Things I learnt in 2010

I just wrote the thank you post & it felt incomplete. There are so many things which were new about 2010 for me and I did so many things for the 1st time, and I will be lying if I said it was all easy and that I didn't quake in my knees. I did. For most of the year. (Will try to make this post less confessional & preachy than it is promising to be). But through this year I have been getting emails asking how I made the switch. This post is not about how I made the switch, but it is about a few invaluable lessons I learnt after I made it.

People trust you. I would quake in my knees as I did people's homes for the 1st time. I could try anything in my own house, but others homes was a different ball game. But my clients each of them, took all my suggestions on board with such enthusiasm that it gave me confidence.

Its ok to trust. Facebook is a fun/useful place. This is the one thats been such a revelation, because by nature I'm a private person, so even putting up my own face on facebook was a hurdle, so imagine putting a facebook button here on this blog :) And then agonising each time I hit the accept friend button. The great thing is I have met only appreciative kind people who wants to know you better and to see if they can work/collaborate with you.

Life bails you out. Just when I wanted money an assignment would materialise, or bang in the middle of an important assignment I would have to go out of town, which would in turn cause a much needed shift in perspective.

Going with the flow. Some things will happen, some won't. And be ready to jump & go for it when something big comes your way. If its scary, do it anyway. (like writing this post, I feel like I'm stripping- god help me)

Doing new things- things which are not 'me'. I always thought i was awful at taking photographs of people, especially strangers. I just didn't want to. But in Nagaland there was no monument or architecture I could capture, it was all about the amazing people. So I shot them & I didn't die. Similarly I always thought I will never photograph nature, because the few precious attempts I had made were SO pathethic. I had a theory that I should not bother shooting nature, cause it is pointless. But the Matheran pictures did not turn out bad.

You get 2nd,3rd, 4th, 5th etc chances, so its ok to do it & goof up. You will get to do it again till you get better at it. eg: i was not too happy with the finish of my boxes initially, but I didn't know better, I had to take what my carpenters/painters were giving me. Then I got a new set of carpenters & painters & we are still working on the product so it may look better each time.
Now for the painful stuff: Finish your assignments sooner than later, it means money quicker in your bank. I can't stress the importance of this one for salaried turned fledgling freelancers/entreprenuers.

But one of the biggest learnings of 2010 for me has to be this. Taking care of yourself pays. You've got one body. Treat it well, sleep. Eat healthy food. Its ok if you do one less in a day (look who is talkingggg!!!) But truly, I've learnt to slow down this year. Its killed me to do it. Even now my instinct is to stay up & do it. But don't. Sleeeeep.

You are your worst critic, people are not thinking half the harsh things you are thinking about yourself :) I wish for all of you like me to be gentle with yourselves & to move on from the things you felt you could have done differently this year. Its over. And we have a brand new year waiting for us Yuhooo!! 2011, here we cooommmeee!!!!

(All the images in this post have been shot by me at Bhuj, Kerala and at home & I had a field day photoshopping them)

Thank you, Merci, Shukriya 2010

Its time to say bye to a year that gave me a lot. This is my list of gratitudes. If I look back like i said in SHP's interview, I lived most of last year with a very strong sense of gratitude. And how could I not.

This was my 1st year as an independent professional, that I design- be it interiors or advertising or trays/boxes, everything is secondary to the fact that I could sustain myself, my home without any compromises.

I want to thank each of you who reads this blog regularly or otherwise, each of you who takes the trouble to comment, each of you who 'follows' this blog, each one of you who has written to me saying how much you love what I do. I want to thank all my fellow bloggers who have been a huge source of inspiration to me with your ideas, with your dedication and discipline to your own blogs, I can't tell you how much that has helped me make that one more post, when I was too busy doing 'other things'.

I want to thank all the store and boutique owners who chose to retail my products, and each one of you who put out the money to buy my trays and boxes whether from the stores or from me directly.
All the people who called me and entrusted the decor of their homes and office to me. This of all the things surprises me because you just trusted me. The projects are still ongoing and you will see pictures of the spaces in 2011.

And finally I want to thank all the writers of the newspapers, magazines, blogs who thought to feature me in their publications and blogs. I can't tell you what an encouragement that was and how unwittingly it would happen just when I would find reason to doubt myself. Here's looking to a brilliant 2010 for all of us, a year filled with a lot of love, good work, happiness and creativity :)

Fleetwood House II, Matheran

We spent considerable amounts of time lounging around in Fleetwood House, drinking tea, reading books, playing with the dogs, just catching up on conversation. The beauty is that this is the kind of place that is perfect for that. The Villa is not polished up and shiny and therein lies its charm. It is rusty and antique and weathered (built in 1871), the high sloped ceilings with its painted wooden beams, the slatted doors and windows of the dining room, the interesting knick knacks strewn around, the guitar and the barbeque stand in the corner of the dining room and the paintings on the wall all suggest a lovingly put together place.

self portraity :) and isn't that brass vessel beautiful?

An old sewing machine holds interesting memorabilia

I have to say I was a little obsessed with shooting the white star that hung from the ceiling. I have pictures of it from every meal time, in multiple angles & it drove my friends nuts. And here I must also say that they are all extremely indulgent with me and my camera obsessive ways.

Mirrors and little artefacts brighten up walls

The last 2 pictures are from a clustrer of rooms behind the main Villa. Shanker and Raju keep the place with great love and cook up some amazing simple and yummy fare. I'd say this place is definitely worth a visit.

Fleetwood House, Matheran

When we looked up Fleetwood house on the net through the recommendation of a friend, we didn't imagine it would be as beautiful an experience as it finally turned out to be. I use the word 'experience' consciously, because Fleetwood house is unlike any hotel I have stayed at so far, its truly an experience. Starting from the rusty simple vintage colonial structure of the Villa (built in 1871) to the ample grounds it sits on, from the stable with healthy shiny horses to the family of dogs who are like members of the family (I mentioned that Johnny(father dog, leader of the pack) actually came to pick us up from before we even reached the place, he walked along till we reached). But most importantly the staff who don't behave like staff because they love their work, the dogs and horses and the Villa like it was their own.
On the practical side, those looking to go there need to know that it is at the higher end of Matheran and this means an hour of walking after the last motorable point. Like I mentioned Matheran is one of the few hill stations which dont allow vehicles. Ofcourse you can always go up on a horse (there are options of human pulled rickshaws, but I have seen only senior citizens availing it) Our walk just made us more ravenous for our lunch which was waiting for us at Fleetwood House.

I took so many pictures of the place that I will spit it into 2 posts, outdoors & indoors. Presenting the charming exteriors of Fleetwood house.

Do you see Johnny on the stairs?

Fleetwood house looks best in the evenings, with the sun throwing in tall beams of light through its windows.

The compound is full of surprising touches like this elephant head

The Fleetwood house owners are polo players of repute & the stable has some really fine horses

This seating carved from stone is probably the only place we didn't spends hours on

Chairs strewn around pretty patches, great for a conversation or just quiet reading

We slept an entire afternoon here on the purple bedding, after gorging on the delicious home cooked lunch spread.

This tent is ideal place for shade conversation & some lovely tea. Just next to it is a lovely swing I don't have pictures of. It has a great view of the stable and the many monkeys which were around.

I loved the last picture. Fleetwood house was a weekend home till 1 and a half years back the owners decided to make it a home stay. So the place is in a state of constant improvement. Coming up next is the lovely interiors of Fleetwood House.

Wedding vignettes

Weddings mean laughter, conversations, gorgeous clothes and mehendi. Meeting people you haven't met a thousand years, hugs happiness & fond memories. I had gone for a family friends wedding recently & went about clicking this and that. I also did take pictures of the bride and groom, but the week long ceremonies continue even as I write this post & I haven't spoken to the bride for permissions, so no people. Just beautiful drapes, the mandatory mehendi & marigolds. I have pictures of another south Indian wedding that I clicked a few months back. Will share it shortly :)

Thats my hand with the mehendi on it. I adjusted the focus and clicked with my right hand :)

And no, haven't forgotten the post that I have to make on the charming place we stayed at in Matheran.

Interviewed on Sound Horn Please!

I will always be grateful to Divya Rajan whose very cool blog SoundHornPlease introduced me to Mora Sarees & Ritika Mittal and how it finally resulted in my trip to Nagaland to meet her. If you are looking to read interesting stories about design people doing interesting things, then her blog is a great place to head to. What I also like about her SoundHornPlease is that its never about a thousand pictures and not enough information. Divya cares enough to write to the person concerned & get a behind the scenes perspective for her readers. And I was pleasantly surprised to be the recipient of one such mail from her, which has resulted in this interview. It puts together so many of the things I want to tell you about myself, but just never get around to. So here I am in the esteemed company of Mora, Chumbak (I neeeeed to feature these guys!!!- have wanted to fo sooo long!!)

All the people who love me/care enough/curious enough, do hop across, read it & get bonussed by the many inspiring design posts you will find on SoundHornPlease.

I've been busy with some design assignments & a friend's wedding & just got back. Will be back to blogging soon!!! See ya & be good :)

Than, a monastry in the wilderness.

Around 60 kms from Bhuj is a beautiful deserted Hindu monastry called THAN. There is a stillness and calm that hangs in the air which is strangely in contrast with the brightly painted peeling walls, some of them almost theatrical. Most of the chandeliers are now nests for birds and you see a few old keepers of the place going about their life with a manner that suggests a calmness about the state of affairs. This place really had me wondering about how it must have been buzzing with devotees, lights and flowers. And how quiet it is now.

We actually had to squeeze through the gates and these guys. They just wouldn't budge :)

Poojas are still performed in this temple

After all the white washed walls inside, the minute you stepped in, the colours took over.

And to our complete surprise, the 1st floor rooms were painted intricately and there was a nest inside every chandelier :) :)

We can try and try and never acheive this effect

It was a hot hot day & we were literally jumping on the roasted terrace as we shot this (its a temple, so our shoes were out). Job done, we quickly ran down to the shade.
Catch an abbreviated version of this post on Vogue.in.