Model Anusua sports a Madhubani sari from Nupur. Picture by Rashbehari Das

If you are looking for a designer outfit that is a world apart from the staple sequinned, chiffon Indo-western ensemble, Nupur’s boutique in Jodhpur Park might interest you. Specialising in Madhubani hand-painted clothes and home linen, the mother-daughter duo of Moushumi and Nupur Kabiraj have been dishing out some classy stuff for the last decade. The store, though, is only about five years old.

“We do Madhubani hand-painting on fabrics with the help of special kalams using vegetable colours. We develop the colours on our own and stick to basic shades like red, blue, green and black,” said Nupur. Every painting has a story to tell she adds, which is “usually from Indian mythology”. Apart from painting, traditional applique work of Bihar is also used in their creations.

There are salwar suits, saris, dupattas, kurtas for her and kurtas, dhotis and chaddars for him. In the home linen section, one can pick from cushion covers, bed covers and curtains.

The fabrics used are cotton, silks, tussars and crepes. Cotton saris are priced between Rs 1,200 and Rs 2,000, while the silks and tussars range from Rs 2,500 onwards and the crepes start from Rs 7,500. Salwar suits are available for Rs 1,000 onwards, while men’s kurtas are priced at Rs 700 and above.

While the clothes and some of the linen can be picked off the shelf, one can also get the things made to order. “We have just started doing paintings on the walls. We are willing to take contracts for the interiors of an apartment,” said Nupur.

Couture craze

A mix of names from Delhi, Mumbai and Calcutta. A melange of styles — Indian, western and fusion. A stone’s throw from Forum, Aura a boutique on Ray Street, dishes out brand names from across the country besides storing their in-house label.

The fashion house launched its new line — the Sindhara collection — with a two-day exhibition recently.

Pick up a Manish Arora creation in linen or georgette, or go the ethnic way with Mayura Kumar’s kalamkari and gota work.

Other labels available include Namrata Joshipura, Puja Arya and Sandeep Mahajan’s men’s wear line. It’s the in-house label Aura, however, that stuns with lovely salwar kurtas in cotton, linen and georgette. With smart cuts and heavy embroidery work, the pieces range from muted summer colours to more vibrant options for the evening.

Priced between Rs 1,500 and Rs 2,500, the clothes are apt for all occasions. The more heavily embellished versions can be worn at social dos and family gatherings.

The store also sells imitation jewellery, shoes and bags from designers based in Delhi and Mumbai. “Ours is a one-stop shop to accessorise your outfits,” said Archana Ruia who along with husband Siddharth is the brain behind the boutique. The latest craze at the store is the colourful cloth bags, one of which Rani Mukherjee had used in the film Hum Tum.

Monsoon mix

Celebrating the rains is no longer restricted to serious cultural events with heavy literary names thrown in. Ode to the Rainwoman hosted in the unlikely venue of Café Coffee Day in association with Spandan was a case in point.

It turned out to be a fun-filled event from the word go though it had a good measure of the usual faces associated with these meets.

With names like Rabindrasangeet exponent Pramita Mullick, theatre veteran Bijoylaxmi Burman, danseuse Alokananda Roy, western music exponent Gopa Ghosh among others on the list of performers and those like theatre person Dolly Basu, television newsperson Saswati Guhathakurta and actress Sudipa in the audience, the event mixed the old and the new with elan. Works of Tagore blended with those of Joy Goswami to pleasing effect.

“The idea was to bring out the Rainwoman through the works of various writers, and trace how she evolves from a little girl to a mature woman,” said Sujoy Prosad Chatterjee the man behind the concept.

An elegantly dressed Deboleena Dutt opened the evening with Tagore’s poems depicting the “rainwoman” as the heroine of Baishnab Padabali. Pramita Mullick in her sonorous voice sang Jhoro Jhoro Borishe Baridhara.

As the evening rolled on, the monsoon queen was eulogised through a known Krishnokoli Ami Tarei Boli and an almost unheard of Byron poem.

There were two surprises for the evening. The first was Sudeshna Basu, an NRI and a mathematics professor from Harvard University who turned up for the event and sang Tagore songs as flawlessly as any other Rabindrasangeet exponent. The next was actor Arindum Sil, who recited an original poem. Barun Das and Renu Roy read out pieces on the rain as well.

Singers like Pramita Mullick and Gopa Ghosh performed with almost no musical accompaniments except for support on the keyboards by Debashish and guitar by Cyrus Tata.

But given the Sunday drizzle, the seating arrangement on comfortable gaddas, the piping brew and goodies courtesy the coffee shop, no one was asking for more.

Hilsa spread at The Astor. Picture by Rashbehari Das

Fishy fun

It’s raining hilsa at the city hotels with almost all of them dishing out delicacies of the monsoon catch. Kebab-E-Que, the Indian speciality restaurant at the Astor, is the latest one to come up with a special menu. Called Simply Ilish, the festival is on till July 25 for lunch and dinner.

The festival offers a selection of hilsa preparations, which include traditional Bengali specialities as well as some innovations by the chef.

If you are a Continental freak, you must try the unique Smoked Hilsa, where boneless fillets of the fish are smoked on charcoal. This comes with steamed rice and boiled vegetables and is a whole meal in itself. The appetite builds up further considering the damages are only Rs 200 per head.

For more conservative foodies, there is the traditional Bengali Dahi Hilsa (the fish marinated in yogurt), Hilsa Paturi (Ilish marinated in black and white mustard paste, wrapped in banana leaves and pan fried), Bhapa Hilsa (marinated in mustard paste and cooked on steam) and Hilsa Begun (a light preparation with aubergine and black cumin seeds).

If you are more experimental than that, there is Hilsa Pulao (plain pulao cooked with chunks of fried hilsa), Hilsa Malai (a sweet preparation with cashew paste and malai) and Dhania Hilsa (the fish cooked in coriander paste). The sweet and sour Hilsa Chutney (Hilsa egg cooked in tamarind gravy) serves as the perfect ending to the meal.

All the dishes are priced between Rs 150 and 180 for two large pieces, except the Hilsa Chutney which comes for Rs 80.