You'll Find Me..

..In Bangalore 

Next week!

I am in the lovely city of Bangalore next week, at the invite of a breathtakingly beautiful boutique heritage property. I will come back with stories and pretty pictures of all that I experience, and for the first time, will give 'live' blogging a shot over at my Instagram account! So if you would like to see surreptitious pictures of my co-passenger's meals, aesthetically shot pic of my boarding pass, pics of fluffy clouds and a plane wing, my feet as they first touch Bangalore, my first coffee and the first idli of the day at Bangalore...don't hesitate and send me a 'follow' request on Instagram right now! 

And if the above doesn't entice you, sigh, what to do? I WILL have to share pics from this heavenly place where I will be staying, the antiques that I will be marveling at, the boutique shops I will be visiting, the quaint bungalows, the cats I find and tickle, the fabulous textiles and crafts I gorge on, the cafes I visit, the wines I drink, the night sky from an organic farm, the rain...oh, the rain & thunder that I know is waiting for me in the city of Bengaluru. Find it all here :)

I'll be back on the blog in the first week of June

You be good and you take care

Join me on this trip right here, on instagram!

P.S: Thank you so much for your warm messages after the last post. I am doing much better...travel acts like a ninja anti-illness drug and I am back on my feet again! The next few months are all about moves & travel...we are going to go places, my kittens, and puppies! :)

It's Awful

Yes

It is

It is awful to be sick. To be sick when you had a packed week and you have more packed weeks coming up. When you were planning a surprise birthday party, for you love surprises and you adore birthdays and together they are the most awesome thing ever, turning over the hill be damned. When you were jumping around in high heels at the party, but with an existing hangover from the previous night and with a crushing backache that had merrily invited it's friends to the party as well. Friends that stayed over for the weekend and don't show any signs of leaving yet. You might know of these friends - neck ache, headache, eye ache and yes, even ear lobe ache showed up! Sigh. I am as grumpuss as you can imagine a cat denied to go outdoors can be. If not for the brilliant storm that brought some soul relief to me yesterday, I would have been silently [ok, not so silently most likely] sulking away in a corner. And oh the anticipation of upcoming travel! I have weeks & weeks of back to back travel coming up, and I am behaving myself as well as I can this week, so that I am fit as a fiddle and free as a fancy next week. [I am sick and I am allowed random word play, for all the grammar nazis out there who just flipped at the last sentence]

So, since I am squinting my eyes while typing this out and can't type no more [Ha ha, I like poking them grammar-oos, when I am not on their side being a nazi myself], I will hand over the post to you. Remember the cat not being allowed to go out? I am that cat, staring wistfully at all these vistas to be viewed from these rooms. Give me a room with a view any day. Like ANY DAY. I will take it and say Thank You.

I am off to Bangalore for the week, next week, my lovelies

Holler if you are around

And tell me if there are things & places JUST NOT TO BE MISSED in Bangalore.

I will see ya once again, before this week is through

Hale & Hearty

Mercury Retrograde be damned.

Ha.

[Images: Here]

Nope, Nothing

Yup, that's right. There's no agenda to today's post. No theme either. No well-put-together story of sorts. Nothing at all. I felt like talking to you. And I am having severe mountain pangs. And I am so neck deep in work,  so much work, that I am this close to saying 'Oh, fish it. I am going to Prague. And Paris'. Which is happening too, but that update is for another time. So going back to the mountain pangs, I go to my favorite tumblr blogs to get me some of those snow clad peaks and then I get distracted by these rooms and spaces. And I look at these spaces and I think to myself that these need to be shared with my kittens over at the blog. If I like them, they might like them too, and then all of us can be happy together, even if sitting in non-mountainous areas. So yeah, this is what the post is about. You and I, thinking of mountains, and looking at some pretteh rooms.  

And here I pause you. Wait. Take a deep breath and look at this image below. This, my munchkins, is what I call a working space. Imagine, you are working, working, working, and then you recline back and look to your left. You take in all that greenery, get visual oxygen and then go back to working, working, working. And then you pause and look again to your left. Maybe this time, pick up your glass of wine cup of tea/coffee, and go and stand by the window. Then you sigh, and go back to the desk and start working, working....yes, this can go on; I am sure you get the idea. Just lookatit!

Drop me a note if you live in the mountains. I am going to stare wistfully at you. Virtually of course. But even my virtual wistful stare can be quite heart melting, or so I have been told, and I am anticipating that you will invite me. To join you, in your mountain abode.

In that hope,

Adieu

I will be back with a more meaningful, with depth sorta post, soon

You, my kittens, have a happy rest of the week!

[Images: From here and there]

The Water Bearers

From Coppre

I am so happy to announce the launch of yet another fabulous new collection from Coppre, called the Water Bearers! Beautifully hand crafted, by the metal craftsmen in Tambat Ali, a small settlement in Pune, this collection is as much a decor statement as it is utilitarian. And that's not all! Traditional wellness wisdom talks of "Tamrajal" or "water ionized by copper" as having myriad health benefits. In ayurveda, water kept and had from copper vessels is known to be 'rich in antioxidants, kill bacteria, regulate thyroid, cure arthiritis, heal wounds faster, stimulate brain activity, improve digestion and beat anemia'. Phew! Something so pretty to look at and packed with such a punch! Drinking water just became way more cooler :)

The Water Bearer collection has Terracopper Jug, Terracopper Tumblr, Linear / Concave / Convex Tumblr, Bedside Carafe & Glass, Desktop Carafe and the Stepped Tray and you can shop for these and more from Coppre's repertoire right here.

~ The GiveAway ~

Coppre loves An Indian Summer readers and has gifted lovely products earlier as well to a few lucky ones. We are back with a giveaway and this time Coppre would like to gift one reader, anywhere in the world, a Desktop Carafe. This desktop carafe is beautifully finished off with handbeaten indentations of the Tambat craftsman and can be used both as antimicrobial packed drinking water vessel or as a flower vase.

~  How To Participate ~

1. Hop on to Coppre's website

2. Scroll down and sign up for their newsletter to get the the first dibs on all their exciting new launches & offers

That's it! 

Coppre will pick a winner from all the new subscribers who join their mailing list. The lucky (and henceforth very healthy) winner will be announced on facebook on Tuesday - May 5th!

Have a great weekend, folks! 

[All Images: Coppre. Creative Storyboarding: An Indian Summer]

For The Love Of Handloom

The feel of handwoven fabric. The texture. The weft and the warp. The intricacy of design. The symmetry and also the idiosyncrasies of made-by-hand. The centuries old craft traditions that are reverently passed on from one generation of artisans to the next. The story behind each gorgeous yard of a sari.  The wonder at the skill, the passion & the sheer hard work that goes in to create something so beautiful. 

Oh, the love for hand woven Indian textiles - you and I, we know what that feels like!

And because we love our textiles so much, we need to do what we can to save them. 

The What

You might or might not have yet heard about the powerful emerging lobby in India that wants to repeal the Handloom Reservation Act, that has been in place since 1985 to protect traditional handloom weaves and the interests of marginalized weavers. This influential lobby is in favor of bringing in power looms which will flood the market with cheap, low quality, machine made replicas of textiles (especially saris) and take away the livelihood of thousands of weavers and their families. And of course, if this does happen, the loss of invaluable textile traditions, skill and knowledge will be inevitable and irreversible.

What You Can Do

We need to lobby against the repeal of The Handloom Act. Dastkar has started an online petition and we need to sign it and share it with as many like minded people as we can. For now, this is what we must do and support the weavers. 

Please do pause, and sign the petition right now. It takes less than 10 seconds. And you are very welcome to take more time and also share your views and opinions on the petition if you like.

For more information, you can take a look at The Handloom Act and read this, and this, very well written articles.

You and I
We will help preserve & protect what we love

A request to all An Indian Summer readers
From India and everywhere else
Anyone who has been inspired by the beauty of handwoven textiles 
Do Sign the petition
And share this post far and wide


I will see you again in a couple of days. Be good, my munchkins!


[Image credits mentioned on images. Creative storyboarding: An Indian Summer]

Jungle Tales

I spent the latter part of last week in the jungle. A jungle deep in the heart of India, exploring and reconnaissancing the forty four acres of forested site earmarked for an upcoming luxury wildlife lodge, with my favorite wildlife peeps & a very creative & accomplished architect. We were reminded at all times that we are in the jungle as the team of workers and onsite staff would merrily share stories of a python here and a cobra there, and then point out a lone jackal or a wild boar inspecting us, as we worked, perched high up in the tree houses. An evening jeep safari in trail of the resident tigress turned out to be quite an adventure, with us getting caught in a raging storm and a burst of rain in the thick of the jungle. With fallen trees blocking the one narrow road that led back to our site and no phone network, we crossed our fingers and off-roaded through the buffer zone, meadows and stray villages, while being treated to the most brilliant 180 degrees display of thunder and lightening against a pitch dark sky. You, my munchkins, know just how much I love a good storm, and I couldn't have asked for a better one! The hangover, from the splendid forest, the storm and from the wine that followed, remains, and my pick of the rooms reflect just that. A hint of the wild, a bit raw & rough, in tune with the nature around or bringing the nature in, strong statement in wood, iron & stone and natural fabrics.

I can't wait for the lodge and the tree houses to reach the stage where I can start sharing sneak peaks of the project with you! Another couple of months and I think we will be there. Will keep bringing back stories for you in the meantime!

[All Images: Mechant Studio]