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For Art’s Sake: An Afternoon at the India Art Fair, Delhi
You could have been excused for mistaking it for an amusement park. Toddlers running amok and families sitting about munching fast food on a Saturday afternoon is a very atypical introduction to an Art Fair, especially one that has become in its young (seven year) life India’s biggest art event of the year. The India…
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To Alwar and Back in a Heartbeat
The yellow of her odhni, of the mustard in the breeze, of the unabashed sun. It is the color that follows you through the dusty roads that lead out of Delhi and towards Alwar, the ‘Gateway to Rajasthan’. Sitting to the north of the capital city Jaipur, this erstwhile princely state now beckons weekend free-wheelers…
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The Art of Chess – Event in Town
Flavored Indian sweetmeats, or ladoos, rusted iron boxes, ageing ceramic figurines, glittering glass bottles of perfumes….. No, we aren’t talking about a walk down a Sunday flea market, or a village bazaar on a festive eve, we are talking about various artists’ interpretations of the good old chessboard! The Art Of Chess is a group…
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Raja Ravi Varma and The Royal Gaekwad Collection
The Maharaja Fateh Singh Museum, housed within the Lakshmi Vilas Palace in Vadodara, India, carries some of the most unique European and Indian art works, that were collected by Maharaja Sir Sayajirao Gaekwad III during his numerous trips out of India. The Museum was constructed as a school for the Maharaja’s children. It was established…
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Treasures from Nagaland
The Nagas have a rich tradition of art and craft rooted in a lifestyle that has always been in harmony with the environment they live in. Their utility items, weapons, costumes and textiles for the home are all created by deft craftsman of the tribe, with each having a ritualistic or aesthetic value. All the…
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The Embroidery of Life: Needle Crafts and Colors of Kutch
Amidst the barren desert landscape of the western border towns of India, smatterings of color are a representation of life, appearing as adornments on the bodies of the beautiful tribes. Embroidery, here, is not a glorious vocation but part of the daily fabric of how a day is spent. It isn’t uncommon to walk among…
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The Vankars of Bhujodi
The festive vibrance of embroidered textiles is the natural show stealer within Kutch textiles, but the subtler, elegant outcome from the rhythmic clacking of Bhujodi’s Vankar family of weavers is not far behind in appeal. The Vankars or weavers of Kutch weave colorful threads on the loom, with the yarn coming from Bhujodi, Ludhiana, Rajasthan…
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Exploring Kutch, Solo….
Opportunity often comes disguised as an ordeal. That’s exactly how a solo trip to Kutch fell into my lap, as an ‘individual’ college assignment. There was more. It came with a deadline, and I had to be back in college in 5 days! I had no clue how or where to begin, for student-days meant…
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Sartorially Set: Nomadic Rambler
Reeling under the hangover of the Rann Utsav and the Pushkar Fair, our date with the rustic desert hasn’t ended yet! Inspired by the drapes and silhouettes we witnessed, we’re heading to the next Art Event in town, in this sari, tied as a dhoti, with a strikingly contrasting silk scarf around the neck, and…
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Sartorially Set: 8 Winter Getaway Essentials
Being a victim of over-packing while travelling is quite normal especially in winters when you are tempted to pack almost everything to save yourself from the nasty weather. Never again! We did the math, considered all of the important options, and found that all you really need for a stylish cold weather weekend away are…
Storytellers of Wonder 