TONGUE AND CHEEK:A detail of Upadhyay's Replicant; (below) Dube's Exercise

Installation artist Anita Dube appears the coolest one in a show on the human body called Trans-Figurations, curated by critic Yashodhara Dalmia and presented by Delhi's Art Inc at the India Habitat Centre, Delhi, from October 13 to 18. Her combination of science, steel and scatology-a torso swinging from a steel frame and two vaginal commodes, also skinned by blood-red velvet and lying like slippers in the floor-testify that cleverness is not dead in Indian art, even though it only makes a few guest appearances. (The work was snapped up for Rs 1.25 lakh.) Dube explained that a "number of tongue and cheek situations arose with explorations of the constipation of our political climate".

Mumbai's Atul Dodiya, who also possesses a fair amount of pictorial wit, did not quite make it this time with an iffy three-piece work called Neighbours that had two identical self-timed pictures of himself and a design intervention of a house on a stand. More engaging works in the 20-artist show include Hema Upadhyay's cutouts of herself, Sonia Khurana's video of herself undressing, Sheba Chhachhi's take on cellular turmoil, N.S. Harsha's low-key watercolours and Dayanita Singh's well-known snaps of transvestite pal Mona Ahmed.

Anshul Avijit

TABS ON TRIVIA
Q 1. West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya dislikes getting bouquets as...
a. He's allergic to pollen.
b. Child labour is used to make them.
c. He thinks it is wasteful.

Q 2. During the elections in Jammu and Kashmir, Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah...
a. Joined Indian golfers for the Asian Games.
b. Went holidaying in South Africa.
c. Vowed he would not stand for election again.

Q 3. TC President Mamata Banerjee's latest book Anubhuti (Feelings) ...
a. Has been banned by the CPI(M).
b. Says the BJP is "Big Brotherly".
c. Is co-written by former colleague Ajit Panja.

CRICKET TOURS
Exotic Pitch

If you can't get enough of it on television, book yourself for South Africa where the cricket World Cup will be played in February 2003. Besides buying match tickets, travel agents are offering sight-seeing of Sun City, Johannesburg, Durban and Port Elizabeth, with hotel accommodation, air tickets and meals thrown in.

If you sign up for Package A, you can watch India play Australia and South Africa play New Zealand and get a four-day trip for $1,480 per person. Package B is a nine-day trip to the African continent to watch India play Pakistan and England for $1,890 per person. Package C-for $2,310-is for the semi-finals and finals and has a nine-day itinerary.

The bad news is that the packages are not flexible. Only 4,000 tickets have been allotted to India. Of these, says Sanjay Arya of Keshav Travels, 1,200 tickets have already been sold. Book now, or watch the World Cup on your telly.

-Nidhi Taparia Rathi

MUSIC REVIEW

LEELA (HMV Rs 55)

It has been a long hiatus. After Prem Geet, Arth and Saath Saath, Jagjit Singh returns to composing for a film with Leela. Jagjit touches the innermost chords in Jaag ke kati, Tere khayal ki and Dhuan uttha hai. Equally, Gulzar's magical lyrics lift the songs to a new plane.

Champai dhoop ke saye by Shubha Mudgal has the stamp of her classical music training. What is different is the western classical chorus accompaniment in this song by Ab ke sawan composer Shantanu Moitra.

The music in the film, a reflection of the South Asian expatriate's life and ties with his homeland, is beautifully brought out in the Punjabi song Mavan te dhiyan by Jaspinder Narula. The musical arrangement is novel-electrical guitar with cymbals.

-S. Sahaya Ranjit