Pigeons at Amer Fort, Rajasthan

Vintage Posters

I love interior magazines and blogs. I go through them, commenting silently in my head “perfect”! “Ugh!” “why didn’t i think of it!” “I have to try this out!” “Tasteless!” and so on and so forth.

I however have realised that I have a very specific taste when it comes to doing up my own home. India and everything Indian is always my main focus. The bright colours, myraid patterns, gold accents and rich textures are the focus. But I don’t want it to feel like a traditional “haveli” so as much as I can, I try to keep the colours bright but cohesive, the patterns and furniture minimal and the colours earthy. Matched with monotone colours, they provide a perfect blend of simplicity and over-the-top colour-motif madness!

The wall over my bed

Once the palette is set I go crazy with the walls. Bright vintage movie posters and ads! All sizes and shapes, draped with lights. The space is made so much brighter and looks surprisingly modern. Find them at vintage shops anywhere. If tou're from/visiting Delhi, they are easily avaiable in Hauz Khas Village!

Chalkboard fun!

Who doesn't like to scribble on chalkboards with coloured chalk?! They are my absolute favourite! I love cafes with menus written on the black board and sidewalk messages that have thoughtful little quotes. For some reason that dreaded blackboard always associated with math sums I couldn't quite see from the last row is never thought of. Though even then I did like to draw on those when the teacher wasn't around!

But back to this. When I shifted house a year and half ago with a very very close friend, we really wanted to do it up. Obviously since we were both fresh out of college working our first jobs we had to search for the best buys! She isn't much the "doing up the home" type person and I love love it! Thankfully she didn't mind when I started buying the unnecessary stuff!

I was adamant that we have a name plate and was looking for colourful, quirky fun signs everywhere I went, till i found this lovely white sign at my local Saturday bazaar when I was looking for something else. The market is right behind my college and was a stones throw away from our college paying guest accommodation but we never ventured down the dark, narrow street that mostly saw the likes of  rickshaw drivers. Except this Saturday when we went to buy boxes (we had bought some while we were in college and they had lasted quite awhile. Besides they were really cheap)!

Lying there in piles were these beautiful signs. About 120 rupees a piece. Now it adorns our front entrance with quirky messages, sometimes personalised and notes for visiting friends and family.

Pansy butterflies

February - Agra, Uttar Pradesh (New Year Resolution - Trip 2)

As much as we would be like to be known for the many things that we have to offer, India is known mainly for the Taj Mahal. Almost everyone who visits India tries to fit in a trip to see this monument of love. Even Indians travelling to the capital make it a point to see it once in their lifetimes. A close friend (who has a dream job in one of India's top newspapers) has to cover special foods of each state (yup, tell me about it!). The 'petha' (a translucent sweet made of pumpkin cooked in sugar syrup) from Agra is known across India and are delicious though much too sweet. She had to make a trip to cover the making of the petha. I gladly tagged along on the condition that we see both the Taj as well as Agra Fort.

The drive to Agra is about 4 hours in the morning and we were at the Taj Mahal by 11. There's a tourist shopping area inside that showcases special handicrafts of Agra - marble work, sarees made of pumpkin and bamboo etc at very affordable prices. Not one to resist a good deal, we ended up buying a couple of sarees each! There is always a lot of rush to enter the Taj Mahal and the lines stretch through the backstreets for getting tickets as well as entry. The easier way is to hire a local guide. Not only is the entry faster but he also explains the history of the Taj as well as its hidden architectural wonders. Once in through the special gates, you enter a large area with gardens. No Taj in view yet. There are 3 gates from which to enter the area (the fourth side opens to the river Yamuna) and each gate gives the same breathtaking view. Framed in the sandstone doorway the monument stands pristine.

She does not disappoint in the first look

The Taj Mahal

The Taj Mahal has long been synonymous with eternal, undying love and was built by Mughal Emperor Shahjahan for his favourite wife Mumtaz Mahal in 1631. Spread over 42 acres, one cannot doubt why it is one of the 7 Wonders of the World. You catch your breath. Our guide told us about the imprisonment of Shahjahan in th Agra Fort (you can see it in the distance) from where he sat looking at the Taj and his beloved wife. The mirror image of the shining white tomb was to be made in black across the river as Shahjahan's own tomb, but could not be done because his son deposed him. He was finally laid to reat with Mumtaz Mahal in the Taj. His other wives are buried in the numerous buildings in the complex as well.

Petha

When we were done with the Taj we stopped for a quick meal before heading out to the main market in search of the famous Panchi Petha. The shop is known because they came up with the original recipe. After a chat with the shop owner and enough petha purchased for home we set out to the Agra Fort.

Agra Fort

This by far is one of my favourite forts. Not only for its beauty but for the intelligence of its architecture, the stories and the beautiful view of the Taj that Shahjahan saw many many eons ago. The fort is surrounded by 3 natural defenses. A natural lake that serves as a moat was once inhabitated by crocodiles, followed by a forest that had man-eating animals and the high walls that were impregnable.

The Kohinoor diamond was seized from this fort. It was here that Shahjahan was imprisoned for 8 years till his death. In his old age, when he couldn't see the Taj due to his ailing eyes, his daughters installed a magnifying mirror so he may not be robbed of his view. His throne was made of 'paras', a black stone used to measure the purity of gold. It is said that the reason he chose this rather than gold for his throne was because he wanted people to know that he too could judge / measure a man. The fort has two 'palanki' (palanquin) type rooms, that were his daughters. They were never married because all the proposals that came for them were from families beneath them in stature and wealth. Not wanting his daughters to be unhappy, he made their rooms in the shape of palankis. Later one of them made the famou mosque, the Jama Masjid in Delhi. So many more stories!

 Built in 94 acres, the fort is magnificent and a must see when you make the trip to Agra.

Diwali - Office Rangoli

Elma's Bakery, Cakes and Tearoom

I love old world everything. From the clothes they wear to the decor to their meals. So when I found this adorable, perfect little place not 15 minutes from my house, I was beyond thrilled. Tucked away in one of the many meandering narrow streets of Hauz Khas Village, Elma's is a dream for people who love all things Olde British.

Mismatched, chipped chairs, a grand white piano and a green view (top) the place is ideal for a mid afternoon cup of tea. The sun streams in through large windows that cover an entire wall and there is that gorgeous smell of baking that definitely is one of the smells I want in my version of Heaven (along with that of bacon!).

There is much choice from rhodendron tea, scrumpets, scones, to a wide variety of freshly baked breads and croissants. On display were bacon, rye, whole wheat breads among others. The sausage roll is apparently excellent (we learnt later!). They offer a special high tea which includes a pot of tea, scone and assorted pastries. The selection of pastries again is utterly confusing because everything looks spectacular - Red Velvet Cake, Cookies, Brownies, Moist Chocolate Cake and more! For the main course there was on offer Chicken & Mushroom Pot Pie, Spanish Chorizo toast, French Onion Soup among others.

We ordered the Shephard's Pie, beetroot juice, pineapple juice, Apple & Cinnamon cake (left) and Pineapple Upside Down. All of it was made to buttery perfection with decent helping sizes. The price is a bit on the higher side but you won't leave feeling you were over-charged.

Elma's was never supposed to happen. The owners run a large, hip lounge cum restaurant that has one of the best music scenes in the city. They were looking for a place to put an oven, so freshly baked bread could be made for their restaurant when they found this perfect little space and turned it into Elma's. On the cards is home delivery of freshly baked bread to your doorstep (not a done thing in India where we consume white/brown bread from packets) and a brother restaurant called Edward's which will be a Deli.

Its top on my list this month of must-eat places in New Delhi!

Wine bottle lights - DIY

There's always a lot of alcohol in the house. Mostly left overs from a party or a friend who dropped in. More often than not though a bottle is bought and finished in one go, no matter how many people or how long/short the night! As a result, I'm left with a bunch of empty bottles that are thrown out.

Until I found use for them - Wine Bottle Lights!

They're the easiest, prettiest things to make. One can ideally use any type of bottle but most come with inbuilt decanter type things. There are other uses for them (more on that later!). Besides, wine bottles are elegant looking and come in various colours and sizes. 

1) Wash out the empty bottles and put them in a bucket of tepid water to soak overnight. The label will have already come out when you awaken in the morning, leaving you with a sparkling clean, not sticky bottle. 

2) Now go and buy fairy lights. In India, they're readily available in any market and around Diwali in every nook and corner. There are way too many options when it comes to lights. They come in various shapes, sizs and colours. I like the tiny yellow ones for these. They look more elegant and is perfect ambient lighting. Also my advice is don't go for the flash ones, unless you want to put them out for a dance.

3) All that's left to do is fill the lights into the mouth of the wine bottle. Stuff it in if you don't want to spend hours coiling them perfectly. They look beautiful either which way. Use a barbeque porker to make sure the coils go all the way to the bottom. Keep a little out (enough to plug it into the nearest socket) and you're done!

The lights can be used to line your staircase, hung in your backyard, made part of a rustic centerpiece arrangement and so much more. I just made one and used it for my kitchen and they look spectacular. Use different coloured bottles to get a colourful set of wine bottle lights!

January - Jaipur, Rajasthan (New Year Resolution - Trip 1)

The first of my trips was to Jaipur for the Jaipur Lit Fest. Held annually and starting off with just about 100 attendees, this year the fest saw 1000s flocking to Rajasthan's capital. Among the crowd pullers were Tom Stoppard, Girish Karnad, Barkha Dutt, Ayesha Jalal, Chetan Bhagat, David Remnick, Fatima Bhutto, James Shapiro, Lionel Shriver, Shashi Tharoor, William Dalrymple and ofcourse Oprah Winfrey. 

Jaipur Lit Fest 2012

Tina Brown called JLF the greatest literary show on Earth, and though I have attended a meagre number of lit fests myself, I'm pretty sure she's got it right. Set in a picture postcard palace (Hotel Diggi Palace), thronging with well read, kitschy dressed people from all over the world, the lit fest is another world. On the last day, sitting on the back lawns (surrounded by the many books I had purchased with a bloody mary in hand), I wondered how any moment could be more perfect!

JLF was one part of it! I cannot visit a new city and not go sight seeing. I'm one of those people who has to see everything that time permits. Thankfully I was travelling with like-minded friends. Palaces, forts, ruins are some of my favourite places. There's just this feeling of being transported back to that era, standing where others stood so many centuries ago, walking their footsteps, seeing what they saw. And so began my marathon trip.

City Palace, Jaipur

By 9 (when the palace opens) we were at the City Palace. The seat of the Maharaja, the palace was built between 1729 and 1732 by Sawai Jai Singh II. We took the guided audio tour (which i personally hate! I try to take the human guide if i have time. His stories are so much more interesting!), and walked through the (compared to others) tiny palace in just over an hour. The palace was exquisite and the interspersing of marble and red sandstone against the cornflower blue sky was a sight to behold.

Amer fort

Later in the day we visited a fort - Amer Fort. Located about 11 kms from Jaipur, we took a rickshaw to Amer Fort. It has a series of gates and cobbled paths and has a Kali temple in which whisky is given to the gods. In the 1700s when it was built there was human and later goat sacrifice. It's beauty lies in the architecture - a mixture of both Mughal and Hindu architecture. It is surrounded by a natural moat, the Maota Lake.

Our human tour guide regaled us with ghost stories - Apparently it isn't advisable to be in the fort past nightfall. The King still holds his royal durbar and there is much song and dance. Outsiders are not allowed to attend and are usually never found if in the fort at night. I love these stories! There is the option of seeing Amer as well as the 2 other forts (Nahargarh and Jaigarh) from a hot air balloon (too expensive) and an elephant ride all the way to the fort through wooded hils (we were too late for that), so we took the open jeep which is just as interesting. The tourist complex has an interesting demo on handpainting with vegetable colours as well as typical rajasthani cuisine.

Jal Mahal

After spending a couple of hours here, we returned to the lit fest with a stop at the now un-inhabitated Jal Mahal (water palace), and later for rajasthani non veg cuisine at the well known Niros. The next day, after reaching early and navigating the throng for Oprah, we settled sown to a surreal experience. Something about the way she talks is reassuring, earnest and sincere. I always did like her but now I'm a fan!

A quick bite and an hour bus journey later I was sadly back home in Delhi. To sum up my trip - 3 palaces, a fort, rajasthani food, a camel ride and literary genius!

New Year Resolutions

I finally have a New Year resolution i'm sticking to! Wooohoo!


Every year, in the moments leading to the next year, I seriously sit and think of my new year resolution. They're never impossible to do and almost always simple to carry out. Over the years they've ranged from stuff like losing an X amount of weight (realistic goal set), fitting into an old pair of jeans, spending more time with the family, doing something extraordinary. All do-able (but slightly vague) now that I think of it. Probably never had any intentions of seeing it through.

This year however I made a resolution that I really really want to stick to! And 5 months into 2012 i'm proud to say I have.

So it all sparked with the 2012 end-of-the-world madness. And (do not mock me) I do believe this could be it! In true movie style, the Earth could be hurtling like a small crush-able marble towards the Sun. Seriously!

Which means that we should ideally be doing things we always wanted to do. Unfortunately, my paltry salary permits me to do very little and getting time off from work is an ordeal on its own. Everytime its seems like asking for the leave you are entitled to is a crime and reflects on the little interest you have in work. So anyway, I decided that maybe I should go out less (for drinking-eating-clubbing) and adventure more.

The resolution: Travel to a new place every month.

It fits perfectly with who I am. Seeing new places, learning new things, shopping, eating new cuisines and seeping myself in culture.

January to May i've stuck to it (and trust me i'm suprised)! Weekend trips, planned to the last detail to get the most out of them and tiring as hell! But oh i'm so happy when i get back! My drug till the next trip!

Keep reading and my detailed travelogue will follow!