Landour is the land of Ruskin Bond. He's my love of the same infinite and unfathomable intensity as Gulzar - am not giving up either one is English love and the other is Hindi+Urdu love 🙂 If this sounds bizarre at all then that's how it is! Everything about Landour and Mussoorie is quite surreal...... Continue Reading →
Traditional Indian crafts with new life
Usha Prajapati Varia, the founder of Samoolam, emailed me about an upcoming event in the city. Since she is busy working in London could I attend it? Why not? Of course, anything Usha suggests is always unique - and so it was! I read up about Jiyo from their website, it says there: JIYO !... Continue Reading →
Tighten your seat belts for some time travel!
Welcome aboard! You are on a time travel device. And, are advised to hold tight, keep your jaws from dropping and eyes from popping out as Aparna Andhare, the maverick pilot, swooshes you through the lanes and by-lanes of Shekhawati in north east of Rangeelo Rajasthan. The region of Shekhawati is probably one of the... Continue Reading →
The Look Book: when they saw us, and how!
My first review as the Mumbai correspondent for Art Fact, the newsletter for ArtsAcre Foundation, Kolkata I could stare at that Persian couple the rest of my life – really! Her hairstyle, their fashionable garments and footwear, his headgear, her direct gaze and his almond dreamy eyes – together they were celebs of their day... Continue Reading →
A 600 year old trek!
Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail. Ralph Waldo Emerson One Saturday morning, we went in our quest for the Kondapalli fort - if you had read the previous post then you would know why 🙂 yes, the crafts community that makes... Continue Reading →
#projectinterpret’s 2nd quarter
In the 2nd quarter of #projectinterpret, apart from the guided tours some new initiatives have taken root. These are: Knowyourcity challenge: photographs are regularly uploaded on the VarnikaDesigns Instagram and Facebook accounts to quiz on some historical monuments/sites/buildings to help people connect to the architectural landmarks of a city. Most of us have passed these... Continue Reading →
Am I “sic” enough for History classes :)
This is part 1 of my History class posts - no, don't worry, I won't teach History 🙂 I'll just share with you my experiences of teaching History to a very, very futuristic AR, VI & AI oriented generation. To the less initiated, like I was at the beginning of these classes, AR is Augmented... Continue Reading →
A Maharaja’s vision, and the romance continues…
In the last blog, we had started on the journey of the discovery of the creations of the illustrious ruler Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad III. We saw him turn into a full fledged king, soon he will prove he is a ruler above excellence, a beloved of his citizens whom he never considered his subjects. Sayajirao was... Continue Reading →
Akbar and Dyslexia
Akbar_Dyslexia The above is a link to an article written in 2008 in Housecall Magazine by Dr Asok Kumar Das. Most of us might be aware that one of the greatest emperors of the Mughal dynasty, Akbar, could not read or write. He maintained an elaborate taswirkhana or atelier where painters were commissioned to illustrate... Continue Reading →