I love writing.

Little thoughts that enter my mind- ideas, possibilities, dreams, desires, hopes… I have been documenting those random thoughts over the last couple of years on little bits of paper, on the margins of writing pads and so on. Some I posted as notes on Facebook. But, there were still others that I did not post anywhere.

Then, I created a page here on my blog and started putting them down. The section was password protected for a while. I just changed the visibility setting…

You can read it here.
I would love to hear your thoughts on the same. I hope my words strike a chord in your heart / mind.

I also love dogs, actually animals. And predictably, growing up I wanted to be a zoo keeper or a dog doctor
I am currently working on a project to help generate funds for an organization that will spay and neuter stray dogs.  More on that later. The following are two articles I wrote on strays.

…every life has value

Bite- Fight- and Property right.

I spent a wonderful morning the other day just getting my hands dirty. Enough talking and sitting on my behind. I decided to practice what I preach. So I wrote a mail to theuglyindian@gmail.com and asked to volunteer for a spot fix. They wrote to me and gave me a date. I had to show up with 200 INR, an open mind and the right attitude.

Got to the designated area at 7:30 Am and was done by 10:30 Am. Not as dirty as I thought I would be and a whole lot calmer than I expected to be. Boy, was I happy. It was solitary in spite of company and very cathartic- almost therapeutic.

Their motto is ‘ Kaam Chalu Mooh Bandh‘. Which translated means ‘ Work and keep your mouth shut”

I highly recommend the experience. If you are in Bangalore and want to volunteer…just write in to them at theuglyindian@gmail.com
Some pictures- before and after. What a transformation!!

You can view their work here – www.theuglyindian.com
On Facebook- http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Ugly-Indian/123459791046618

Update- The Ugly Indian featured in New York Times! How about that

http://india.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/18/are-we-all-ugly-indians/

p.s- That is me in the green kurta. My favourite one. It’s now officially my painting smock

p.p.s- I have been writing for a while now…do check out the thoughts section. The link is on the main menu up top.

This piece was a custom commission. It is a gift from Roopa to Poonam for her birthday.

And as you can imagine, it was a lot of fun to put together, especially with all the disparate elements involved. The hope was to show how much of a super woman Poonam is, in efficiently and effectively managing a top level job, children, friends, interests and all that. The imagery of a multi-armed goddess was borne of this idea.
After lots of research and many conversations with Roopa- this was the end result. Each of the elements depicted from the dress and jewellery to the items she ‘holds’ are typical of Poonam.

I hope she enjoys it as much as I enjoyed making it!

Happy Birthday Poonam!!

Over the years many of you have written in to ask me to share pictures of my home. Many of you have been curious to see if my home is as colourful and eclectic as my work  Now you’ll know- It is !!

I am delighted to share with you pictures of my home as they appear in this months issue of BBC Good Homes. Thank you, Meenakshi Shankar, for taking the time to talk to me in such depth and, for writing about my home with such generosity.

Please click here to read the full article. (large file warning!)

The walls that are mentioned in the article are this and this one.

The mannequin you see in my bedroom is actually a DIY project of my body as a dress form. I like to sew. And having a dress form is a huge advantage. It was fun to make. Let me tell you…I was wrapped up in a huge black plastic bag and then duct-taped for about ten layers before the mould was cut off me. And then I sealed the cut portions and paper-mached the whole thing. It is not perfect but it gets the job done.

I also like to quilt. The quilt you see at the foot of my bed, was made by me when my son was born, almost nine years ago. And the quilt has been used with much love everyday since. It has also been abused with much abandon with frequent tumbles in the washing machine. Though it’s a bit worn out now as you can imagine

DIY tutorials always excite me. So I was happy to give tips to Komal Sharma of HT Mint for just such a project for their Diwali issue. Read on to see ways to convert an old trunk into a swanky new avatar.

Thanks Komal

Click to see detail