Picking up where we left off: Back, alive and kicking

Hello again from Porbandar, almost the Western tip of India. The sun sets here around 7:30 p.m. which is crazy, for someone like me who's used to twilight around 6. It's taking some getting used to, my brain still thinks it's late afternoon even though it is time to switch modes from being an advertising professional to a blogging Sunny Nomad.

We've landed a nice little flat on the sixth floor and when I work, I gaze out at some greenery. If I crane my neck, I can catch a glimpse of a river in the distance. It's nice. The other day, a couple of flamingos cruised past as I looked out for some inspiration. Isn't it wonderful when you're rewarded so handsomely? Unfortunately, by the time I got out my camera, they were way past the zoom capabilities of my point-and-shoot.

Our very few neighbours are helpful and settling in has been made possible by our very efficient chowkidar (watchman) Karsanbhai. I also have to remind myself that every woman is a 'ben' while every man is a 'bhai' in these parts. You show respect by calling someone 'mota bhai' or 'mota ben' - loosely translated ben is sister, bhai is brother and mota means someone older. The other day I received a package, and the mailman called me Priyankaben Nayar!

While I speak a smattering of the Mumbai version of Gujarati, N is fluent in the Kathiawadi dialect spoken here. When I open my mouth, I usually end up amusing the listeners, but am learning to overcome my embarrassment and soldiering on.

The picture above offers you a glimpse of a lovely reflection from my balcony in the soft evening light. The breeze just completes the feeling of being on a vacation island, high above the noise and pollution. What a glamourous vision of Porbandar, don't you think?

Since my work has resumed full time, all the DIY projects I've been dreaming of will take some time before they take physical form. But I hope to share something pretty soon. My kitchen needs rescuing, every day I find a new way to organise and re-organise almost everything. Those tips I pinned about using baskets for storage (since we have an acute shortage of cabinets) have come in handy. In Mumbai, I dragged N to Crawford market just so we could pick up some quaint old wicker baskets. They've been an absolute life-saver.

This weekend, I intend to pretty up the open storage and hang some pictures on the walls. Am looking forward to making the home cozy and comfortable, one day at a time. Cookies and lazy mornings are what keep me going!

But enough about me. How have you been?

Goodbyes and New Adventures

Photograph: Mood for Reflection by Priyanka Nayar

It is time for us to move again. Yes, I know, seems too soon to me too. We're all packed and ready to push off to Porbandar for our next adventure. It's been a good first stint in Kerala. The people, the food, the beaches and the wildlife have made their excellent first impressions.


It's been just over a year since we came here, but we've travelled away from home so often, that we haven't seen everything that there is to see and experience. We'll be back some day. Maybe to another part of the state.


This has been the kind of sabbatical from normal life that only very few lucky people can manage. It has spoilt me, for now, wherever I go, I will miss the lush greens. The place where we lived afforded us a view of the Arabian Sea on one hand, and the beautiful backwaters that Kerala is famous for on the other. Will be hard to find something to beat that.


Am one fourth Keralite, but have been to Kerala only once, over two decades ago. I've learnt some local cuisine, picked up a few words of Malayalam, and bought my first 'set saree'! It's been wonderful getting introduced to my roots. I've floated through most of my life not belonging to a particular part of the country, I surely will continue to do that for the rest of my life too. But now I know a little more about where my grandfather came from, and perhaps a little about why I am a fan of curry leaves.


There are still a bunch of things that are on my bucket list - am yet to take a cruise on a house boat, live in floating houses and watch a Kathakali performance. I haven't had a whole host of dishes that I dream about, haven't caught a glimpse of Periyar, Thekkady, Kumarakom or Munnar and not even had fresh seafood by the sea in Cochin. So I am far from satiated and my heart wants to come back and complete the journey.


Au revoir Kerala and my lovely friends here. Unfortunately, I've had to use the farewell cards I designed a short while back. But like the card says, it's goodbyes only until we meet again.


The picture above captures my thoughts as I sign off, and prepare for the train journey tomorrow morning. If you'd like to see the art print for this and other pictures by me, you can find them at my store. Some of them are available as ipad and iphone skins too.


I may not be able to write again until we're well and settled in Porbandar. But my head is all abuzz with ideas for DIY projects and cozying up the nest there. And I've been busy pinning inspiration on my Pinterest boards. So when am back in full swing, there will be loads to share. On our way to our new home, we're spending a few days in Mumbai, I should also have some stories to share of my time at markets, old haunts and with dear old friends.


Have a super weekend yourself, and an even better week ahead. xoxo, Sunny Nomad me.

This Time That Year: A Summer in Paris

The year was 2007. Three young students from Mudra Institute of Communications, Ahmedabad (MICA) were headed to Paris to represent India at the L'Oreal Brandstorm marketing contest. I was one of the three, we were up against teams from 36 other countries. This was the second time L'Oreal India was even participating in the global finals. We worked hard for six months leading up to this fabulous moment. We didn't place amongst the top winners of the contest, but we sure came away with precious moments and memories.

It was my first trip out of the country. And that too to Paris, in June. The most glorious time of the year to be there. I was so kicked on so many levels. I was there to represent my country, to make new friends, to show what a good brand management student I was and to experience a culture I had only read about in books. I was on a high, as were my team mates.

For the first time, I understood what it meant when people said diversity. Up until now, the only diversity I'd experienced was that of the geography of states and languages within India. Here, 37 countries brought people of all colours, hues and tones. Of different races, languages and cultures. Though the conclave lasted only three days, the memories are burnt in my mind's eye forever.

I made a lot of friends, some of whom I've managed to stay in touch with. Some others have faded away as part of a refreshing experience. My mind was not ready to absorb everything I saw, heard and smelled in those 9 days in Paris. After the conclave got done, we moved out of the trendy hotel the company had put us up at to a hostel on the outskirts of the main city. Clichy was far from all the important sights, and it gave us the chance to explore the Paris metro. It was lovely to hear the recorded names of stations in French, which sounded nothing like what they looked!

We took in all the tourist destinations, spent a good hour browsing through the Shakespeare Book Co.'s collection and wandered through Montmartre's alleys. This was where artists like Salvadore Dali, Modigliani, Monet, Picasso and Van Gogh worked. I was delighted to simply walk down the same cobble-stoned roads as these artists must have ages ago, gazing upon the beautiful city that may have inspired their work. I almost wished I could have a tiny little flat and live here forever.

We had some wine on a side-walk cafe beside the Seine, walked along the river by day and cruised on it at night. The air was filled with art, music, French and style. We toured the Louvre, I ran to catch a glimpse of Van Gogh's work at a museum dedicated to him. Unfortunately, it was closed, but just outside, I met local artists and saw the work of the master replicated beautifully by them. I almost walked away with a oil on canvas, but alas, my meager budget allowed me only art prints of the originals. Sigh!

Apart from enjoying the atmosphere of the romantic capital of the world, Paris was a crash course in different kinds of personal style. Things that were on the ramps were on the streets in Mumbai too. But I had yet to see such clever mixing of colours and textures. I was a student, I couldn't afford much, but I did come away with two beautiful and surprising pullovers.Those and a couple of berets is all I bought to keep the spirit of personal style alive for me. Even if I wear them at home, they make me happy!

My one regret is that I didn't possess enough skill or capability to make the most of my borrowed camera. A cousin had lent me his point-and-shoot and now I have thumbnail sized memories to look at whenever am nostalgic.

I created this collage above by using some clever filters and effects in Coreldraw. It is a beautiful reminder of a wonderful time only four summers ago. I've made another version of the same photograph, and if you'd like to check it, you can head over to my store on Society6.com.


N and I plan to return to the city someday, together. He's done a trip with family a year after I was there, we didn't even know each other. I can almost see us walking along the quaint sidewalks and soaking in the Paris air. Of course, he will drag me to music shops. But I will tug at his arm as we cross Valentino. Who knows, we may just be able to buy me something gorgeous in Valentino Red. One can dream.

Vintage Treasures: Mahatma Gandhi's Home

A quaint little house stands testimony to the simple, rustic life of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, Father of our Nation. He was born in Porbandar and lived in this house until his teen years. As you duck when you pass through the short doorways, you wonder how a tiny, frail man could have managed everything that he did. About how he continues to inspire people around the world with his words - written and spoken.

A bus-load of senior citizens clamber up the precarious staircase, holding onto the rope for dear life. They speak a tongue, foreign in these parts but comfortingly familiar to me. I interject their chatter with, "where have you come from?", in Marathi. A happily surprised smile, a short pause and the dhoti-clad gentleman breaks into Marathi that could only be from Pune. Am from Mumbai, and there is usually a mildly cold war between the two cities of Maharashtra. One, the commercial capital of the state and India. The other, the bastion of all that represents the Marathi warrior. 

But in these parts, we bond over the syllables of a common language. I relish the texture of the words being formed in my mouth, and I strain to hear the gurgling sound of my mother tongue from these village folk. Strangely, am comforted by the fact that home is indeed not that far away. 

As we amble through the museum and get ready to leave the sunny courtyard, I look back one last time. The lady in the nine yard saree, who had almost not made it to the top floor, mops her forehead with the corner of her pallu. Even though she has skipped the trek to the third floor, she seems satisfied with her tour to a sliver of history.

Shutter Love: Porbandar

Hello, hope you had a lovely weekend. We spent ours travelling from the state of Gujarat to the state of Kerala. En-route, we had a grand time with family and friends in Mumbai. It's wonderful to be back home though, and am looking forward to a week filled with once-familiar, now blurry in memory sounds, sights and smells.

Before we left Porbandar, I had intended to do a full post which captured the city through my pictures. So here it is, visions of a wonderful time getting to know a new port and people. The pictures capture life around the sea, simply because that is where I hung out most often.

More pictures of Porbandar from a tour of Mahatma Gandhi's home tomorrow.

Everyday Inspiration: Blue Buddy

The life of a nomad means I often stay away from all that is cozy and comfortable for long stretches of time. We have been away from our home in Kerala since early February. This little birdie has added to my sense of feeling at home on several occasions.

No matter where I am, I have always managed to spot my blue buddy - the white throated, blue winged Kingfisher. Am fascinated by this fisherman and have spotted him everywhere - in Mumbai, Delhi, Diu, Goa and Istanbul. A pretty little one visits us often in our backyard in Kerala. 

Back in Mumbai, I saw one almost everyday, on my way to work on a bursting-at-its-seams local train. I looked forward to that part of my journey and spotting one meant this was going to be a good day. Yeah, a little cuckoo maybe, but it was my way of holding on to hope. 

Once, while on a research trip to Delhi, I was lost in a maze of roads and traffic. I looked up, out the window, and there, perched on an electric wire was this harbinger of comfort. I smiled to myself and thought, if this little guy (his size is barely 28 centimeters while am 172 centimeters tall) can survive this city, so can I.

The several shades of the Kingfisher's blue feathers inspire me. The idea that we all have wings (metaphorically speaking) and a chance at freedom if we spread those wings, lifts up my spirits no matter how tough the going gets. Am drawn to nature and all things blue, so this one fits the bill perfectly. 

I've tried to capture the lovely creature through my shutter whenever possible, but like all winged ones, he's pretty flighty. I will continue my quest for a perfect shot, but until then, whenever am missing the blue one, these keep me happy.

Wanderlust: Tel Aviv

Never in my wildest dreams did I think of ever going to Tel Aviv. In my part of the world, it does not feature on  our bucketlists. We have the usual round-up of Paris, Bangkok and NYC. If you really love travel, you'll have Machu Pichu on your list. But Israel, is too far from our idea of dream destinations.


But am so glad things didn't go according to plan, and by a quirk of fate, I was on a plane to Tel Aviv. The research I'd tried to do on Israel hadn't thrown up much info, but I knew it was going to be nothing like I had ever seen before. After all there was Jerusalem and the Dead Sea to experience. I will write about those too, someday. But today is about Tel Aviv.


I love that city. There's no easing into this one. It is one of the warmest places I've been to, sunny beaches and gorgeously sanguine people. Yes, it is a city that never sleeps. Not only because of its high octane nightlife, but also because its citizens are dedicated to fitness like nowhere else. You find joggers and cyclists at 3 am on any given night. Every moment out in the sun is celebrated and embraced with abandon.





Tel Aviv's enthusiasm is infectious. The artists at the bi-weekly crafts fair are inspiring. The diversity, the openness and the energy of its people lifts you up. And what's wonderful is that Israelis love Indians. A large number of them travel to India and spend a few weeks backpacking across the country. Goa is a favourite destination, we met an artist who has tattooed 'GOA' on his forearm. That's the kind of love am talking about. We met another artist who specialises in glass-blowing, an art that can challenge your understanding of this fragile medium. His wife was from Japan and they have spent a month in Igatpuri doing Vipasanna. A friendly old shopkeeper asked me if my name was Vaijanthimala and another kindly man asked me if I worked in Bollywood. They love our movies too! A cab driver subscribes to Hindi TV channels and sang a few lines of an 80's hit song. How can I not be happy there?





The quaint sidewalk cafes remind you of Europe, only because you associate sidewalk cafes with Europe. All similarities end there. The cafes in Tel Aviv seem much more inviting, urging you to come, pause for a while and share your story. The homegrown beer, Goldstar is everything a good beer should be, and the food is divine. Whether you experiment with the local kosher cuisine or dip into global staples, you will be transported by the freshness and crunch of the ingredients.

Mornings came early and I hit the sea around 8 am, before it got too hot to enjoy the calm waters. My Israeli friends though hung out all day at the beach, the sun has been their old buddy. Snorkelers and surfers abound, as do toddlers getting their early swimming lessons. After the dip, I'd just lie on the beach with a book and a peach. My idea of a blissful holiday!


I tried to soak in as much of the city as I could in the 20 days I spent there. It was difficult to get out of the water, on my last day. I spoke to the Mediterranean sea, promising it that I would come back someday. Yes, I talk out loud when alone. I was going to meet the same sea on the other side in Istanbul, but something told me, the magic wasn't going to be the same.