this is weeny » Sheena

City Pockets

Sheena — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 08:08:20 +0000

Sunless days, making me wonder what I actually like about Bombay. Maybe these pockets of delight. Mostly Colaba, but some Bandra and elsewhere.

Le Mill is an expansive, expensive concept store in the middle of nowhere. But it’s beautiful and thoughtfully accessorised (I love the crows, the pencils, the candles and the lighting), has very sleek branding and is worth one visit.

Pretty embroidered linen and doilies shop on Colaba Causeway.

Gaiety Galaxy. At Rs.75 a ticket, it’s the best multiplex for a movie marathon.

Bungalow 8 is in one of the most gorgeous buildings in the city and is a beautifully curated interiors and fashion store. I love the menswear and vintage on the third floor and the deliberate holes in the wall on the furnishings floor.

Also 15 of my pictures of Chor Bazaar were published in Wallpaper* in one of the Reborn in India issue’s guest editor blogs.

Omkareshwar

Sheena — Sun, 29 May 2011 21:08:28 +0000

Is a magical place. We could have spent a week in the quaint spiritual town but unfortunately, we had one night. I think I may have been the happiest I have ever been in Omkareshwar. We walked through the market, peddlers selling religious paintings and kitschy idols, malas and garlands, jewellery and toys; and found a place to stay for a few hundred rupees on the advice of a holy man. We crossed the footbridge and headed towards the giant Om climbing a million stairs up to the top of the island, dotted with shrines and temples. I felt a deep, consuming sadness in the Shiva temple, the effigy over it so tremendous that you can see it from the other hill. Perhaps it was because I hadn’t prayed in months but I broke down on the temple floor and it felt greatly cathartic. We drank chai at the tea stall nearby and a baba reminded us that the only temple that really mattered was ‘apna shareer’, the temple that is one’s own body. We dipped our feet in the sacred Narmada river, though many swim. We smoked chillums with a baba who told us all about this temple town that he loved. We bought tiny brass bells to make music and rings to wear on our fingers. We ate dinner and breakfast in the lovely garden cafe. We spent the night under the stars and felt good and whole and complete. And we left the next day, our hearts lighter and heavier at the same time.

Yacht Club

Sheena — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 11:34:59 +0000

Spent last weekend with these two beautiful, hilarious boys at the Yacht Club, a strong contender for one of my favourite buildings in Bombay, the others being Buckley Court, Birla House and Sarkar Heritage. The winding wooden staircase, the inner workings of the elevator, the great tiles, the claw foot bathtubs, the high ceilings, the cane furniture in the ball room, the cloakrooms. We explored every nook, took a hundred pictures, went undercover, smuggled beer and wine, smoked, practised a new language, whirled around, we visited art galleries, took a taxi across town to drink Long Island iced teas in shutting clubs, invented new words, laughed ourselves stupid, Photo Booth-ed, sang songs, drank masala chai and ate the best goddamn club sandwiches ever. I already miss you copious amounts Aamir and Akshat.

Vandre

Sheena — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 20:51:43 +0000

I love you, Bandra. I love your Portuguese influence, I love your villages and your Goan grannies who get their skirt suits “stitched” and your tiny stalls set up in verandahs selling homemade pickle and potato chops, I love your promenades and pink sunsets and shwarmas, I love your games nights and communal youtubing and burrito bars and theme parties.

I love your farmers markets, and your supper clubs and Sunday brunches and rooftop dancing. (I don’t like your rickshaw strikes and when they say they won’t go some place) I love that Janata and Jimme’s Kitchen deliver. I love your lively backdrops to impromptu photo shoots. I love your bookshops in garages and artist studios and production offices and chocolate shops and Manju dosa and Bombay sandwiches guy on Hill Road and Saroj sev puri.

I love your things to do on Mondays and Thursdays and other days. (I don’t like when your venues shut before I’m ready to stop moving) I love your street stalls and junk jewels and best fifty rupee finds. I love photos from your skywalks and the shops who sold me furniture underneath. I love your host of interesting characters, your beautiful women and sometimes men and my wonderful, wonderful friends.

Bandra, I’m in love.

Bookshelf

Sheena — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 12:48:07 +0000

Please throw rocks at me if I do not finish the five books I have started by the end of April. This is a public appeal to save what little literacy skills I have before I turn into a poorly read, bumbling nincompoop. Slippery slope. You’re welcome to shame me in any way (within reason) if I have not read them.

To think I was once a girl who started a bookclub? Sigh.

Pink

Sheena — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 14:40:13 +0000

Rather happy with some wispy, pink, abstract old people’s art I made. Although I’ve been taking close ups for food for years now, this is my first proper foray into macro fine art photography.

Bowls of Shtoof

Sheena — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 14:33:52 +0000

For the last few weeks, I’ve been hanging out at my food blog Bowls of Shtoof writing about well, food, as Soph probably best describes it – through experiences not ingredients. Right now, it’s an archive of travel posts and unusual or interesting foods and finds and a smattering of recipes. It’s an exercise in writing often and about something I really love, so let me know what you think.

Tinted

Sheena — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 12:39:30 +0000

So some dicktits stole my camera, on New Year’s, just post midnight. EFFF DAT. My friend Ratika had a string of some really cool coloured filters that we used to take fun pictures using her camera though. And so I present, bits of my holiday through rose tinted glasses.

Wedding: Phil and Tom

Sheena — Sat, 18 Dec 2010 13:18:18 +0000

I really want to shoot more weddings next year. These are some pictures from the first one I did. The perfect petit four of a London wedding – small, sweet and charming, where my beautiful bride Phil wore green. I tried to photograph important and intimate moments, smaller details, and the lighter and funnier ones in equal measure, with a mix of posed and candid shots.

Edinburgh

Sheena — Sun, 12 Dec 2010 21:11:36 +0000

In retrospect, it was probably not the best idea to go to a city with no notion of a plan and stay for so long. And I probably didn’t endear myself to a few people with my waywardness but Edinburgh endeared itself to me. It is nothing short of gorgeous. The architecture is stunning, it’s one of the eeriest towns in Europe and in the month of August each year, it transforms into a bustling, vibrant city of festivals. There are many – the jazz festival, the book festival, the marketing festival (umm), the extremely popular annual Military Tattoo but the biggest and brightest is the unmistakable Fringe, the biggest annual performing arts festival in the world.

But yes, just over a week in Edinburgh. I had my fair share of acquaintances, and by the time I’d left I’d definitely made a few friends but for the most part, I hung out with myself. But being alone is good for the ego and it’s hard to feel lonely when there’s always something to capture your imagination. Plus with an assortment of acts, over 2500 in fact, in a variety of venues – from churches to caves, teepees to townhalls, and lively streets made exploring the city on foot and finding something to see or do, pretty damn easy.

Venues

Bathroom stall.

Being the (moderate) history geek I am, I decided to go on a walking tour, a fantastic way to spend an entire afternoon learning facts and fables and unearthing some of the best local spots for eating, drinking and to avoid. The one I did zigzags across the Mile, down to the Grassmarket, stopping behind the Elephant House coffee shop where JK Rowling penned the first two Harry Potter novels (they let the then struggling mother, nurse only a single cup of tea each day and write, and now they do a roaring trade because of it – a lesson in kindness), the haunted cemetery and the school that Hogwarts is inspired by, and the lush Princes Street gardens. I can’t recommend the walking tour enough. They even run a ghost tour and a pub crawl if you’re so inclined.

The main strip, the Royal Mile; much longer than a mile and thus resulting in the unique measure the Scots Mile, runs from Edinburgh Castle on top of Castle Rock to the Palace of Holyroodhouse; is the busiest, filled with a few hundred of the many performers trying to sell their shows. Getting anywhere in a hurry is nearly impossible as you will be handed flyers to all kinds of shows that run the course of the Fringe – live music, stand up comedy, theatre, and musicals, and be distracted by all kinds of street artists, buskers, stalls selling the work of independent artists and caricaturists. Some very good, and some very strange.

Red electric cellist Carol Thorns

I got pretty lucky in Edinburgh. I’ve worked a fair few festivals in my life, and the comedians and artists I’d previously worked with took really very good care of me. I saw maybe twenty different shows – with my favourites being Somewhere over the David O’Doherty, Claudia O’Doherty’s Monster of the Deep 3D, musical trio Axis of Awesome, The Crack, the lovely, whimsical Josie Long and of course, Bombay jam band Something Relevant. Pick up the fat program and dog-end the pages and highlight all the shows you want to see. The best thing about the Fringe is you can splurge on the ones you know are good, buy tickets at the half-price booth and experiment with newer acts, or just catch the dozens of shows that are part of the Free Fringe, and spend your pennies on Boddingtons beer.

Scotland doesn’t provide much for culinary exploits and it’s highly likely that a major percentage of your dietary intake will include scotch, tatties (potatoes), cider, Angus steak burgers and late night shwarmas after late night jazz. I, having become the slightly adventurous version of me (which only happens when I travel), decided to try haggis, and it wasn’t half bad – sort of like meatloaf with added oats and a peppery sauce.

My favourite though was Iglu, a gorgeous little cafe in Newtown recommended by my friend Kelly, a brilliant chef and restaurateur. At Iglu, we played scrabble, drank the most local lagers and ate bunless wild boar burgers with thick, luscious homemade mayonnaise and Earl Grey jelly petit fours.

Nightlife is good too. I was in a state of disarray by midnight, which tends to happen when you’re equal parts blood and alcohol. The Spiegeltent and Assembly tent have some crazy parties, but you’re bound to meet people who will point you in the right direction of that night’s best gig, bar or club. There’s a nice mix of locals, tourists, festival staff and performers about. The latter three returning every season for good reason.