Features: Magazine | Literary Review | Life | Metro Plus | Open Page | Education Plus | Book Review | Business | SciTech | Friday Review | Young World | Property Plus | Quest | Folio |

For healthy living

Kiran Uttam Ghosh's designs can be recognised at a glance. Never mind if her cheesecake masquerades as halwa!

PHOTO: V.V. KRISHNAN

ONE OF A KIND Kiran Uttam Ghosh taking a bite of a pasta dish

She is special in more ways than one. A designer who represents the Bengal renaissance on the Indian fashion scene, Kiran Uttam Ghosh says she lives to eat. Surprising for somebody who weighs just 41 kilos. "I only get concerned when it drops below 39, for that's my borderline weight. Actually, I am like a camel, when I am working I don't eat and when I am not, I just eat and eat," smiles Kiran, settling down for a quick bite.Starting with orange juice, Kiran lists her morning diet, "Ten almonds, ten walnuts, cottage cheese and sweet lime. I keep on taking small quantities of sweet lime during the day for nourishment. I call them my tequila shots!"

No mobile

Another special thing about Kiran is she doesn't often carry a mobile. "I carry a measuring tape instead. You will always find one in my purse. I am very fussy about measurements. As for the phone, all my clients have my landline number. I keep the mobile for kings. I mean the plumber, the electrician, the driver and the lineman. They all have my mobile number."

Munching vegetable fingers, Kiran says work is her play. "I have to travel a lot from my factory to the new house that I am renovating. I have been brought up in a 900-square foot house, so suddenly doing the interiors of a 10,000-sq foot space is taking its toll on me. I usually take lunch when I am in the car listening to FM. Fish, dal and rice constitute my three-tier dibba."

Kiran says she is not in any rat race. "That the number of my production units has increased from one to three within few years, speaks for itself. My work is so detailed that collections can't come out in a jiffy. Then when you personally take care of little details, you can't spare time for the party circuit. Also I don't want to sell one collection to the national media again and again under different pretexts." This, she says, is the reason she skipped all the fashion weeks in India last year. "I chose Rome Fashion Week instead, and it has resulted in tremendous orders."

Kiran says the reason Kolkata-based designers have a distinct identity among the clones is that they are rooted to the traditional art forms and still have lots of time to give attention to individual outfits.

"You go to any multi-designer showroom, a mere feel of the outfit will reveal that it is from Kolkata."

Opting for pasta from an array of options, Kiran describes herself as one of the worst cooks.

Kitchen blues

Married to a tea broker in Kerala, she recalls her early days in the kitchen. "I went to stay with him in Cochin. At that time Ismail Merchant was shooting for his film Cotton Mary in the region. Madhur Jaffery was also acting in the film. Now my husband made the mistake of inviting the cast home. Everybody knows that Madhur is a specialist in cooking, but Ismail also had a deep understanding of cuisine. I know how I withstood the test of time with local support. The best was when Madhur took my cheesecake as some form of halwa," Kiran bursts into laughter. Kiran rates Malabar food as the best. "If I didn't have my work priorities in Kolkata, one could live a life on sambar, idlis and crabs."

ANUJ KUMAR

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail