Amar Kutir: revolutionaries, Batik & local culinary delight!

Amar Kutir Society for Rural Development near Santiniketan, West Bengal, is a registered cooperative society since 1978. Susen Mukhopadhyay started it in 1923 as a safe haven for the young revolutionaries fighting for Indian’s freedom. He was greatly concerned for the daily livelihood of these young people who had left home and were mostly hiding...

Tiretti Bazaar: Chinese hub in Kolkata

Happy #durgapujo2019 🙂 So what are you doing these Durga Pujo holidays other than 'pandal hopping' in Kolkata? If you want to do something out of the ordinary, then it’s best to visit a multicultural hub there. One lovely Sunday morning, we set out for Tiretti Bazaar in Kolkata. It is held from 5 am...

The Amar, Anthony and Ashdeen of Design

Amardeep Behl, Exhibition Designer, National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad, graduated in 1985, is presently the owner of Design Habit. He has been designing immersive, experiential, entertaining, educational storytelling spaces, specialising in Museums, since his college days. His Diploma Project from NID in 1985 was guided by none other than one of India's most important...

Sundar Nagar Nursery: lose yourself there :)

One extremely sultry Sunday morning, I visited the Sundar Nagar Nursery. It reopened to the public in February 2018 after a restoration project by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC), in partnership with the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) and the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). What an absolute beauty!!! It is a great...

National Handloom Day

Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay established the Crafts Council of India (CCI) in 1964. She also laid the foundation for Sangeet Natak Akademi and National School of Drama. A freedom fighter, social reformer and feminist, champion for India's women and her Handloom and Handicraft communities, this lady from Mangalore was awarded the Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibushan - the...

The past is always with us, for it feeds the present: Ruskin Bond

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......

Dehra + Dun = Dehradun ☺ but it ain’t that simple☺

Meet my family: Chitku’s story :)

Hi, I'm Chitku 🙂 we've met before. This is my brother Kaachbo. We have been brought into this world by Priyanka Tolia. She is an Exhibition Designer from the National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad, and had studied History (Honours) from Lady Shri Ram College (LSR) before that. Priyanka often heard from the elders in...

Water! We will always need you but we treat you bad :(

Delhi was the hottest ever on 10th June, 2019 - parts of it was 48 degrees!!! This will go down in history. In the 21st century, our generation has managed to make it to the global historical timeline with the most atrocious events, including the world heading towards a huge water scarcity. According to the...

the #projectinterpret story

“There is nothing sadder than an empty museum. After all, the treasures belong to the nation — to everybody…Museums provide spaces to meet, with huge galleries and a chance to see things in a different way, in real life, not digitally. They can be meeting places with cafés and restaurants, as well as lecture halls...