepped out of the boardrooms onto their bikes! Straight from meetings to morning rides. Hemant Sahai, the 45-yearold corporate lawyer, laughs when I voice my thoughts, “I think we’re a bunch of people trying to rediscover our younger days.” And this rediscovery (or just discovery) happens because these men have translated their passion for cruiser bikes into a reality and become the first, and as of now, only formal cruiser bikes club...read more>>

words ISHA SINGH SAWHNEY

Features | TAKING INVENTORY

A house that adjusts the room temperature to your liking when you walk in, a Blackberry that takes care of every engagement that you were in the danger of forgetting, an iPod that enlists your music choices, a car GPS system that practically directs your journey, foods that ensure you don’t gain an ounce – you wouldn’t be blamed for thinking that you were living the ultimate luxury that life could possibly accord you, comfortably basking in the knowledge that everything we need, or could need, is just a few clicks away. Some amongst us however have different plans; eager beavers on an inventing induced high are going all out to take care of every miniscule need that might exist.

Outsource Your Brain

Countering weather unpredictability for instance. Ideal to monitor temperature turns, and to help out those new to cultivation, farmers now have new equipment to help keep tabs on their crops while they are away. With SmartCrop, a system developed by Accent Engineering, Texas, U.S., farmers get text messages when their plants need water. The system uses infrared thermometers to measure leaf temperatures and the data is then transferred to a computerised base station. A cell phone modem hooked up to the base station allows farmers to receive SMS alerts when their plants are too hot. With a base price of $ 1,200, the system promises farmers an inexpensive and easy way to help determine irrigation schedules for their crops...read more>>

words Preetika Mathew