Tales of the Mails

Well My sister and my brother in law had a mail box and it was not a very good looking one. a white box with cracks visible and the their name scribbled in a pencil. I decided to take the tas up (Sadly I am unable to find the "before" pictures that I had taken off it but I am sure a lot of us will be able to relate with the description!)

I decided to give it a bright yellow paint , as it is going to be in the light it will look deliciously yummy ! In the beginning I thought I would paint a leafy structure at the bottom with envelopes sprouting out of it and then vetoed the idea as it was too elaborate for a mail box.

Finally I decided to stamp on small enveloped on the mail box from the bottom to the opening of the post box. Painted their name with red but it wasnt very readable and hence bordered it with black and wrote sharma's in bold black.

I made the stamp with a potato and that works the best for any sort of stamping though I did realise that it was a little organic and not very precise but for the post box it worked wonders. 

 I enjoyed doing this ! And it takes me one step closer to the USP of Nack - which by the way is my firm which talks about personalizing each space, each event, each product according to the user ! 

My Tutti Frutti Man!

Hello All !

So it is the birthday of one of the very favorite men I have in my life! I thought it would be fun to do a special picture of him , collage of sorts and put it up on facebook as a dedication to him on today's special day.

I browsed through a lot of pictures and took out a lot of pictures I have with him , and when I say lot I mean a lot and it was difficult to choose favorites. While collecting these pictures I landed on a few pictures i clicked of him while eating Tutti Frutti Icecream at a place called Barog where we all had gone for a short vacation last year.Those pictures are sooo adorable. He smiles , laughs , concentrates on his Icecream and cherishes it so much that the kid inside him jumps out of joy. 


Me and Rohit Jiju (brother in law) are the photographers of the family , we love to click pictures of everyone and everything ! (Well! I am the everything sorts , he is just everyONE!) and in the rare occasion when he was eating his icecream and relishing it so much he kept the camera down , luckily I had my on and had a gala time just looking through the viewfinder onto a little boy enjoying his glass of tutti frutti icecream. I love the candid moments , I believe they get the true person out !

Anyway , So the series of him eating Tutti Frutti were just so adorable that I let my obsession with my pictures with him go and made a small something for him on his birthday !

To Rohit Jiju ! 

May your life be filled with all the crazy nuts (like Me!) , sweetness of the  Cream , coolness of the ice , twist of the Jam . What I mean to say is , May your life always be like your favorite Tutti Frutti Ice Cream!

Happy Birthday ! 

Love you loads ! 

A

Sikkim - TICK

Hello All ! This post gives me immense pleasure because I have started on the route to ticking one of my "TO DO" things that is in my first post on this blog

http://freshballoffire.blogspot.in/2012/05/100-things-to-do-before-i-die.html (Item no.11.)

So this is a Sikkimese Dress , recently me and Ashok had gone to Gangtok for a vacation. I saw the ladies there wearing this robe and at once decided that I atleast needed to get clicked wearing one of these things.

The dress consists of a silky long sleeved jacket , a gown with ties on both sides to fit it snuggly around the body and If you are married (Like me!) you also have to wear the striped apron in front as a mark of having been taken , something like the mangalsutra that we have in north india.

The accessories consisted of a fan ( which I though was more of an influence of china than of belonging to traditional Sikkim!) and a topi (head gear , to help keep away from cold!)

Among other states I think I can post pictures of a Saree , a Patiala Salwar suit and a Nawaari Saree which is from Maharashtra! I can see my dream of owning and wearing all dresses from different parts of the country taking shape. Watch this space for more.

Anniversary 2012

So it was my anniversary , the first one! and I had in my mind a gif that I wanted to try out for quite some time! Though the GIF never happened because I was making the animation in Gangtok (My first anniversary trip!) and I did not have internet which i would have required to make one. So I made a "windows movie maker" movie instead !

Ashok ! Thank you for being there always ! 

....To many more such years of togetherness......

Love

A

Scrapbook for Geduli

I have a niece , a 3 month old bundle of joy and a sister in law who is every bit enthusiastic about recording and treasuring each moment of her growing up (and rightly so!All kids should have that!) and hence began the search for the perfect journal to put up her pictures in.

Her name is gedul. Pet name ofcourse.In the real world she goes about by the name of Saanvi but no one calls her that yet and it has been kept at the distance of being the formal name which will kick in strongly once she starts school! 

Gedul has had the fortune of 1) having a mother who clicks pictures every blink of her eye and 2) her mami getting a DSLR as an anniversary present from Mamu. Both of the reasons contributing to her having numerous interesting pictures.

A lot of options were looked at online and in stores but we werent satisfied with what we saw. So both of us decided to make a scrap book ourselves.The decision made easier by the fact that the Mami is a designer. 

So off we went to the market , to get handmade paper , some left from years of my being in the "Design" profession and ribbons and glue sticks , and paper strips , and all that the eye could see in the store.

The beginning of the scrapbook looks like this...It also helps me begin one of my bucket list tasks of giving handmade gifts to family , though I must admit that the actual beginning was long time back.I still remember I had flooded my sisters cupboard with numerous cards on her birthday , with silly messages ofcourse and then had a grouse that she dint read and enjoy all of them.Good 'ol days!!

Let this be a happy thought with which geduli's Scrapbook takes shape and may her life be filled with more happiness than all the adults around her have ever seen.

I shall be posting more pictures soon ! 

The Detailing on the Cover

The Scrapbook Jacket 

Dedication to all the Delhi Females !

There have been a lot of times in the life of a Delhi female when males have found them obnoxiously confident(The male complex is a whole different post!) and people (Males/Females) from around the world have looked at them with raised eyebrows and shunned them for being confident about their own selves.

Knowing what is right and what is wrong , what one wants and what one would never accept is a quality tough to have and should be inculcated in every single human being on earth - the quality has no fancy name it's just called "knowing ones own self and comes from deep intellectual thought and resting and being comfortable with what you are!

I have met a fair share of people to understand how they operate , their nuances , their insecurities , their fetishes, the selfishness for their fetishes and the sins they are willing to commit under covers..!I have seen the best of souls slip when none are looking , I have seen the silliest of characters joked about by everyone stand straight and not bend when going gets tough and hence I don't judge people on their covering , I see their eyes move!

I love Delhi and so does my sister , We are born to a maharashtrian father and a punjabi mother but we are absolutely hardcore Delhi-ites and regardless of the popular opinion about Delhi females we love every cent of the city that has seeped into us.

We have been touched at inappropriate places in the most inappropriate places , we have been shouted at for being wrong even when we were right , we have been side lined in a board room full of men even after proving ourselves , we have been threatened by people on motorbikes when we display flawless driving skills and apart from all these big things that happen to females all the time, the toughest that us females face, is the perennial doubt on peoples faces when we tell them we know how things are done! When we do , We KNOW how things are done - we are willing to learn for we also know we dont know enough!

People at various times have told us how Delhi-ites have a pinch of arrogance , us Delhi-ites think that we know everything , we have a body language that threatens. I , and on behalf of my sister and all the other females who relate to what i have written , Please live our life in this city , live our hurt and live our pain , live with men who come from all parts of the country into this city and make living a little difficult for us , especially when their egos are hurt. Live our lives of walking shoulder to shoulder with men for we are as smart and still take the brunt of being told we arent! When you do all of those things - come back to us , either you wont or you would have understood why we are so aggressively designed , when you have understood that if we dont be a little aggressive we'll have the world eat us up and after being adequately educated we have built ourselves some self respect and hence giving it up is obviously not an option.

Either you wont or you would have understood - If you'll be standing I promise you my last penny we shall bow down , for people who have built their self respect bit by bit, are also the ones who know how to respect others who have some!

Till then , Heya Ladies ! You all are doing hell of a job ! Do NOT change a thing !
Love

Delhi: India Gate - and all who flock to see it

The Road not Taken - Robert Frost

TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— 

I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Hither Hither Love by John Keats

Hither hither, love---
'Tis a shady mead---
Hither, hither, love!

Let us feed and feed!

Hither, hither, sweet---

'Tis a cowslip bed---
Hither, hither, sweet!
'Tis with dew bespread!

Hither, hither, dear
By the breath of life,
Hither, hither, dear!---
Be the summer's wife!

Though one moment's pleasure
In one moment flies---
Though the passion's treasure

In one moment dies;---

Yet it has not passed---
Think how near, how near!---

And while it doth last,
Think how dear, how dear!

Hither, hither, hither

Love its boon has sent---

If I die and wither
I shall die content!






A step towards understanding and loving poetry , I was stuck on this one the entire day today !






Oh! and went to Delhi haat with my 3 month old niece and bought psychedelic light toy and a Rubik cube. Will try my hands on it tomo. Let's see where my brain takes me !

Me the Door Mat ! :)

...Of funky acquisitions and getting them at the doorstep!
These mats are from happily Unmarried and they have some quite innovative products. They make the usual mundane pretty funky and "OH I WANT IT RIGHT NOW!" So well of all the other temptations I passed , I did pick up this Doormat and I am in love with it , so much so that I dont (presently!) let anyone step on it!

It was too good to not share.

P.S - There was also a doormat called "Beware of the Wife" that I plan to put up in front of my bedroom door but currently my in laws are visiting and they are not the ones who need to be ware so i'll pick it up later.

by the by these can be picked up at Select city walk Saket. Even if you dont pick anything up , the store is a must visit.

100 things to do before I die

It goes without saying that the list is in no particular order of passion , they have been listed down according to the randomness of when they struck !

1.Open my own design firm - Product , Interiors , Architecture
2.Make Terrariums , use plastic bottles make numerous and then make a terrarium wall out of it.
3.Marry in all religions - with the same man but marry in all religions.
4.Have a Karaoke night and sing your heart out.
5.Learn how to ride a bike
6.Try your hand at driving a truck , a bus , a crane
7.Have a dinner or a lunch at a high pedestal in the air.
8. Organize a Play just like a Theater group from start to finish.
9.Start a DIY blog and make things for fun and learn new things.
10.Travel through India and learn different arts and crafts of the country.
11.Own and wear sarees and then dresses from all parts of India.
12.Try out all types of dresses that exist in the world.Get Clicked-DUH-Obviously!
13.Photograph a wedding ! Be a Wedding photographer atleast for one wedding , if not more!If i become famous and people pay me enough to click their weddings too,WHY NAAT ! But till I get famous-ONE! :P
14.Design Apparels for 5 women in my life.
15.Complete at the minimum 500 books in my lifetime.List them down.
16.Get together with a gang of friends and design and organize a Fashion Show. Auction Dresses.
17.Make SPA products at home.
18.Collect Scrap from all and reuse and up-cycle them into useful products.Start at home.
19.Design my own house. (*SIGH* All Architect's Dream!)
20.Have my own Cafe and Restaurant , however small , however non profitable atleast for a month.
21.Get friends together and shoot videos of them on a song that suits or talks about their personality OR their Favourite song.
22.Print a life size cosmpo cover OR make a live size Cosmo cover and shoot cover girls.
23.Click people's pictures and print them and gift them over time.
24.Do Odd creative jobs to earn money. Design a cozy dinner event for a friend , a relaxing weekend for a tired soul and the likes.
25.Write a Graphic novel.
26.Design Graphic novels from school textbooks for my children.
27.For all the next birthdays , starting 2013 , gift family and close friends things designed by me.
28.Make Bucket List incorporated. (C.H.E.C.K) but yet to make it a success , let's get the second event      rolling.
29.Learn Bachata with my partner.(Ashok! Are you Listening!?)
30.Get My Own Workplace - Office and Workshop.
31.Make things possible for others as much as possible. See them Smile.
32.Learn some sort of music at regular classes. Hindustani Music Classic.
33.Buy a Caravan and travel from Delhi to Kanyakumari.
34.Sketch every day.Starting today-1st June 2012.
35.Make Stop Animation.
36.Write and compile my writings in a book.
37.Make a Journal.
38.Make Dairies and give away to friends and family.
39.Do Yoga everyday. Learn and make the body as flexible as possible.try the toughest asana and get them to perfection.
40.Make hobbies profitable.
41.Have A Garden or Plants and maintain them.
42.Take a Photography class and learn from the experts.
43.Make a customized tool set having all the basics that one would need.
44.Bungee Jumping - Rishikesh !
45.Learn Swimming !
46.Scuba Diving - I am scared of depths and the fear has to just go !
47.Make a Photo Wall.
48.Make my house energy efficient by doing small changes. Research green buildings and green concepts and go !
49.Learn how to design Jewelry.
50.Write a Book , get it published :)
51.Travel on a Cruise for atleast 3 days.
52.Go to Lakshwadeep.
53.Visit Ladakh!
54.Learn how to make REALISITC 3Ds.
55.Open a showroom for that no. 1 needs to be a success :)
56.Make a Bike Trip.
57.Learn how to Sew.
58.Learn to cook different cuisines.
59.Learn to bake. and well !
60.Get an Online portfolio/website , gain visibility. Update designs regularly.
61.Give to Charity.
62.Learn how to use technology to it's best , read manuals and understand , take classes if required.
63.Paint.Sketch.Explore Mediums. Practice.
64.Make a Movie.
65.Make videos of Family and turn them into professional level videos. Err..well..atleast add effects, sound, music, editing.
66.Make a list and keep on expanding it but start with 100.
67.Get to know new people and as many as possible.Learn from them.
68.Go to Cape of Good hope.
69.Give one TV interview.Feel Famous.
70.Learn Orriya.
71.Make handmade Paper.
72.Read Poetry and understand.
73.Make a collection of board games , make it a point to take out time to play.
74.Host an exhibition of your works. which means work well so that you can exhibit.
75.Visit North or the South pole.
76.Witness northern lights.
77.Take your time but choose a week in the next two months and dress 7 different ways in one week.
78.Make a time lapse video.
79.Keep souvenirs of all the trips and make a display box and keep adding them in.
80.Do things to activate the city. Make THAT difference.
81.Harvest Rain.
82.Make a device that would take energy from your movement. Save electricity + Funky new device.
83.Learn Electronics.
84.Be known as a famous designer by 40.
85.Get past life regression done.
86.at the next family wedding wear something designed by me.
87.Make a Delhi Book Club publication.
88.Learn Bar Tending.
89.Go Camping ! The real types.
90.Design a Board Game.
91.Do a Small Graphic Design course.
92.Buy a Big Car by 35.(Big is defined by me having a spark right now!:))
93.Teach.
94.Have a pet.(Not birds!)
95.Wake up early mornings and sketch all the main monuments of Delhi.
96.Host a Barbecue.So learn how to first!
97.Take up small challenges in life every week for the rest of 2012.
98.Learn from and add from the Bucket Lists of people! In principle what you think is interesting is not where the world ends - so learn more and explore more !
99.Make small dairy and jot down everything that can be innovated on and all the interesting observations of the world around.
100.Attend a Scientology workshop.

Well this the 100 till now. not the TOP 100 neither the Favorites. They are just the 100 things I am going to do before I die. There will be more and in all probability will fit one of the subsets , in case it doesnt I shall update.

Here it is a beginning to my Bucket lists ! Follow my Blog for more.:)