The match to watch: Were you there?

WORLD CUP CRICKET FINALS (March 21-25), South Africa: We don't know if the "Bengal Tiger" will roar in the finals, but this is an event you want to catch with or without the men in blue. In case you don't already have the tickets, here's a solution: try the black market.

PGA magic: The real Tiger

PGA TOUR, THE MASTERS (April 7-13), USA: You'll have Tiger Woods defending his title for the $6-million (Rs 28.8 crore) prize money at the Augusta National at Augusta, Georgia. And our resident golf expert guarantees that there will be a few Indians in the crowd. However, this year Augusta will have more than just Woods in action. There will be plenty of picketers (mostly women, one would imagine) patrolling the verdant Washington Road to protest against the elite club's men-only membership policy.

WIMBLEDON (June 23-July 6), UK: There are two ways you can get your Wimbledon ticket. If you have the club's debenture, you get it in the mail. Otherwise, you stand in line for two nights. But there's another option. Call SOTC. The travel agency is offering to take care of your travel and lodging, and the tickets.

Soccer mania: It's a religion

FA CUP FINAL (May 17), UK: The final of the world's oldest club competition is one of the biggest soccer spectacles in the UK. Here amateur and semi-professional players take the country's top players head on in a mean battle. For the corporate big-wigs, there's even an executive restaurant in the stadium.

F1 in KL: Speed kings

PETRONAS MALAYSIAN GRAND PRIX (March 21-24): Believe it or not, a thousand Indians are said to have made it to the screeching spectacle last year. Surprised? Try this: There is actually a Formula 1 club in Mumbai called Sidewok, and the Indian F1 magazine has 1,700 subscribers! Once the Grand Prix is over, you can always go out in KL for serious shopping or Genting Highlands, for some equally serious fun.

HIDEAWAY

Heritage Hotel: A royal retreat in the Pink City

Narain Niwas Palace Hotel, Jaipur
Are you sure?" I asked the cabbie as he turned off a crowded thoroughfare into an unpaved alley that seemed to end at a run-down gateway. Surely, I thought to myself, that can't be the hotel. It was, but my fears were unjustified. Beyond the portal lay a minor oasis of green surrounded by high walls to keep out overwhelming scents, sights, and sounds of the city of Jaipur. The ancestral haveli of one of the lesser nobles of the realm, Narain Niwas Palace Hotel is full of surprises. You can choose to stay in the main building-older-than-old wooden doors, high ceilings, no television, running water-or in an annexe abutting the commodious garden. I chose the latter; a tree just outside the room had a swing attached to one of its branches; and I gave the rest of Jaipur a miss. P.S: The food is good, but in a city like Jaipur, it makes sense to dine outside.
Phone: 0141-2561291, 2563448
E-mail: kanota@sancharnet.in

Knotted Up?
Maybe you've been invited to a black-tie party. or someone particularly cruel wants you dress up as Mandrake the Magician at a fancy-dress party. There could be just that one time that you have to tie a bow tie. Do you know how? Here's a guide. STEP 1: Face the mirror with the tie around your collar, the right end longer than the left. Loop the longer end across over the shorter one. STEP 2: Pass the long end through the loop you've just made; hold it out of way with your teeth. STEP 3: Make the front of the bow-tie by folding the hanging end in half and holding the loop that it forms across the points of your collar with the thumb and forefinger of your left hand. STEP 4: Take the other end (from your teeth) and let it drop over the front. STEP 5: Now form the second bow by holding the bottom half of the hanging part with thumb and forefinger and pass it up behind the front loop. Poke the resulting loop through the knot behind the front loop. STEP 6: Tighten the knot by pulling on the two bows, then straighten the bow-tie by pulling back and forth on the ends of the bow. STEP 7: Check in the mirror. If that stuff around your neck looks like something that belongs to your pet cat, abandon project. Go as Peter Pan.

Hair Trick
It's eight in the evening, and you are headed for the bash that your cute new friend has invited you to. Your Sketchers look superb with the antelope-coloured, Ferragamo trousers, and the linen-ribbed Ralph Lauren placket sweater will likely be the only one of its kind this evening-you bought the new arrival day before at Macy's in Manhattan. But something that stands out like a sore thumb is your executive hair cut. It screams boring. What you need is a hair miracle: a style that won't shock your clients, but allow a hassle-free switch to Mr Cool in the evening. Gentlemen, there's help at hand. ''With the right hair styling products to suit your hair type and a little professional guidance from your hairstylist, this transformation is a less-than-five-minute job,'' says hairstylist, Javed Habib. For that, keep your hair short. ''You can keep a traditional side parting during the day and in the evenings, go for an all-back look with gel, a spiked look with hair glue, or colour your hair using washable hair colour spray,'' adds Ambika Pillai, another hair expert. For women, though, such a quick transformation is nigh impossible. Another of those male conspiracies? Has to be.