Signing off.

This year has been a mixed bag, nevertheless a very enjoyable & enriching one.

One of the highlights has been starting my blog. What started out to be a journal of my creative musings while I experienced the various challenges & rewards of motherhood, has now become an integral part of my life.
*that part of my life where those few hours of indulgence in cyberspace keeps me creatively motivated through the day
* that part of my life where I share ideas & get inspired by interesting people from around the world.
* that part of my life where I discovered & fell in love with Flickr.
* that part of my life where I learnt that even the mundane details of everyday life is interesting & I am not the only one in the world who thinks so.

On that colourful note let me say goodbye to all the readers of my blog. We are off to 'the land of temples' for our holidays!
Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!
See you next year...!

Kitchen Towels.

There is Christmas spirit every where. Some Christmas/Fall colours for my kitchen. Kitchen Towels from Cotton Craft. Rs. 20/- each.

Give Me Red!

True to it's name Lalbagh's glasshouse was filled with various shades of Red.
Poinsettia Red. Christmas Red. Festive Red.
The Colour of Life-Red.

Vividha.

I just love stationary, especially made out of recycled hand-made paper. This journal by Vividha is a complete winner... it has lovely traditional block-printed cloth cover and is made out of 100% recycled paper. Check out the lovely 'Peepal' leaf bookmark. Love it!

Available at Gangarams.

You won't go hungry in Cubbon Park.

Cubbon Park, apart from being one of the city's main tourist attractions, is also a great place to unwind, breathe in some fresh air and just do nothing at all.

If you are not finicky about your food, then you could check out some (healthy) street food. Yes, some fruit salad, roasted corn and some spiced puffed rice. Very colourful & interesting.

Bangalore: December 2006

Scenes from our Sunday morning drive around Bangalore.
*Nip in the air.
*Lovely pink coloured Tabebuia blossoms fill the parks and roads.
*Occasional bright sunlight.
*Newly restored red & white St. Andrews Church.
*Christmas excitement.
*Amazing season.

Journals from Vedic Cosmos.

The Ganesha Journal from Vedic Cosmos range by Nightingale is a collector's piece. It has amazing drawings and forms of Ganesha- The destroyer of obstacles. Priced at Rs. 195 it's a great buy.

Our Christmas Tree!

Here is our cute faux christmas tree which we have been putting up every year since Mallika's birth.

We decided that we would celebrate most of the Indian festivals and some from around the world too, so that Mallika is aware of the various festivals and their significance.

I am glad it paid off... here she is creatively contributing to the christmas festivities! Here is her version of the christmas tree and snowfall on the tree from the mountains.

Click here for Onam, Diwali & Halloween( yes!) posts!

Around the house.

I love the comfort of my home where I indulge in simple pleasures of life like getting a fresh bunch of flowers for the week, enjoying the sunlight streaming through the windows and loving the mundane details of everyday life.
Lovely colours of life!

Dokra Art.

If you were wondering about the lovely sun-pendant in brass, it is called Dokra Art. It is made by folk craftsmen from parts of Orissa, Madhya Pradesh & Bengal.

Dokra Art involves making simple folk-style figures of owls, horses, Gods & Goddesses using clay, wax and brass metal. This owl is such a cutie!

Industree.

Kuteera-the annual handicrafts exhibition organised by The Crafts Council of Karnataka is on at Chitrakala Parishad.

Amazing range of crafts from all over India were on display. I especially liked this lovely orange gift box made out of natural fibre by Industree.

Earrings Galore!

Come December and you'll find craft exhibitions, festivals, cultural programmes and winter sale all round the city.

Last week I visited one such exhibition held by Gujarat Emporium. I found myself surrounded by amazing arts and crafts of India, especially earrings in various styles and materials.

I was especially drawn towards these very interesting earrings made out of silken thread (for just Rs.30 or $ 0.67) and my all-time favourite silver earrings with precious stones.

Check it out!

Chimanlals' Goodies.

I have posted about Chimanlals wrapping paper before, but these gift boxes and handmade paper cards from Chimanlals are just out of the world. I found them yesterday at Gangarams while scouting around for interesting new year cards.
Love the colours, the traditional designs, the paper, everything!

Helpage India.

I decided to check out some cards for christmas & new year, so I headed straight to Gangarams. Gangarams is actually a bookstore but they have a floor dedicated to cards & stationary.

They stock cards from various organisations like Unicef, Cry, Helpage India and many more. This year I picked up assorted cards from Helpage India. Lovely packaging & great cards for a good cause.

Autumn in Bangalore.

Of what I have seen here in Bangalore, each tree has it's own Autumn or the time of the year when it sheds its leaves. This tree outside our house decided to shed it's leaves just about now, which I think might be a little late by the U.S. standards.

Nevertheless, I just love these lovely dry leaves falling from the tree!

Day Trip to Seebi.

Last Sunday, despite the threatening dark clouds we hit the road to Tumkur. Tumkur is largely an industrial district of Karnataka with few very interesting sites. Our destination - Seebi/Sibi on the national highway to Tumkur.

According to the history books the Narasimha Swami Temple was built by the sons of Kacheri Krishnappa who was the dewan in the court of Mysore. The temple architecture is simple but what I really liked was the white-washed walls with amazing sculptures of various Gods & Goddesses made of terracotta & lime. Though weather-beaten but very beautiful.

The temple also has lovely paintings on the ceilings painted with vegetable colours. The temple is visited by very few people, possibly by locals or by devotees whose family deity is Narasimha Swami. Infact, I really liked the fact that it was very quiet with an occasional laughter from the children running around the courtyard.

There is a Parijat tree in the courtyard under which lay a blanket of delicate & fragrant flowers.
While my husband and I were clicking around the temple like war-photographers, Mallika had a blast running around the place and screeching when she saw monkeys playing peek-a-boo with her. ( Yes, loads of them around!!!)

Outside the temple, there is a square pond with steps leading down to the water, where the villagers were washing clothes. I just loved the whole village atmosphere, so serene, so calming. We had to drag ourselves back to the car.

Well, you must have guessed what a great time we had by the length of the post. Enjoy the pictures!

Chanda Shroff - Rolex Award Laureate 2006.

The Rolex Awards for Enterprise is given to those men and women in recognition of the innovative projects started by them to change the world.

Chanda Shroff is one of the five exceptional laureate who has started a project called Shrujan dedicated to the art of reviving an old tradition of embroidery in the Kutch region of India.

You can read more about her project here.
( images from rolexawards.com

Flickr Favourites.

I am completely in love with Flickr nowadays. It is really a treasure-trove of the most amazing pictures. These are my Flickr Favourites

Colour of the day.

The weather has been grey and cloudy. So I am turning towards Pink to pep me up. Also check out Flickr group dedicated to the colour Pink.

A&C#3.Paintings of Hindu Gods & Goddesses.

In India, while travelling by road you'll come across many small temples, walls, slabs of stones, trunks of trees, you name it, painted in bright colours depicting the various Hindu Gods & Goddesses.

What I find interesting are the artists' interpretations of the characters in Hindu mythology. Very interesting! I also love the bright colours used.
( Top-Left: Hanuman-the Monkey God. Top-right: Nandi( Lord Shiva's Vehicle) Bottom-Left: Goddess Durga. Bottom Right: Garuda( Lord Vishnu's Vehicle)

Flowers-Indoors & Outdoors.

Captured here are some pics of flowers- 'African Violet' in my home and the blossoms of Bangalore at this time of the year. Lovely!