Valaya creates Magic Collar

Valaya creates Magic Collar
Fun, frolic, fi esta, fashion…surely a great combination to have a gala time. And once again our adorable pooches have stood for a cause at the Magic Collar – the haute carnival – Dog show in support of The Valaya Magic Foundation for the girl child. Crème de la crème of Delhi’s fashionista converged with their cuddly-cute canines to create magic at Dugal farms. Lemme unfold all the hurly-burly tales of that sunny Sunday.
A wonderful sunny afternoon, a carnival of elegance and style, perhaps the most beautiful gathering of Delhi’s finest, interesting concepts, the very special Magic girls make for a very special Sunday dedicated to a very special cause. We are talking about The Magic Collar ‘The Haute Carnival Dog Show’ organized by The Valaya Magic Foundation to ‘educate and empower the girl child’ at New Delhi.
Who’s who…
The venue was bejeweled to welcome all pooch lovers… including glamorous celebs and hotshot socialites. Like Mandira Bedi (as dog show judge), Nafi sa Ali, Rohit Bal, Rakshanda Khan (as compere for the fashion show), Meghna Valaya, Raseel Gujral and Navin Ansal, Leena Singh and her daughter Riya, VN Dalmia and his daughter Himani and son Pranav, Gauri and Nainika Karan, Angad Bedi and Parul Vadehra, Tina Chatwal and Noyanika Chatterjee, Rajesh Pratap Singh, Seema and Sandeep Jajodia, restaurateur – A D Singh, Sanjay Sharma – MD Swaroski, Vidyun Singh, and Guneeta Thurkal… Woof!  When who’s who of Delhi social circuit turn up for the event, we queried Valaya about the link between this event and our furry angels. To which he replied, “Conceptualized on the lines of prestigious yet fun-fi lled haute pageant, this very original dog show salutes man’s best friend, the dog, who loves all family members equally, regardless of whether they are girls or boys. The dog, therefore becomes a champion for the cause, and in a way shows man that love is unconditional and certainly not gender based.” Nanhi Singh, project director, Magic, added, “Its just unconditional love of a dog. He loves everyone equally, he doesn’t distinguish between rich and poor, girl or boy…he simply loves.”
Paws cause…,
This high profile event was not just a dog show; its main raison d’être is to raise funds for the foundation – committed towards the upliftment of the girl child. It aims to equip her with better awareness and educational opportunities, hence making her an equal citizen of a country still biased. “This initiative is my own way to pay back to the society. I am doing it for my own conscious,” added elated Valaya with a good response in the early hours of the event.
Party time!
One ‘Maharaja’ was dressed up in a fl ashy red embroidered attire with a matching velvet umbrella… while another one came in a pram looking like a sweet angel. Around 100 dogs got registered for the show… and were ready to enthrall the audience.
When JJ’s name comes…its grandeur comes next to our mind. Like always, he had done it again. And when doggies took over the ramp…it became one helluva experience for all the pooch lovers. People were applauding and cheering for every pooch…as they walked, strutted, jogged, sauntered and acted on the ramp. Most of the pooches were shutterbug’s delight. Any which way doggie lovers just had a blast.
The mega fundraiser also included performance by The Indo-Austrian Children’s Global Peace choir conducted under the aegis of Grammy award winning composer Gerald Wirth. Power packed performance by Usha Uthup added more zing… Once Usha Uthup started her performance, the whole gathering was just jiving on her tunes. And she did manage to win a great applause as well. When she was there, we did ask her about the doggie link…quite obvious. “Well! I am an avid animal lover. Dog teaches us loyalty and peace, so for me they are the best companions,” replied Usha.
The finale – a fashion presentation with models and dogs parading creations by designers Manish Arora, Rohit Bal, Rajesh Pratap Singh, and JJ Valaya.
Win Win… Chow Chow
Jack (Chow Chow), a hotshot Jack-of-all-trades bagged maximum number of prizes and also clinched the Champion of Champions award along with a sterling trophy.
Mamma says…
Once the fashion show was over, the excited mothers shared their joys. “It was really good to see beautiful people with even more beautiful dogs. It was something I always wanted to do and today I did it, I walked the ramp with my sweety,” said Gauri. “Daisy – my pet is my darling and today he is looking more stunning to me,” shared Raseel Gujral. Mandira Bedi, being a judge, faced a tough time, while short-listing the winners, as her heart pounded equally for all ravishing pooches. “I love dogs…they are real sweethearts. And today they all are looking stunningly awesome. For me they all are winners,” she explained.
Model Noyanika Chatterjee and Tina Chatwal, former Femina Miss India Asia Pacifi c, 2003, were making great style statements, and adoring cute canines, as well. Tina happily admitted her love for canines.
Nafi sa Ali, introduced herself as an animal activist and said, “These dog shows are the best platform to see all the breeds of dogs that are available in India. I equally love a pedigree and a pariah…for me its just unconditional love that caught my attention for this event.”
Other delights…
The other attractions around were AD Singh’s cuisine salon by Olive Bar and Kitchens, a Bacardi cocktail Bar, a Coffee lounge by Café Coffee Day, exclusive thematic designer collectibles by 4 top fashion gurus, a candid photo studio, cartoonist Irfan on site, a pet mart with rare and exotic puppies, pet foods and accessories, a fabulous raffl e, live music and great kids’ space area added to the aura of a pawfect day.

Paws for the cause!
The Valaya Magic Foundation is an initiative to create a society in which every girl child is offered equal opportunity to grow up to her full potential, free from gender bias and prejudice. It has already opened the fi rst Magic Centre with over a hundred girl students, with plans to open a second center in Vasant Kunj. They plan to start satellite primary Magic centers in different villages providing meals, medical check-up, tuitions and free education by qualifi ed teachers. These schools will provide vocational training. Over time, there are plans to acquire land and raise funds to set up a full-fl edged Magic school imparting education till class XII.
“We have 115 girls in our Bhatti-Khurd, Chattarpur center. And we have plans to open a second center very soon. No matter who you are, where you are or what you do, the one thing that will set you apart is education and your level of awareness. The Magic Foundation, in its own small way, wishes to empower as many girl children as it can, who can then live their own terms and be economically, socially and emotionally independent,” told J J Valaya.