TARUN TAHILIANI'S ENCHANTED SHOW AT IBW

I am the first model to arrive @ the new venue: a huge tent at the back of the Grand Hyatt. The scene as I arrive and greet the organizers is utter chaos! I'm talking hundreds of construction men, planks of wood, stalls being set up and even the footpath still being laid down brick by brick! It is madness inside the sweltering tent! I'm ushered into the backstage area with my heavy bags full of shoes and as I approach the MSA I literally stop in my tracks as I witness the beginnings of our set... goosebumps!!! The Tarun Tahiliani stage is simply breathtaking! It is a fairy tale of green fauna and electric blue lights hanging from the top and adorning the ramp as well. I take a deep breath and thank the Lord for blessing me with such a beautiful environment to work in. I immediately remember I'm writing this blog so I click away as the crew busy themselves with last minute preps! It is hard to believe we will be walking on this stage tonight with so many loose ends around but my oh my what a stage to be walking on!

 

While beads of sweat trickle down my fresh face, I'm told that we are being moved back to the Hyatt for the activities of the day! It makes sense and I'm relieved for the AC! We start with lunch and immediately get into hair and make up @ 1 p.m. for a 9 p.m. show! Yes that's right: it takes us a whole day to look the way we need to for these fashion weeks depending on the requirements of the designer and how complicated the look is! Tarun and his stylist Lowe from South Africa are particular about every aspect of each model! They have even hired a team of manicurists and pedicurists to individually clean us up and give us elaborate painted nails in accordance to every individual outfit! My nails are gold with silver sparkles :-) Next up we are all given 1920-30's old school finger waves in the front of our hair with buns. These are individually adorned with fresh exotic flowers, once again in accordance to our outfit! Orchids, tiger lilies, iris's and if that wasn't exotic enough we were topped with Swarovski bindi's. The effort put into this show was touching and another attention to detail I had noticed was the fact that even Tarun's helpers all wore TT embellished uniforms so as to always be distinguishable... love it TT!!

 

Hair and make-up complete, we entered into rehearsals @ roughly 6 p.m. The show is meant to start @ 9p.m. so this is cutting it close! Our choreographer with mic in hand today is Apu or Aparna. She's powerful on the mic and on a mission to get this party started... so to speak!! We gather around the enchanted forest i.e. set and suddenly, out of nowhere, a booming celestial voice hits us from the tiniest little singer to one corner of the stage! She is Sonam Kalra with the voice that will be accompanying our show this evening. She's singing a classical raga about greeting her lover as he comes home after a long absence. And I kid you not, the moment she sang, I got teary eyed and felt a shiver run down my spine! The song and voice was perfect for the setting. I had never heard of Sonam Kalra but it is a voice I won't be forgetting for a long time!

 

Rehearsals took a solid two hours or maybe more! It is exhausting doing such big shows with so many girls! There are complicated sequences, you must match your timings with your partners or groups and constantly keep one eye on your partner on the ramp while appearing like you're in control and looking angelically straight ahead! Rehearsals are one thing but getting on that ramp fully clothed and in heels is another thing! Speaking of clothes, I was so excited to open the first show of the first day with the most amazing outfit but at the last moment my outfit was given to Ankita Shorey: the face of this event and former Miss India as she is opening every single show. It was disheartening losing such a prestigious entrance but alas you can't do much about that and it did make sense. My new outfit is a cream, gold and peach wide legged pant suit which is dramatic non the less but a great deal harder to walk in!! I'm wearing 6 inch high heels & the weight of each leg is incredibly heavy & wide so walking down three length ramps is a tad harder than a normal show to say the least!

 

The show finally begins very late but nonetheless it is spectacular and dramatic and with a capacity of 520 audience and the ambience of an almost midsummer’s night dream set-up, I am so very proud to walk for "the" Tarun Tahiliani! The show is an out and out success and the only hitch I faced along with a few other models was the fact that mid-ramp there was unavoidable fauna hanging so low that we had no choice but to curve our line of walk so as to avoid getting our hair etc caught in the hanging bushes! It looked messy but couldn't be avoided. Feedback from the show was that it was breathtaking with fantastic music... larger than life but a little too long!

 

I was very happy with the day and night and am going to bed @ 1 a.m. satisfied but damn tired! Tomorrow is an early 9.a.m. start with many fittings and a big show ahead! good Night! See you on day two!!