Delhi-based Suneet Varma, recently won accolades at the Rome Fashion Week with his elaborate saris, slim lehengas and Jodhpur pants, fit to drape a goddess.

If Suneet Varma had authored the hugely popular, Notes to Myself (by Hugh Prather), his version would surely have contained these lines: 'Clothing should have an expiry date' and 'Nothing scares me more than mediocrity' or 'I have learnt that nothing succeeds like hard work and discipline'. And, of course, 'A certain calm comes over me in the last four days before a show. I step back and look at things more objectively'.

Why? Because, in a largely synthetic world, style guru, Suneet Varma, is a real person - he has his set of beliefs, dares to dream and has the courage to own up to foibles and fears alike. ("I do regret that I wasted one-and-a-half years trying to go international. I thought I was ready for it. Also, I was judgmental and arrogant - that can be a horrible mistake," Varma had confessed in an interview. Get the drift?).

This 'real' guy prefers to design for 'real' women - strong-willed, funny, from the wrong side of the
tracks - all divas against the grain. His original muse? "Madhu Sapre," he states. "Another woman I find extremely beautiful is Shabana Azmi." In fact, it takes strong women to bring out the best in Varma even as his designs evoke strong reactions.

Suneet Varma: scared by mediocrity.

Slotted right after Valentino and Versace, Varma showed 30 garments in eleven-and-a-half minutes. The result? In his own euphoric words: "A standing - almost hysterical - ovation from 450 people! It was my finest hour."

The proverbial cherry topping was the reaction of Giuseppe Modenese, president of the Camera Nazionale della Moda Italian, an organisational hub of Italian fashion. He declared on national television that Varma was ''as good as Valentino!"