Shine on...

...Indian traditional vessels. I love traditional Indian vessels.
Everytime I visit my mother, I always admire her super shiny kitchen with open shelves lined with stainless steel containers, tumblers and bowls in various sizes. In my kitchen I love having a fusion of traditional Indian vessels as well as ceramic, glass & airtight containers for convenience of microwaving, refrigeration & storing. The aquaguard water ( purified) water is stored in a huge stainless steel 'matka'. The stainless steel plates with rims are ideal for runny gravies:-) I even carry my huge tiffin carrier for picnics... If you want to get a little creative why not use them as decorative pieces?
A lassi tumbler makes a lovely vase for a bunch of roses, float some flowers in a 'Paraat' or plate.
Remember the Diwali Decorating Ideas on Rang Decor about using 'Idli Plates' for decoration?
Some latest international trends in decorating include a lot of Indian traditional vessels....From Tine K HomeFrom Madam Stoltz catalogue
So bring it on...enjoy your simple but lovely stainless steel vessels:-))

Blurred...

I have been experimenting with out-of-focus images and here are the results...

A face to the name...

Thought I'll just drop in and let you know that my interior design blog Rang Decor as well as Rang-The Colours of Life are featured in Domino among the 16 International Design Bloggers.
I feel absolutely honoured and thank Holly of Decor8 and Domino for the feature. The feature has the 'camera-shy' me sitting on my favourite wooden sofa.


So now you have a face to the name:-)

Under the weather...

* drinking loads of ginger chai to soothe my itchy throat.

* reading 'under the tuscan sun' and dreaming of a villa in Tuscany where 'The windows are open to butterflies, horseflies, bees or any thing that wants to come in one window and out another' *sigh*
* inspired, I whip up Italian fares and learn the meanings of Antipasti, Primi, Secondi, Cortoni & Dolci:-) Oh yes and colour therapy works for sun-crazy people like me, who have been having a tough time with the cloudy skies.

* After Chai, I think the second best thing is Oats. Yes, milky oats with organic jaggery. It's quite a comfort drink, especially when the warm milky sweetness soothes your parched, itchy throat.
* Talking about sweetness, while cleaning my kitchen, I found two long forgotten goodies we picked up from out trip to the Nilgiris. Rhubarb Preserve from Beulah Farm and Gooseberry Jam from Last Forest.

* Outlook Traveller has some interesting illustrations apart from some nice photography.
* Listening to I'll love you till the end by Pogues from the soundtrack of P.S. I love you. Have you seen it yet? If not, watch today and cry loads till you feel cleansed.Have a lovely July!

Today is good.

Yesterday was cloudy, but today is good.
*Sun warms my 'tired of seeing grey clouds' eyes.
*Green Tea warms my throat.
* Season in transition.
* Maroon plums drip syrupy sweetness.
*'Langda' & 'Dhasheri' Mangoes are here.
* Love the shadow play at home when Mr. Sun comes out.

* Enjoying this moment.

* Tomorrow is often the busiest day of the year~ Spanish Proverb

Have a great weekend everyone:-)

brown(ie) remains...

its probably...
* the cloudy afternoons
* lights are turned on in the middle of the day.
* hurried trips to the terrace to scoop up all the freshly washed & dried clothes.
* the huge raindrops dot the dry concrete floors & wet the green grass.
* the body and mind are propelled towards the kitchen.
* brownies are baked.
* steaming cups of chai are sipped while listening to the rain.
Seeing beauty in what remains....
Enjoy the monsoon:-)

Baking & Musing...

* Reading Breakfast, Lunch & Tea~ Rose Carrarini.
* Dreaming of Baking Date Scones.
* Have to take a decision between Bonne Maman's Rasberry preserve or Fabindia's Chunky Orange Marmalade before the Jam bottle is emptied in a few hours.
* Brought back my mother's old Foley measuring spoons. She knew I'll 'want' it one day.
* A duster cloth so beautiful, I might never use it.
* The husband, the daughter, our neighbours enjoyed the Chololate Chip Cookies.
* I used powdered Jaggery instead of Brown sugar. I always do.
* A kitchen is a great place to hang out.
* Have to buy some Fresh Mangoes. Loads of them...

Ode to Tomatoes

Ode to Tomatoes
The street
filled with tomatoes,
midday,
summer,
light is
halved
like
at
omato,
its juice
runs
through the streets.
In December,
unabated,
the tomato
invades
the kitchen,
it enters at lunchtime,
takes
its ease
on countertops,
among glasses,
butter dishes,
blue saltcellars.
It sheds its own light,
benign majesty.
Unfortunately, we must
murder it:
the knife
sinks
into living flesh,
red
viscera,
a cool
sun,
profound,
inexhaustible,
populates the salads
of Chile,
happily, it is wed
to the clear onion,
and to celebrate the
union
we
pour
oil,
essential
child of the olive,
onto its halved
hemispheres,
pepper
adds its fragrance,
salt, its magnetism;
it is the wedding
of the day,
parsley
hoists
its flag,
potatoes
bubble vigorously,
the aroma
of the roast
knocks
at the door,
it's time!
come on!
and, on
the table, at the midpoint
of summer,
the tomato,
star of earth,
recurrent
and fertile
star,
displays
its convolutions,
its canals,
its remarkable amplitude
and abundance,
no pit,
no husk,
no leaves or thorns,
the tomato offers
its gift
of fiery color
and cool completeness.
~ Pablo Neruda

To stop train, pull chain.

* "Amma, If I pull the chain, the train will stop?" asked Mallika.
* History sure repeats itself, I remember asking my mother the same question when I was little.

* The shape of the red painted metal hasn't changed much over the years and surely the experience of travelling by train hasn't changed either.
* The familiar sound of 'Chaiya- Chai', Garama-Garam Chai'.
* Coolies with their red kurtas haggling with passengers for that extra 10 rupee note.

* Aromas of onion vadas, cutlets, masala dosas, coffee & tea mingling with the cool breeze of the air-contitioned coaches.

* The peeling paints, the typography, the condensation on the windows, the setting sun.

* Screaming babies, lullabying grannies, working-hard-on-the-laptop-techies, walkman or was it ipod listening teenagers and Mallika asking me for the 101th time, "When are we going to reach?" is such an awesome experience;-)

Like they say it's the journey not the destination that matters:-)

Summer.

Lately words like diffuse, cream, whites, off whites, light, pale, cool, vanilla seem to have a hold on my mind, vocabulary & my camera.

sun, sunlight, rain...

* mornings are bright, sunny and beautiful.
* evenings are cloudy, windy, rainy and beautiful.
* watching raindrops slide down leaves.

* hands are curled around mugs of steaming hot chai.

* finding beauty in 'things as they are'

* learning that sunlight, a wooden table and a hot cup of morning chai is a great combination that makes it to the front page of explore.

* I linger around windows, sinks and wash basins.
* completely bowled over by this, this and this.
* hope to own a polaroid and a holga someday.
* I think park weddings are so simple and beautiful
* discovered 'Rumi'

* watching an ice cream melt is lovely.

Enjoy the day and your life.

life...

these days...

* a big fat green barbet starts it's musical duet with the cuckoos in the summer afternoons.

* a lovely cold glass of fruit smoothie, when I get home from the sun.

* the cool morning breeze caresses me while I cut and prune in my balcony.

* melons, strawberries, grapes.

* tabebuias and jacarandas. pinks and purples paint the skies and the roads.

* countdown for summer vacations begin.

* ice-creams are devoured just minutes after breakfast.

Before I leave here is some amazing eye-candy from Love Made Visible.

The beautiful Lakshmi Menon appears in the Hermes Campaign - Hermes Orange, Indian Pink.

Inspired by the painted elephants of Rajasthan. ( India sure is rocking!)

( images via Nirali Magazine, Love Made Visible)

*Tagged* Again...

Tagged by Masala Chai :-) If you are interested in reading what I wrote last year in Rang Decor, do click here:-) Now for seven random facts about Arch*

* The Copywriter...
I wrote my own matrimonial advertisement in the newspaper since my parents were tired of explaining to people that their daughter did not paint billboards though she worked in an advertising agency!( My now Mother-in-law was the first to call regarding the ad and I owe her a big one for that:-) She still has that newspaper cutting I think)

* Chai-Lover...What can I say, I absolutely love tea. It's an experience where I hold the hot cup in my hands, watch the steam disappear into the atmosphere,the aroma of tea with hints of ginger, cardamom or cinnamon soothe my senses and my mind. I take a sip of the heavenly concoction and float away into a world where words combust to form images and coffee just jolts me back to reality:-) ( No offence to Coffee drinkers;-) I have a blog dedicated to tea...is there anything more sincere than that;-)

* Advertisers' delight!

I see a Pond's Age Miracle Television Commercial, I immediately start seeing fine lines appear near my eyes and have to take that 7-days challenge to see if it really works:-)
Oh! This one really got me - The new Women's Horlicks* Commercial. The one with Konkona Sen in it . She writes 'to-do' lists ( I am a mistress of to-do lists!!!) The dropping & picking ups, the party plannings, the in-between task, beauty routine,...well these guys got their target audience bang on!! Off to pick the jar of Horlicks with extra calcium and iron for multi-tasking mothers like me:-))

* The Master organiser...
For people who are tuned into my Flickr photostream know they would find a new set everyday:-)
1.on the chopping board...

2. my mornings...
3. on that wooden table

4. Garam Chai...

5. Not Chai...

Well, don't laugh if I tell you the days I have time for myself i stack my clothes according to colours...so if you open my cupboard you'll find a shade card of clothes staring back at you:-)

* "A thing for...

...many things:-) Doors. Feet. Empty Chairs. Romantic movies. Handmade, handcrafted Jewellery. Floating flowers. Morning sunlight. Fresh juicy fruits bursting with colour & flavour. Home cooked food. Kohl-lined eyes. Bakeries. Smiles. Smell & texture of printed pages of books and many many more...( will talk about them in my next tag;-)

* A perplexed third person...
I wonder at myself transforming from a bike-riding, tomboy who had never visited the kitchen of the house, who spent late hours at work tapping her right-brain and meeting deadlines to a "Domestic Goddess" who willing decides to stay at home, cooks, cleans, decorates, bakes, entertains, blogs and photographs all this for posterity (I see my Mother smiling :-)

* An obsessive food photographer...

I am big time into photography but this is a very new phenomenon. I dream of rolling in sugar dust, sliding down that slab of butter, swimming in the pools of Jam tart.
Yes, it's that bad!?! Any solutions?

P.S. I wondered why I needed to share these things with the world and then I felt if I didn't, someone out there might not know that arranging your clothes according to colours is not a bad idea after all;-))

I now tag- Deepika of Mudram, Kavitha of Things that caught my attention, Priya of The Plum Tree & Big Fat Brekkie, Prashant of Chai Ki Dhukan, Fay of Red River Interiors, Shuma of Shuma.Rani, Adi of Delhi Dreams and

Smita of Random Wanderings!