Art & feast
Artist-designer Utpal Barua made Assam 
proud by showcasing his select works at a high profile art exhibition in Indonesia recently. Paintings from his acclaimed series Butterflies Were Passing By that also won him the coveted gold medal and appreciation at the Olympic Art festival during the Beijing Games in 2008, adorned the walls of the gallery at the Four Seasons Hotel in Jakarta this November-end. The exhibition organised by International Artists Netwrok was inaugurated by Indian Ambassador to Indonesia Biren Nanda amidst guests and connoisseurs.
Along with Utpal Barua, the Indian artists, who took part in the art exhibition were Priti Parikh, Aditya Shirke, Pradeep Darole and Chandrakant Channe. The exhibition also witnessed an Indian food festival where celebrated Indian chef Sanjeev Kapoor was the chief guest who also gave a hint of his culinary expertise before the august gathering demonstrating how to cook some Indian delicacies. Dish delight
Known for its delicious signature dishes 
variety of Indian curries famous globally along with fusion combo meals and platter food especially for the corporate client, pre-plated items, Chinese and Continental dishes besides tandoori and mughlai, Hotel Nandan the other day inaugurated its renovated flagship restaurant Transcurry where, they say, the utsav continues.
Its the perfect place to relish the cuisine amidst live music. The ambience transforms one to a higher level of bliss and happiness following the hustle-bustle and rat race, said general manager Ajit Singh, a sense of satisfaction writ large on his face. It feels nice to see guests coming and going out fully satisfied, Singh said, adding, Transcurry detoxifies you mentally and physically, thanks to the newly-installed Canada-make ozone generator, arguably the first in the Northeast. The system, fitted to ACs, releases powerful oxidizing agent and creating an atmosphere that soothes the mind and body.
Along with energy saving lighting and apt furniture where the tired can relax, Transcurry has a transparent glass partitioned kitchen where the guest gets a feed of the flame cooking up the spices, besides a perfect view of the chef, who was invisible all these years. For a cause
The EdelGive Social Innovation Honours 2010 launched by EdelGive Foundation, the philanthropic subsidiary of Edelweiss Capital Ltd and Kubera Partners, a US-based private equity firm, is now inviting applications from social sector organizations across India. These awards aim to identify and reward organizations that are innovating to empower women in India. The total prize-money is Rs 50 lakh across five categories health and wellbeing, education, livelihood, social and cultural rights, and governance. The selected organizations can use the funds either for their ongoing projects or to start new projects.
We launched these awards last year and were excited by both the quality and number of entries we received, says Vidya Shah, executive director and head, EdelGive Foundation. The deadline for receipt of applications is January 2, 2010. For details organizations can log on to www.edelgive.org.
Simanta / Mridumoloy