Why you shouldn't be a Journalist. Reason# 27

Headline spotted in the archives of my newspaper: Lube Dude*

May my tribe increase!

* In reference to: the head of an oil company

Desolation Row

I am lusting after Brussels-based photographer Vincent Fournier’s ‘Space Project’ images that give a whole new meaning to the word desolation! These other-worldly, spectacular landscapes are all thanks to Fournier having gained access to some of the most controlled environments on earth - including desert observatories and cosmonaut training grounds.

via: www.sci-fi-o-rama.com

Not without my brother...

BFFs Forever. Came across these two in a Colaba bylane. They wouldn't pose without the other. I love that they're so natural in front of the camera.

Words so True

PS- I write for a newspaper

The Sleeper Part I

A conscious slumber seems to take,
And would not, for the world, awake.

Whoever said Mumbai is a city that never sleeps?

Churchill Chambers

Why we need to protect our architectural heritage
Reason #35: Because sometimes all it takes is a lick of paint!

What's in a name?

How's this for aggressive branding?

Afghan Carpet House. 35, Shop No 11, Abbas Building, Mere Weather Road, Mumbai

To the Moon and Back

I've seen enough to know I've seen enough...

Meet Moon baba (seen above with unidentified flunkie). Colaba's most likeable tout. Drugs, girls, boys, a bed to sleep in or just a chat... your wish is Moon baba's command. In case you're wondering, he hangs out around the Salvation Army. But of course!

Imagine

Mumbai's past needs a future...

On Apollo Bunder, with upscale restaurants like Indigo Deli and Moshe and stores like House of Raro for company, lies this marvellous ruin. I call it Kalimpong House, owing to the tottering signboard hanging off one end. Its facade, is all that remains, but what a facade it is! Victorian-Gothic in provenance, the facade opens up into a gorgeous little courtyard, perfect for an outdoor cafe. Makes you wonder why some canny restaurateur doesn't spot the potential and snap it up. Someone please breathe life into this one!

Meanwhile...

... Right next door something's afoot. Someone mentioned Le Pain Quotidien, the Belgian, and now global, boulangerie. I love the promise of new beginnings for Mumbai's heritage spaces.

The Survivor

There's a crack in everything

That's how the light gets in

Did you know we had a 16th century church in our midst? Slap bang on Aksa beach is the Church of St Bonaventure, a Portuguese relic that dates back to 1575. Granted what remains of the original structure is mainly just the rugged facade but there's something about the solidness of this church that fills you with a sense of awe, as fancy-free as it is. I know a couple that chose to get married here. I think it's a brilliant idea. There's even a pretty courtyard that'd be perfect for the after party.
Now if only these walls could talk...

Village People

The more things change
The more they stay the same...

Just beyond Malad, along Aksa beach, is a little village called Erangal. It still feels like a village. Although each time I visit, some of that character has given way to urbanism.

Can it!

Does this qualify as an innovative dustbin where there are none?
To me it still seems like littering!

Happy Diwali

On second thoughts, every day is Diwali when you live in a city of blinding lights

Dream on Dreamer

"I don't know where the artificial stops and the real starts." — Andy Warhol

I sometimes feel like a character in a Dhruvi Acharya painting. For those of you who aren't acquainted with her, Acharya's work is highly graphic in style and rich in narrative and her characters seem to live their lives in a weird dream like state. She approaches her work like quick sketches in a daily journal. Now why don't our daily journals look like this?

Photo courtesy: www.gallerychemould.com

Stop and Stare

How often do you stop to admire this rare representation of both grandeur and humility?
Everytime I do, it takes my breath away.

Photo courtesy: Joshua Crasto

Quelle tragédie!

Why oh why can we not be responsible custodians of cultural wealth? The Independent just reported on the large scale disappearance of furniture, fittings and fixtures designed by Modernist genius Le Corbusier and his cousin Pierre Jeanneret for the city of Chandigarh in the early 50s (http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/house-and-home/interiors/design-heritage-of-le-corbusiers-indian-vision-is-carved-up-for-sale-2115633.html) Imagine, his influence even extended to the man hole covers and street lamps at the time. And now... we risk having nothing left. What little remains is languishing in bureacratic mire or worse still rubbish tips (not sure which is worse). These images are typical of the furniture he designed for Chandigarh's administrative buildings, quite unlike the tubular steel creations he's better known for today.

Pics courtesy: Wallpaper magazine

Happy Birthday Lonny

When you turn One
You know its time to go from walk to run

My favourite design e-mag turns one! Lonny magazine is a heartening story of turning dream to vision to reality. From a year ago when Michelle and Patrick (co-founders) uploaded images to their blog using the "superior" wi-fi at their grocery store parking lot to today when they have a thriving revenue model built around an innovative publishing format. The site is easier than ever to use and filled with the most scrumptuous photography and easy to use ideas for re-designing your world. Don't miss their whopping 259-page anniversary issue.

Next up: Printed versions of old issues for safekeeping. Sign me up!

www.lonnymag.com

Head bangin' cool

Coz I don't want to be a muddlehead
With a saucepan on my head!

Goaphile Chris Balzac turned a tragedy into an opportunity… in a perfectly nice way of course. When his travels through India got hit by the Tsunami in 2004, he decided to while away his time by painting his motorcycle and his helmet. One thing led to another and he’s now the proud owner of brand Goa Chic, extending his creativity to perfumes, helmets, luggage.

It's Goa trippy meets Art Nouveau!

Where: Bombay Electric 1 Reay House, Best Marg, Colaba+91 22 2287 6276
Why: Coz you like your head too much to ever let it go…
Why not: If price is a factor! These helmets cost upwards of 30 k!

M for Mountains, Momos, Maggi and Monasteries

Azure skies and mountains bare

A land where eagles dare

Okay so I realise my posts are travelling beyond the geographical limits of the city but as much as you may love your city you've to sometimes get away. Spiti is tucked away in the Trans-Himalayan belt of Himachal Pradesh — a peculiar geo-climatic cold desert region that borders Tibet in the east and Ladakh in the north. It's a harsh landscape with a stark beauty that's indescribable. The people are warm and industrious and largely cut off from everything we know as the real world. Its trekker's paradise. But don't go there if you're not going to respect the fragility of the land and the lives that depend on it. The power grid may have largely bypassed Spiti but the vagaries of climate change haven't. Do go if you want to volunteer at the community level. Contact Ecosphere Spiti for more details.

www.spitiecosphere.com

Cupcake and the City

Okay, so summer is almost over and a bikini-ready body is less of a worry. What better reason do you need to tuck into a cupcake? Or a dozen. After sampling the fares of every cupcake store in the city and realising (sob) that there will never be another Magnolia, I have nevertheless decided to crown a winner. And the winner is... drum roll... Sweet Toot.

Their cupcakes much taste better than they look (with the others I find the opposite is true). Plus the eggless ones are just as good, if not better, than their eggy counterparts, and that's worth a pat (a-cake) on the back. Bakers Purnima and Jyoti are obliging and will try and accomodate even last minute orders.

Sweet Toot 10 Sunbeam, opposite Activity High School, Pedder Road. Call Purnima Khatau on 2352-3756 or Jyoti Sampat on 2351-0530 between 10am-6pm.
Cupcakes cost between Rupees 25-30

To It or not to It, that is the question

Mirror mirror on the wall

who's the It-iest of them all?

So is Spanish design house Loewe (pronounced by the way as Lo-ay-vay and not Lo or Loee Or Loway) 's new-ish creative director Stuart Vevers onto a good thing? The ex-Mulberry head designer, in what is apparently a reactionary departure from every label's frenzied dash to 'bag' the next 'It' bag, is on a mission to design handbags that will stand the test of time. The 'papelle', touted as the first Anti-It bag is designed like an ordinary shopping paper bag and weighs less than 2 pounds. The caveat? It costs over $1000. Wouldn't it be simpler to pull out your faded old LL Bean or something instead?

Math lover: Let me count the many ways to love thee

Does mathematics offer a metaphor for life? Watch A Disappearing Number produced by British experimental theatre company Complicite and find out for yourself.

Here's the theatre review from The Guardian:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2007/sep/12/theatre2

While on the subject of Math, I've been reading The Housekeeper and the Professor by Ogawa Yoko, a charming tale of an ageing Japanese mathematician with a peculiar problem - his memory lasts for only 80 minutes. What gives him some comfort is his abiding love for numbers. Copious quantities of it. This is a sacred bond that runs far deeper than human memory, and it's a bond he extends to his loyal housekeeper. Intrigued? Read it.

Jamshed Bhabha Theatre 9,10 and 11 August 2010 8 pm

Snug as a bug in a wellington

Rain rain stay another day

With our wellies on we want to play

Remind me again why its taken so long for retailers to sell wellington boots in a city that endures a four month long monsoon? Rain boots are a necessity. Not a luxury. Those silly jellies just don't cut it for me. And thats why these star spangled babies from footwear brand Tresmode couldn't have come sooner. They're sturdy, affordable, and while they aren't the iconic British brand Hunter (I'd buy them in the traditional dark olive), they're pretty damned cute.

Footloose and Fancy-ful

Hey, I put some new shoes on,
And suddenly everything is right

Does Sabyasachi Mukherjee ever get it wrong? These babies are going to be every bride's new best friend. Shoes that are high on old world glamour, add about 5 inches to your height and are super comfortable to boot (pun intended) with their wide wide base

Sabyasachi, 52, V.B.Gandhi Marg, Kala Ghoda, Mumbai
11:00 – 20:00 Monday to Saturday

pics courtesy Bharat Chanda