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MY FAVOURITE THINGS/ Sona Mohapatra, singer

She loves her brands but doesn’t mind strutting around in high street wear fashion too. A singer by profession (she also collaborated with international band INXS for one of her numbers), Sona Mohapatra is busy performing all over the world. She’s in New York at the moment for her shows (it’s also where she recorded her music video) and accompanying her are some of her favourite things.

“I cannot imagine going anywhere without my MacBook Pro and my iPod,” she says. A 13-inch MacBook Pro with 250 GB hard disk, illuminated keyboard and a slick aluminum body costs Rs 87,500. The cost of an iPod varies according to the model purchased and can range from Rs 15,000 to Rs 25,000.

Since she’s invariably travelling for shows, Mohapatra finds her Christian Louboutin leather boots very comfortable. “I can walk for miles wearing these shoes, jump on stage and they look really sexy too,” she grins. The price of Christian Louboutin shoes vary but a pair of boots in brown calf leather, for example, cost Rs 66,250. She’s also fond of brand Gucci in terms of footwear and loves to wear Gucci’s “Gladiator-inspired, gold studded with six-inch heels”. The cost: Rs 66,000. For someone who simply loves shoes, Mohapatra adds that her collection also includes Salvatore Ferragamo’s strappy pair of heels that are “great for the stage”. The price: Rs 28,500 onwards. Interestingly, Mohapatra has especially customised dancing shoes by Freed Of London.

If shoes is what women love, can bags be far behind? Not for Mohapatra. “My bag collection includes a gorgeous blood red Christian Dior tote, a classic Gucci Joy bag and a beautiful Kavita Bhartia-designed bag from Ogaan. I have several other really quirky bags but they’re not branded. A Christian Dior tote, for the uninitiated, costs from Rs 1.2 lakh upwards.

Since Mohapatra has to deck up for her videos, she has, in the process, collected some very interesting outfits that rest in her closet now. For someone who makes a style statement with her fashion sense in her videos, Mohapatra says, “I used dhotis designed from old temple saris for one of my music videos. These were done by brand O Layla,” she tells us. For another video, she got a bright pink trenchcoat from brand Escada. The price: Rs 25,000. She also has a collection of jumpsuits and gypsy skirts by designers Pratima Anand, Gaga and Anand Kabraa respectively.

A self-confessed fan of perfumes, Mohapatra’s choice includes Daisy by Marc Jacobs. “I also have this unbranded Ittar from a Moroccan market which is my absolute favourite,” she adds.

What more could Mohapatra possibly want? “I love accessories and my cuffs from Amprapali and a silver armlet from Silver Streak, a Mumbai-based store, are jewellery accessories that I wear most of the time,” she says. She cannot do without her lip gloss from MAC (Rs 700) and kajal.

“I don’t wear too much makeup actually,” she says. But if there’s one thing that always accompanies her and is her absolute favourite; it’s her electronic tanpura from Bhargavas (Rs 5,000). “I love music. Music, it’s what the world needs more of,” she says.

Touche!