Happened upon a photography exhibition by a visually impaired artist named Aaliyah Kamal at Zenzi this weekend and found her stuff just stunning. Unfortunately I couldn’t find anything about the photographer or work online, which is a real pity but I’m going to keep my eyes open. The exhibition ends tomorrow.
Categories: Uncategorized
Tagged: India, Inspiration, Photography
I’ve been shooting a few portfolios lately. Natural light, no war paint, the stuff casting agents ask for these days. This is Shruti. She was hanging out at the Axe Effect IPL promos we styled a couple of weekends ago and we decided to make an afternoon of it in the marquee we were sitting in. No makeup, no meters, nothing. She’s a pretty one.
Categories: Uncategorized
Tagged: Photography, portfolio, Sheena
Drove down to Nashik with my friends on Saturday on what was probably the funniest roadtrip of my life – my friend Anuj makes me laugh more than anyone ever with lines like ‘it feels like another dimension in the front seat with the A/C on’, ‘OMG. Guru Krupa. It’s like veg to another level’. You had to be there. Peals. Getting there took us four hours, I was at Sula for four hours, and the drive back was four hours but it was worth it. Things we do for the music eh.
And because we got there at (magical magical) sunset, I didn’t get to run through the lines of vines and stomp on any grapes like I had romantically conjured up in my head so a return trip is in order. I got to see Jalebee Cartel live for the first time though and accompanied by saxophonist Ryan Sadri from Something Relevant, they were even better! I lost it! Danced like a madwoman. A ton of my friends were there! My friend Sushant had his first exhibition – a jazz photography collection entitled Rhythm, Greens and Blues. I drank rosé and more rosé and some chenin blanc! Although I have to admit drinking wine from throwaway tumblers is yuk and totally not the same! Please buy stemware Sula!
Picture time!
Backseat. Kuki, Shaun and I.
That grass is amazing.
Teddy Boy Kill-ed.
Creme brulee sunset.
Anushka/Shkabang.
Jalebee <3
Categories: Uncategorized
Tagged: India, Music, Nashik, Photography, Travel
When I first met Akshat in Goa over New Years, I had no shoes (from partying too much), when I left he had no shirt (from partying too much). So naturally I thought he was a total dreamboat straightaway and then I discovered that he’s a brilliant photographer as well. Lots of street art, architecture, amusing and pretty things from basically everywhere, I’m betting I’d be completely jealous of his passport. Hmph.
Categories: Uncategorized
Tagged: India, Inspiration, Photography
Goa has some brilliant markets! Anjuna market is the best day market and at night, there’s Ingo’s and Mackies. Find out if they’re on and go before you get too drunk, or just get drunk there, they have beer. They have all the usual handicraft/novelty nonsense and lots of stalls selling beautiful clothes and accessories by independent hippie designers. I bought my rickshaw horn (aka my doorbell) and we walked through Kunaal tooting people in our way. Heeeee!
You can buy Rajasthani dolls. I love these. Buy me some.
Gorgeous hand painted shirts.
Venkat, Jonathan and Kunaal. They are the loveliest boys. <3
Amazing handmade yellow shoes. I wanted so bad but at Rs. 1800, we just bought a million pants instead.
Venkat bought pizza. It was deeeeelicious. Goa sausage and chilli. Nom.
Kitschy shopping bags.
Categories: Uncategorized
Tagged: Artists, Design, Goa, Photography, Travel
I miss cooking so much, it’s ridiculous. I haven’t cooked in seven months apart from a shortlived stint making rotis for my grandma the day her maid didn’t come. I remember the first thing I ever concocted, age 8 – a chocolate mousse from a recipe in one of those children’s newspapers like Young Times or something, where the recipes were always as simple as white bread, cucumber and sliced cheese. It was divine. When I left home, some eight years ago, I used to make grilled feta with cayenne pepper on toast, orange syrup cake and petits fours with my high school boyfriend. In the years that followed, I made Thai and Italian food for my housemates at university. I miss making pancakes with Teva (which technically he made) and making and baking sweet potato chips from scratch and steaming dumplings for Ro. I miss Juhi’s cooking lessons – hotpot and claypot, etc. I miss my boyfree baking extravaganzas with Hayley and trying recipes from her beautiful cookbooks Apples for Jam and Falling Cloudberries. The only time I’ve been in the kitchen since June is when Rushad and I made the most exquisite hot chocolate here once with a huge block of dark, a vanilla bean pod and a large green chilli we split and roasted. Oh and the one time, he invited me to their work kitchen and made the four following delicious dishes. Including the best burger I’ve ever eaten.
Stuffed calamari for a salad. Sesame beef salad prep. Delicious red pepper relish. That burger.
Oh and I miss baking the most. Muffins, fish pie, flourless chocolate cake. What sucks most of all is that I don’t have my own kitchen and the only utensils I have here are an ice crusher, a set of really expensive coffee mugs and two mini whisks. I can basically only make five minute chocolate cake. When I get my own place, I am going to make the biggest lemon tart, hand churned caramel icecream with fresh figs, tagliatelle with shellfish and ten jugs of mojitos. It will be in Bombay. You’re invited in advance.
Cooking and baking with Hayley. I missssssss.
-food rant end-
Categories: Uncategorized
Tagged: Eat me, Photography, Sheena
This is one of my favourite photographs I’ve ever taken and this is one of my favourite poems, which I rediscovered the other day while surfing this lovely blog. I’ve recited it aloud probably fifteen times since. E. E. Cummings is magical.
Categories: Uncategorized
Tagged: Inspiration, Photography, poetry
With my plans to stay put in India, I thought it’d be nice to share the work of local artists and photographers I’ve discovered. Diti Kotecha, a Mumbai based travel and documentary photographer and graphic designer is one such talent whose work I’ve been loving. Each of her photographs tell a story about an Indian reality – joyous, sad, trivial. I like that she photographs the very things I see and wish to. Plus she loves feet, chairs and matchboxes! Nice. Click to her portfolio and blog.
Categories: Uncategorized
Tagged: Artists, India, Photography
Haven’t spoken about this on the blog at all but the last two months of 2009, I spent travelling with India’s biggest youth reality TV show MTV Roadies all over the country and to a few places in Africa as a photoblogger chronicling what really goes on behind the scenes and in front of the camera. I took about 38383536 pictures on the journey and each week I’ll be posting them with some writings. And if you go to MTV homepage or the Roadies microsite and wait long enough, you’ll see my cheesy face in the changing banner, and here you can check out my photoblogs if you’re so inclined.
I’M SO FAYMISSSSS EVEN THE NEKKID GIRL IS LOWER ON THE PAGE. HAH!
Categories: Uncategorized
Tagged: Photography, Sheena
Happy fucking new year! I have just had the holiday of my life in Goa. All my friends were there! We chilled on the beach or by our private pool the whole time (love the O hotel!), danced at Sunburn which was epic (EPIC!!!), went to plenty of shacks, shopped at bazaars – I have realised that Goa just might be my favourite place to shop in the whole world. I bought a rickshaw horn, countless ugly pants and sari donning Indian matryoshka dolls. I smoked so much, my voice is all raspy, I drank so much I lost my shoes. I lost my phone and got it back a few days later. I met so many good looking people. It’s only the 3rd of January and I’ve already fallen in love multiple times this year. 2010 is going to be amazing.
Sunburn! Armin van Buuren was so so good! I loved dancing in the day and light rings on all my fingers at night.
This massive abandoned tanker River Princess has been marooned at Candolim for 10 years.
Nikita at the restaurant in Amboli on our journey to Goa.
Life’s a beach at Ashwem.
I want to live in a little hut on the beach forever.
Random selection of aforementioned good looking peoples!
Goa is so kitsch. Mmm.
Categories: Uncategorized
Tagged: Goa, India, Music, Photography, Travel
