Giveaway Time!

{This post has been re-published with modified rules}

 

Mala Iyer from Engrave.In has offered a free engraved personalized photo for SHP readers! Engraved you say? Yep, engraved on wood!

Take a look at some of their work. I love how each of the plaques is so unique and allows for personalization of even the font!

 My favourites...

The voucher is worth Rs. 799.

The contest is now open worldwide. Live in Bolivia? Iceland? Norway? Australia? Participate! And  Engrave.In will ship it to you if you win!

The contest rules are simple,

1. Like Engrave's Facebook page and come back to this post to leave a comment saying you did so.
2. Like Sound Horn Please's Facebook page and leave a comment below this post saying you did so.
3. Spread the word about the contest on your Blog or on Facebook and paste the link in the comments section of the post for an additional third entry.
4. Tweet about it- Link to engrave.in when you tweet, or mention @engravedotin in your tweet.

Each of these will get you an entry. So, if you like both the pages, you essentially get 2 entries. If you have already 'liked' either of these pages on Facebook, leave a comment saying so and you still get an entry. 


The contest is open till midnight EST on 5th July.

Good luck!

{Copyright for all photos featured here belong to Engrave.In}

SHP Feature: SimplyCity

SimplyCity is a fun, apparel brand started by Ranjani Shanker and Srividya Sriram. SimplyCity currently offers screen printed tees, designed by Vidya, inspired by Indian cities.

Their products are currently inspired by Chennai- Ranjani's and Vidya's hometown. They've got the 'namma ooru' street cred and Madras lingo down to a pat. The brand was born out of their love for the metro (quite understandably).

In early 2010, during Vidya's trip back home to Chennai she was frustrated to find that her only options to bring back a piece of India with her, were showpieces or traditional attire..... and the first sketch of the 'Filter Kaapi' tee, was born.

The sketch stayed locked away until she happened to meet Ranjani in the summer of 2010. Then, with Ranjani's marketing blitzkrieg was born SimplyCity in just 3 weeks.

SimplyCity is all set to now launch pan Indian designs celebrating the sights, sounds and quirks unique to an Indian experience. They are also on the lookout for city-specific designs, so if you think you know your city the best- give them a holler. 

Do check out their,

Online store
Facebook page
Twitter page

All the best Ranju and Vidya- Keep 'reppin the roots' and keep 'em comin'!

Pssst! Just in case you didn't get 'Go dude, Onion!', ever heard 'Poda Vengaayam'? Lowe it girls!

Dishoom: A Fun Design Story

I'm taking you to eat Vada Pau, wash it down with some Spiked Colaba Iced Tea and end the meal with some Kala Khatta Gola.  Iced tea not to your liking eh? How about a Thums up float then? We are heading to Bombay you think? Nah... We are heading to London's own 'Dishoom Chowpatty Beach' pop-up on London's Southbank where 48 tonnes of sand have been shipped to create a beach! If you think that is extraordinary, hold your horses till you hear the design story behind Dishoom.

My love for jugaad is well known. Dishoom exemplifies the spirit of jugaad in their design.

Let's take a walk to Chowpatty Beach...

The exterior is made out of old freight pallets, gorgeously re-purposed.

The terrace sit out is made out of reclaimed railway sleepers as benches and colourful barrels as seating. 

Let's head inside and take a peek...

The bar inside has a wall erected out of old tightly rolled newspapers!

I love how the metro-white tiled interior has quirky brightly coloured chairs and old jam jars as lighting adding just the right touch of pop. 

The blurry old sepia photo in the background is actually a clock! And how fun! The lopsided moustache definitely had me cracking up!

And let's not forget the Golas I promised earlier on...

 

Wondering who is behind all of this?  That would be the Gujarati trinity of Amar, Adarsh and Shamil Thakrar. Over numerous trips over the years back to Bombay, inspired by the charm of old Bombay cafes, they decided to bring a large slice of Bombay back with them to London. 

So, Amar the E&Y Chartered Accountant, Adarsh the Merrill Lynch  Equity Fund Manager and Shamil- an MBA turned serial entrepreneurs finally took the plunge with the original Dishoom Bombay Cafe in London. You can read all about the first Dishoom cafe's equally interesting design story here.

Please head to Dishoom's website to see more photos of their fun cafes. 

A special thanks to Rebecca Brett from Roche Communications for all her help in putting this post together. 

Here's a shout out to London to Shilpa Bhatnagar for letting me know about Dishoom's existence.

{Photo credit for all images to Dishoom}