Popular luxurious lifestyle destination, Palladium was buzzing with excitement as Zoya, the exquisite diamond boutique from the House of Tata, hosted a preview of its new collection, Pezzo D’Arte at the Zoya boutique in the mall. The versatile collection is a modern interpretation of classical Italian wonders, lovingly crafted into wearable little fragments of history, that serve as everyday reminders of magnificence, in diamonds, gold and precious stones. Imbued with a distinctly modern and innovative vibe, the collection has been designed with the contemporary woman as its muse. Exquisite, custom cut stones underscore the collection’s sublime designs and the highly skilled work of its team of master craftsmen.

Nimrat Kaur was the guest of honour at the event and along with Sandeep Kulhalli (Head, Titan’s Jewellery Division), introduced Zoya’s new collection of rings, earrings, bangles, pendants and necklaces to guests. Using geometry in design, the contemporary interpretations of classical Italian structures such as the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Forum, the iconic double helix staircase at the Vatican, Florence’s baptistery, Sienna’s cathedral and the Pantheon form a focal point for the design direction of the collection. Diamonds, tanzanites, amethysts, sapphires and citrines are held in rose, white and yellow gold, narrating modern tales of a timeless place.


Palladium is a luxury destination for the city where fashion is a state of mind and not just a necessity. Known for curating luxurious and tailored experiences, it welcomes the city’s niche to come and discover exclusive products and offerings at the Zoya Boutique.

Evelyn Sharma

England is one of Evelyn Sharma’s favourite destinations and not surprisingly, London inspires her every time she visits the city that is fabled for setting trends in fashion and lifestyle. On top of Evelyn’s must do lists when she is in England, is her penchant for enjoying the lovely English countryside with its gorgeous floral fragrances.

An admirer of the iconic English fragrance brand Yardley London, which has been around since 248 years, Evelyn is impressed by the new 2018 collection of Daily Wear Perfumes. These new fragrances are apt for daily use and inspired by exquisite English flowers.


“To me, Yardley London is synonymous with English meadows and reminds me of all the excitement and charm of London. That’s why I am so excited to try these new fragrances,” she says.

After a two-year-long courtship, television couple Ridheema Tiwari and Jaskaran Singh Gandhi got married yesterday, in a traditional Hindu ceremony at a suburban hotel in Mumbai. The pre-wedding functions had kicked off with the mehndi ceremony on Wednesday.

The two had first met on the sets of the TV show, Do Dil Ek Jaan, in 2013, and became friends. Soon, their friendship blossomed into love and they started dating two years ago. A month ago, Ridheema popped the question to Jaskaran.





Ridheema Tiwari and Jaskaran Singh on their wedding day

A monsoon wedding for Ridheema Tiwari and Jaskaran Singh Pics


The elated bridegroom told us, “We have always wanted to get married, but never expected it to happen so fast. Actually, I wanted to concentrate on my restaurant business for some more time. However, a month back, Ridheema brought up the topic of marriage and we both felt that this would be the right time. She does not have too many projects on hand and so, we will get quality time together after marriage. Having said that, I didn’t take Ridheema seriously, initially. It was only when she started the preparations that the reality started sinking in. She handled all the arrangements, including my outfit and accessories, alone.”

On her part, Ridheema suffered from pre-wedding jitters. She said, “I was anxious like any bride would be. However, I am happy that I am married to the man I love. We always wanted a low-key wedding.” While every detail of the shaadi was planned, rains played spoilsport on Thursday. The couple had to wait a few hours for their pheras because of the heavy downpour.

While Ridheema chose a sea pink and blue lehenga for her big day, Jaskaran wore an off-white sherwani and turban. The groom also got mehndi applied on his hands. Jaskaran said, “I feel that both partners are equal and they should complement each other in everything. Since she applied the mehndi for me, I thought that it would be sweet to reciprocate the gesture.”

Ridheema, who was last seen on the TV show Ghulam, said that they have no plans for a honeymoon yet. “Honeymoon can happen later. We are happy that we are married and have started a new chapter in our lives,” she signed off.

Finally, a GoT wedding where no one died!
Game Of Thrones’ stars Kit Harington and Rose Leslie tied the knot on June 23 in a romantic ceremony at Kirkton of Rayne church in Scotland. The celebration, which was graced by many GoT stars, continued at the bride’s family castle, reported an entertainment daily.

While walking down the aisle, Rose looked radiant in a delicate long-sleeved lace dress. The actress wore a floral garland on her head, as well as a white veil. She also carried a small bouquet of flowers. Kit, on the other hand, was dressed formally for the occasion, wearing a black jacket, a cream-coloured vest and a pair of striped pants.


Actors Sophie Turner, Maisie Williams, Emilia Clarke and Peter Dinklage were among the attendees.

The couple got engaged in September 2017 and confirmed the news through a classified in a newspaper.

Jack Donnelly and Malin Akerman

Adnan Ul Mulk and Nida Farooqui

A royal wedding to be held in the city

Adnan Ul Mulk and Nida Farooqui

‘They will force you to wear a burkha. You’ll have to eat beef. He will desert you to marry someone else, don’t you know Muslims can keep four wives? Why do you need to marry him? You can marry a Brahmin and continue being friends with him...no one will mind that.’ Reactions laced with common misconceptions and prejudice came pouring in when Akansha Sharma announced her decision to marry Mohammed Suaib.

Suaib, 31, was a co-worker in a Gurgaon MNC and a happy friendship had unknowingly blossomed into love over shared meals of insipid canteen food and hanging out with friends. Both were from small towns in Uttar Pradesh thrown into big city life for the first time.


Sharma, 28, says, “Growing up we were told that marriage outside the caste is out of the question. And here, I had fallen in love with someone from a different religion.”

The first time they broached the subject with their parents, the reaction was predictably extreme. “But the opposition that should have driven us apart brought us closer,” she says.

The second time, the two firmly told their parents that they had decided to marry. “Overnight from being their favourite devout son — who kept rozas and read the namaz regularly — I became a nobody. They refused to accept my decision hoping that I would change my mind,” Suaib recalls.

When Sharma did not respond to emotional threats and pleas on the phone, her family decided to “take her away”.

In October 2014, they whisked her away from office and kept her confined for 20 days. Sharma describes those days with a wry smile. “My parents fell ill, there were trips to the hospital. I had to meet prospective grooms. I was given a fat set of newspaper clippings on ‘love jihad’ and told this would happen to me,’’ she says.

Finally, she was able to get away. Sharma almost lost her job. Suaib was not so lucky. He was fired after his relatives came looking for him and intimidated some office personnel.

Even three years after a marriage aided by Dhanak, an NGO that acts as a support group for inter-faith couples, the couple is still not on talking terms with their parents. They face prejudice everywhere: while renting a flat, or in office. During a trip to Vaishno Devi, a five-star hotel refused to let them check into a pre-booked room till they saw a marriage certificate.

“We laugh such incidents off. But it hurts when it comes from parents. Our tears and pleas have not changed their mind. So now we have decided ke khush ho kar dekhte hai, shayad khushi se maan jaye (let’s try and convince them with our happiness),” Suaib says.

As the world gets ready to celebrate Valentine’s Day, couples share their stories of romance in the age of rabble-rousers

When the bride’s family screams love jihad

Love jihad was a term Muhammad Anas and Nimisha had heard but never thought would apply to them. The two were in college studying mass communication in north Kerala when they became friends in 2008.


“Ours was not a typical campus love story. I was seriously injured in a bus accident in 2009. I’d graduated from college by then. She motivated me a lot when I was bedridden and that’s how love bloomed,” says Anas, who was her senior at Muslim Education Society College in Nilambur near the Western Ghats.

After he recovered, they decided to marry despite opposition from their communities — but it would be three years before they could tie the knot. “Nimisha’s family alleged ‘love jihad’. Some of them are Sangh Parivar members. They insisted this was an attempt at forced conversion,” says Anas, now 33.

Though there were no open threats, the pressure on Anas to leave Nimisha was high. “They never mentioned it but you could feel the power of the organisation backing them. They sent warnings and veiled threats through people they called mediators to try and scare me into leaving her,” says Anas, who is from an orthodox family in Nilambur.

The couple finally fled and took refuge in a village in Karnataka in October 2012. Nimisha’s family went to the police in their hometown of Vandur, so the couple surrendered before the local court, which allowed them to leave together after receiving an application for marriage.

The next day, Nimisha’s family filed a petition before the Kerala high court saying that Anas had terrorist affiliations and the affair was a case of love jihad. “The allegations were a shock to my family. I decided to fight back,” Anas says.

When Nimisha was produced before the high court, the judge asked her mother if she would consent to Nimisha’s marriage to Anas. Her mother reiterated the allegation of love jihad, so the court directed the Vandur police to provide security and ensure that they were married at the sub-registrar office in Nilambur within a month.

During that month, Anas said he received many threats, and Nimisha was sent to a women’s shelter where she was constantly told not to marry him. “Nimisha stayed strong,” says Anas.

The couple got married at the subregistrar office with police security on November 6, 2012. “My father, mother and sisters were there, but her family refused to come,” says Anas.

A year ago, Nimisha’s parents reconciled with the couple when her brother was getting married. “But my other relatives are still don’t talk to us,” says Nimisha.

The couple has a two-month-old child. “We each follow our own faith and our child will choose her religion once she becomes a major,” says Nimisha.
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Why this couple won’t forget their wedding night

VIKRAMJEET & MONIKA

Monika, 32, and Vikramjeet, 35, will never forget their wedding night — they had to scale a wall and run barefoot to a relative’s house in the next village to escape Monika’s furious family.

“We were sleeping at my inlaws’ house in Bijjuwali village when we were woken by shouts. We looked out of the window and saw my brother and a group of young men armed with sticks trying to break into the house,” Monika remembers.

Monika, a Jat, and Vikramjeet, a Dalit, met on a bus when they were students in Haryana’s Sirsa and fell in love. They knew they would draw the wrath of her entire community but decided to risk it.

In 2005, when she was 19 and he 23, they ran away and registered their marriage in a Chandigarh court. Monika’s godara gotra, a dominant Jat sub-caste, was livid and young men from the community threatened the couple as well as tried to intimidate Vikramjeet’s family. The couple has had to change homes several times in the last 12 years to protect their marriage and stay safe.

The couple finally approached the Punjab and Haryana high court, which directed the Haryana police to provide security cover and register an FIR against Monika’s family members.

Monika and Vikramjeet, who have a 10-year-old son, are now settled but they still worry about retaliation. Happy that the Supreme Court recently told khap panchayats not to interfere in marriages, Monika feels the government should do more to encourage inter-caste marriage. “If they are really serious about ending the caste system, they should provide a government job to women who marry outside their caste,” she says.

According to Vikramjeet, it’s important to train local police as they are the first point of contact for the couple and the family. “In our case, police tried to force Monika to return to her parents saying she had brought dishonour to her family.” The police should be more sensitive, he adds.