WEBLINKS
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 |  | Review by Shabnam Hussain, site user
If you love anything Asian, the Mela 2002 was the place to be. For three days, the Mela was an extravagant event with breath-taking fashion, mouth-watering dishes and an all-star line up of guests. What more can you ask for?
Stunning clothes
| Μύ |  | Example of some of the Asian fashion on show
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Mela 2002 offered an Asian lifestyle, with aisles of stunning clothes for everything from a wedding to a casual weekend, with jewellery, shoes and more. You could even get headhunted by modelling agency scouts, too.
I headed straight to the fashion catwalk to see the RCKC Young Designer of the Year award being presented by Anamika Khanna. Kulvir Badh was the lucky winner, so watch out for this young designer.
Shopping spree
The quick getaway from the catwalk led to a shopping spree beckoning me to spend my hard-earned cash on clothes by Redd, RCKC, Rani Fashions, Silons and Ajaz Designs all to name a but a few. But my real thirst was for the up-and-coming designer Maria B and her new collection which boasted a modern, hip and young trend.
After losing track of time and being overwhelmed with the amount of things to buy, the smell from the Cookery Theatre was getting a bit too much to bear.
Tasty demonstrations
| Μύ |  | A curry, one of the dishes on offer at the Mela
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Veetee Rice were demonstrating their culinary skills as well as making tasty demonstrations. But what is food without desert?, I asked myself as I hurried to Everest Ices for a dash of exotic ice cream.
Why is it when you have so many irresistible choices of what to eat you want to taste a bit of everything? Well that's what I did!
I made my way to the food court and managed a chicken tikka with naan and samosas before I managed to make room for a taste of the new invention from Pillsbury, the spring onion Parathas. The food on offer was so good there were queues practically out the door.
Anil Kapoor
| Μύ |  | Anil Kapoor, Bollywood superstar in the film Badhaai Oh Badhaai
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By this time I was crawling to the entertainment stage to catch a glimpse of the Bollywood legend Anil Kapoor with his stern looking bodyguards and crowds of screaming fans.
The music started with the likes of DCS, legacy and later on Apache Indian who were all thrashing out tunes and dance moves to get the ever so bright-eyed audience to sing and move along with them.
Ameet Channa
Luckily, from the corner of my eye I spotted Ameet Channa rather cautiously making his way to the movie stand to sign a few autographs. Ameet is the fresh face to hit our screens from the huge Brit-Asian film Bend it Like Beckham and has appeared in numerous film, TV and stage productions.
More recently has done credits for the award winning League of Gentleman for the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ. He has just finished working on Holby City and when asked about his new projects said:
"I quite like singing and have just done a track with Rishi Rich on his new album Simply Rich, which is due out at the beginning of next year".
He's a man with many talents - you heard it here first!
Miss India UK
 I haven't changed a bit, I'm honoured to be a role-model for young British Asian girls and won't mind going into Bollywood given the choice.
 | Μύ | Miss India UK 2002, Suky Sangha
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Next to the movie stand was the Miss India UK 2002 stand where the beautiful Suky Sangha was adjusting her crown before she went on her royal walk around the Mela. When asked about how she felt about her new role she replied:
"I haven't changed a bit, I'm honoured to be a role-model for young British Asian girls and won't mind going into Bollywood given the choice."
There were also some young beautiful hopefuls waiting at the Mela 2002 entering the competition to be the next Miss India UK in 2003.
Recruitment rally
The police were also there in full force recruiting the next line of officers to take to our streets and you could 'be the best' by joining The Army, too.
They were setting the challenge of climbing their rolling rock wall. Well, would you try?
Pampering
After all the Mela mayhem it was great to relax and be pampered by trying out new beauty products promoting the obsession of having younger, clearer and beautiful looking skin.
Along with natural remedies the show offered various massages and ways to tackle skin problems.
To round up the visit I decided there was no better way than spending the last few pounds left in my purse on a henna tattoo to mark the occasion.
I chilled out to the sound of Haroon from Awaaz and had a hair and beauty makeover from a team of professionals. Sheer bliss! Thank you Mela 2002!
Event details
Mela 2002 was a three-day show taking place at the NEC between 18 - 20 October.
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