Shutter Love: Thinking of Cochin

Last November, I was in Cochin for the first time. Over the years, I'd heard so much about it, I was dying to experience it. Since I know am going back sometime soon, I didn't lug my camera around everywhere, I wanted to actually absorb everything sans the viewfinder. Am like that about places, shy about using my camera at first brush. I prefer to see with the human eye, find something that arrests my attention, introduces me to the city, and only then think of using the camera to capture it. Sometimes, I let beautiful things go, not wanting to freeze them in time. Sometimes I regret the decision, most times am happy to have actually seen it.

The sloping roofed houses I saw on Willingdon Island warmed me up to the place. Here are two clicks I liked from my short trip to the beautiful city. Hope you like them too. Tell me, how do you like to remember a city?

Fun Fashion

Every girl I know can relate to this one. Whenever I need to head out of the house, even if it's just to the mall, I have to ask anyone who's around, "What do I wear?"

But I think, someone (an exasperated boyfriend or husband?), somewhere was thinking, "What should I do so I never have to answer that."

And thanks to this thoughtful person, we now have a nifty lil gadget. I found it on Madewell and it's so fun, I had a complete blast for 10 minutes. What's even better, it gives you ideas for smart casual looks that you can easily put together. So, spin it, find a look you like, go fish in your cupboard and step out in style!

Now you can get on to the next question directly, "How do I look?"

Try The Style Spinner here.

Infectious Creativity: Desktop Wallpapers

Hi, hope you've had a grand weekend. As I was catching up with my blog-trawling, I came across these delightful wallpapers by Elanor Grosch (first found on Jessica's blog How About Orange). Elanor has 32 illustrations you can download and use here. 

Nothing like a pop of colour and infectious creativity to brighten up the week ahead, eh?

Turquoise Blue Rooms

We tend to move homes at least once a year, thanks to my husband's line of work. Since we haven't grown roots in one place, I avoid doing a wall treatment calls for more than putting up decals. My mantra to building a cozy nest is to use fabrics. Since we've mostly lived by the sea, I like bringing a bit of it into the home. You can't go very wrong with a combination of white and turquoise, it always always brightens up spaces. I use accessories in yellows, reds, deeper blues and greens to add pops of colour.

Turquoise is one of my favourite colours, so I was looking for inspiring rooms and palettes with this colour. These interesting ones caught my attention on Pinterest. Do you find a palette here you'd like to use?

Source: thecoolhunter.net via Priyanka on Pinterest

Source: apartmenttherapy.com via Priyanka on Pinterest

Source: sasinteriors.net via Priyanka on Pinterest

 Source: cptnrin.smugmug.com via Priyanka on Pinterest

 Source: houseofturquoise.com via Priyanka on Pinterest

Source: alifesdesign.blogspot.com via Priyanka on Pinterest

Sunday Inspiration

Who needs inspiration on a Sunday right? Well, during the week we tend to get caught up with so many to-do lists, meetings, emails, school projects, pitches, and coffee-tea-smoke breaks that we forget to reflect. Reflect on what we're doing, where we're going and whether we are really, truly happy.

The Holstee Manifesto has inspired not just the founders of Holstee, but about 500,000 people who have shared it. Food for thought.

Photo Project - B for Bougainvillea

In continuation with my resolution to do new things everyday, I have learnt to toy around with Picasa. Until recently, I was happy with leaving pictures untouched. But editing is an addiction. I began with just brightening up the image and now am hooked!

I've embarked on an ambitious photo project which requires me to click pictures through the month to cover the English alphabet. I first got inspired to do this when I read about it here on Ez's blog . However, it's super difficult to find the time or inspiration to click an image a day, what with the crazy demands of a full-time job in advertising. So am doing a couple of letters at a time over the weekends. I don't know if I will survive through all 26 letters. But here's a start.

B for Bougainvillea. Orange, pink, red cascades of these abound in India and make any garden pop with colour. This is a shrub that's on my way to the beach. I've been planning to click it for a while now. The first picture is mildly edited. I've played around a lot more with the next three, which are versions of the same click. I love the last one, it reminds me of a Japanese garden.

Shutter Love: A day at the Porbandar Bird Sanctuary

Porbandar is pretty much complete chaos - madly honking motorcycles, deafeningly noisy chakdas (hybrid motorcycle carriers), stray bovines and their worshipers, smoke, dust and the omnipresent smell of drying fish! Yes, welcome to the land of the Mahatma. It's one saving grace is the promenade by the sea. Until we discovered the bird sanctuary here.

I've had a grand weekend filled with chirps, gentle sounds of water and serenity at the sanctuary. Tucked away in one little alley down the main street, this place is an absolute treasure. As N and I pushed open the metal gate of the sanctuary on Saturday evening, I wasn't expecting much. I had read that several species of birds come here, some migratory. But nothing in my mind's eye had come close to what we saw - cormorants and herons by the dozens, peacefully lounging on the man-made isles on a lake. Pelicans swimming along regally. Naughty Pintals splashing about. And a few others I haven't been identify yet.

The light wasn't right that evening, so I returned the next morning and again a couple of hours before sunset. A friendly dude who was busy clicking like a pro pointed me towards another cove where I could find Flamingos! 

I had a field day snapping away, I was so excited, I just couldn't stop. I must have clicked about 300 pictures that day. Needless to say, the avian species is not one to pose for bumbling photographers. I think I have about  two dozen really great pictures!

Here's a few of my favourites.

A Little Relish Magazine: Recipes, Restaurants, Cafes

A Little Relish Issue Two is something I just have to share with all of you. If you haven't seen it already, I suggest you do it as soon as you've had a bite to eat, because this gorgeous magazine is a treat for the eyes but punishment for your tummy! The second issue covers quaint cafes and fresh food markets in Montreal alongwith a bunch of delectable recipes that are easy to whip up.

Created by Chantelle Grady, the magazine gives you an interesting peek at the life and culture of Montreal. I have spent a couple of magical afternoons just flipping through the pages covered with beautiful shots of food, bicycles, people, buildings and boulangeries. Montreal is now on my list of places to go to before I kick the bucket.

Just go here to find something to drool over! Don't miss the recipes for a day-long binge in the morning, noon and night section.

Colour Fest - Happy Holi!

Tomorrow is Holi, and so is women's day. While Holi is the festival of colours, women's day celebrates women's achievements and  is an occasion to show respect, appreciation and love to the important women in your life.

Holi is not the most favourite festival for a lot of women I know. I stopped indulging in plastering people with colour way back in my teens. Somehow I just didn't like the idea. And I feel none of the pride that some of my countrymen do, when covered in a revolting mix of colours from tip to toe. The pink gulaal is the most impactful and pinkish imps abound everywhere days after Holi. Maybe the cultural aspect of the festival is completely lost on me, thanks to my 'paranoia' of not wanting to be assaulted by strange men.

But not to put a dampener on the spirit of the celebration of colour, I thought of a good way to still indulge in Holi in my own way. Here's a little something I drew up to declare my love of colours. I love all the shades and tones of bright, happy, warm, cool colours out there. Neon is my latest passion.

I'd love to know how you celebrate colours and what your favourite colours are. Happy Holi!

The Search for New: 15 Random things about me

I've turned a sunny 30 this month. A big milestone year, one might say. There never really was a lot of things on my list of things to do before I crossed the third decade. But I think I shall put down a list of things to do before the year runs out. One of them will be to do something new each day. I plan to hear new songs, read new authors, sing new songs, go to new places, learn new things and ofcourse make a whole bunch of new friends. One can never be too old to do that, right?

So as part of this quest for new experiences, am going to do something that I think other bloggers out there are pretty brave to do. I have mulled over doing it, and chickened out earlier. But today is all about following up on resolutions, so, am going to do it. Am going to give out 15 (30 would be a bit much!) random things about myself:

1. I can blissfully spend three quarters of an hour (at the very least) with bubble wrap. It is the #1 invention in the world
2. I can't hold a tune, at all. Am kinda tone deaf when it comes to my own voice. Am also being nice to myself right now
3. I love dancing. I trained in classical Indian Kathak for a while when I was little. But after that, nobody has been able to 'train' me. I specialise in free-style now :)
4. Yellow is my favourite colour. Immediately after is turquoise blue, flowed by white, orange and neon peach
5. Goa is where I like to go to 'find' myself. I went to Goa just before my 25th birthday and I felt like I was home. It is home and I yearn to go back every time am away.
6. When in Goa, I like to look out at the sea, sink my feet in the sand and sip on a King's beer
7. I hate getting wet in the rain. On the other hand, I love sunshine!
8. I look silly in hats and caps but  can rock any pair of sunglasses. Any pair
9. Shoes are my weakness. Those, bags and brownies
10. Am a travel show, food show, travel show junkie. I can go through days of only watching these, yes even the ones on TLC dubbed in Hindi
11. I have a thing for wine bottles. It's not a weird thing, I like collecting them. Many people do, don't they? I sorta protect them with my life though
12. Usually, am reading at least 3 books at any given point in time. That probably explains why it takes me ages to finish a book
13. The book I read every so often is To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. I've read it atleast 10 times in the past decade and yet I always find something new there. It is my most favourite book
14. The comic character I most identify with is Calvin, he makes a lot of sense, but the grown-ups just don't get it! 
15. I love Jalebis (sugary squiggles made of flour), but I adore cheesecakes more. So much so I learnt to make an eggless version I found on Divine Taste. I made a strawberry one instead of the mango, and even though mine didn't turn out as flawless looking, it tasted divine :)

Here's a bonus one, for those of you still reading - I am not very comfortable with sharing things about me. So this has been a sprint out of the comfort zone. But I feels good. I have kicked off ze resolution well! xo