May 10, 1999

How do you feel?
Great. It feels fantastic to be the first Indian to win a race like this.

You're getting famous or what?
I don't know about that; I'm fourth in the standings, there are 11 rounds to go till October. But yeah, (former F1 champ) Jackie Stewart came to me after the race and I shook hands with him, it was great; his team came second.

Are you looking at Formula 1?
Right now 14 Formula 1 drivers are from Formula 3. If I do well, sure.

What's doing well? Winning the F3 championships?
If I win five races this season, that's pretty good.

Don't forget us when you get famous.
I've to get famous first.

Nose Job
So, the nightingale has a nose. Lata Mangeshkar now has a perfume named after her. Clutching an outsized replica of the bottle, Lata says Lata came about from two things: she always wanted a range of her own, a la Paloma Picasso; and through family friends, she found a fragrance manufacturer in Thane, with the less-than-Parisian name of Gandh Sugandh who thought it was a great idea. The deal is didi will pick the fragrances to mix -- the inaugural lot has fruity tones -- and in turn, she gets a hefty endorsement for the 50 ml bottles. The launch is set for October, when the melody queen turns 70. How much are you getting, we asked. As always, she had a comeback, even after a loose board on the dais spilled her. "Will I be smiling so much if I do not get enough money?" Touch .

He Did, She Did
A Bollywood star and an arranged marriage? And that too a quiet one? Last week Chandrachud "Maachis" Singh married Avantika Mankotia, a Lawrence School, Sanawar, alumni who turns 21 in May. The two were engaged a couple of months ago. The simple ceremony was a low-key affair in a Mehrauli farmhouse with only family and friends of Chandrachud and the bride's family -- her father Thakur Ajai Singh, a hotelier, is of the politically well-connected Mankotia clan from Kangra, Himachal Pradesh. While the two headed back to Mumbai, Chandrachud to revive an iffy career and Avantika to pursue her undergraduate degree in tourism, the bride's father can't get over his son-in-law. "He comes across as a very gentle, sober and well-mannered boy. He is unlike a film star." Ask him what Chandrachud saw in his daughter and he blushes. "Only Chandrachudji can tell." So tell us, ji.

Sari Nights
Uh, oh. Should they or shouldn't they? Some people blame Jemima Khan, wife of Imran, for Brit politicos and thoroughbreds going sari, gone salwar. Last year Prime Minister Tony Blair's wife Claire stunned the establishment by attending a gala in an elegant sari, clearly a nod for Asian constituents. This year, the Opposition went for it, as political parties ready to woo Asian votes. Conservative leader William Hague's wife Ffion came for the same event in a "sari dress". It was a smash, said the venerable Times. Others were less charitable. "Ffion's Folly in Sari Shocker" blared the Daily Express, panning the new Tory look. "Who's Sari Now?" chirped the Evening Standard. "So what if she looked like a Christmas bauble?" My, my. Do you see Baroness Thatcher's nose twitch?

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