Diwali Wishlisting with Shopo

Diwali here, far away from the motherland is quite tame. It involves heading to a friend's place for dinner and some Indian-esque dressing up. Back home, Diwali was a week/ two week long celebration involving lakshmi puja, a week long marriage of tulsi to krishna, gorging on sweets and lots of noise and sparkle. So I promptly agreed when Krithika asked me to come up with a Diwali wishlist from products launched by Shopo exclusively for Diwali. As an NRI, all I can do is dream about an extravagant Diwali, so dream a little with me?

 Diwali is all about....

 An invitation for an evening of celebrations

 L to R: 1, 2 and 3


 An evening brightened by the soft light of candles/ diyas

 L to R: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6


An excuse to dress up: Sigh... This truly is a wishlist. I love sarees, but never get to wear them here.

 L to R: 1 and 2

A bit of sparkle, a bit of bling

L to R: 1, 2, and 3

And of course, an excuse to re-decorate your home!

L to R: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6

Love what you see, head here to Shopo to check out their Diwali offerings.

~ Happy Diwali ~

{Credit for all images go to Shopo and the creative talent behind the products}

The Art of Stenciling

As all of you who've read this post, know how much I love going beyond just dabbing some color on walls. Here is some gorgeous stencil inspiration (To be specific, inspired by India pied a terre via Pinterest), that has been making me wish I didn't live in a rental.

Over the past 2 years, with great delight, I've followed Maryam setting up of her boutique hotel 'Peacock Pavilions'. I love how she has stenciled Moroccan patterns in so many innovative ways with absolutely gorgeous results.

A stenciled staircase

Ceiling and Floors

And even stenciled placemats!

Here's some more inspiration from Melanie Royals of Royal Design Studio responsible for several of the stencil projects featured above at Peacock Pavilions.

This lovely stencil design called the 'Gujarat Indian Border' was on sale the last time I checked. I need to mention that the colors used here also have lovely names- China Blue, Bengal Rose, Indian Purple and Agapanthus.

 via

Leaving you with one last image...

 Again via Indiapiedaterre on Pinterest

 I had a wonderful thanksgiving with family and friends. Hope yours was as good?

SHP Feature: E'thaan

The story for E'thaan starts with Ritu Varuni's architectural thesis. She lived in Nagaland for a year to conduct research for her thesis. It's usage in traditional architecture and craft among the Nagas was an eye opener and inspired her to start a bamboo craft development project in Arunachal Pradesh. It's now been 18 years and Ritu's love slowly took the form of E'thaan. E'thaan is a Lotha Naga word meaning something 'new'.

 Tortoise Coasters

Ritu had also begun to work with Sanjhi and wood craft artisans from North India since 1999. Over the years as her organization gained popularity she was frequently asked if she had a shop. On her move to Delhi, entered Bharati Chadha, Ritu's friend who was a marketing expert. And together they started E'thaan in 2004. Ritu and Bharati's love for traditional craft and their desire to support the artisans is visible in that they pay the craftsmen fully on completion of a product and take the risk of sale on themselves.

L to R: Handcrafted tealight holder in stone, Bookends hadcrafted from stone and Carved tile door knobs

A mix of strong ethics and an innovative use of traditional handcrafted woodwork led to them being awarded the UNESCO Seal of Excellence Award in 2006.  

 Sanjhi teak floor lamp

Apart from the products featured here, E'thaan also makes gorgeous pieces of furniture. They  specialize in wood, stone and bamboo interiors, with a focus on energy conservation. Please visit their website here to take a look at some gorgeous divans, side tables and floor lamps.

 Carved Roti Box

I came out of hibernation to do an SHP Feature to thank Bharati. I bought this absolutely gorgeous Masala Dibba from E'thaan a while ago and Bharati's professionalism left me gasping. She asked for my parents' phone number; called and confirmed that she had mailed it out and then called them a day later to check if it was delivered to their satisfaction. Thank you Bharati! I think a combination of Ritu's passion to work with artisans and Bharati's personal touch will definitely bring more awards E'thaan's way.

 Carved wood masala dibba with ceramic containers

Also, E'thaan will be at the Dastakar Bazaar from 8th to 19th October at Crafts Museum, New Delhi. Please drop in to drool. For all the non-Delhites take the drooling online to their website or Facebook page. 

{Credit for All Images to E'thaan} 

Craftsmen from Morocco at Work

I absolutely love Moroccan architecture, design, lanterns, embroidery and I could go on; as would anybody reading this blog.

Here are a few gorgeous images from a Moroccan home that was a spotlighted on Elle Decor a few issues ago to give you a taste of Morocco invading a home.

Hopefully, you've now fallen in love with Morocco too? Then this video by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York of Morrocan craftsmen at work should be a treat for your visual senses.




The craftsmen are working on a wing of the New galleries for the Art of the Arab Lands, Turkey, Iran, Central Asia and Later South Asia. You can find more information about the new wing here.

The Met along with the Rubin Museum of Art, happens to be one of my favorite museums in Manhattan. If just the wing is so beautiful, could you imagine how gorgeous treasures must be treasures that the museum is going to house there soon?!

I bid you goodnight or good morning, as the case may be, with a huge smile of anticipation on my face.

Tip: If you are in town and visiting the Met, call me. Else, make sure you go looking for the Spanish section. When you stumble on a sunlit courtyard with intricately carved balconies and a high ceiling covered in tiles you know you are in the right place ;)

The Fasinating Art of Re-creating Photos of Old Hindu Deities

First, there was performance artist Pushpamala N re-creating the familiar Raja Ravi Verma oleograph of goddess Lakshmi to much acclaim.

 Image from here

Photographer Manjari Sharma recently launched an interesting project to do similar work at a much grander scale. I'm not sure if I agree with her statement that there aren't photographs of Hindu deities in India- as far as I remember most homes have/ had multiple! But reiterate, interesting project nevertheless.

Darshan from Manjari Sharma on Vimeo.

What do Royalty and the Streets of Delhi Have in Common?

...........The fashion designer JJ Valaya. JJ Valaya recently turned photographer and the results are a stunning mix of gorgeous textiles and antique jewelery. As soon I laid my eyes on the stunning black and white images, I had to come back from obscurity to do this post.

 The overnight change in their lifestyles in free India- A maharaja sharing a bench with a commoner, another standing proud in front of a slum and yet another sitting upright among the ruins of his fort....

 ..... And the contrast with a fleeting glimpse of their former glory.

For more pictures, please go here.

{Credit for all images to JJ Valaya}