As I mentioned in my post here, I am currently working on a collection to benefit the stray dog. I am happy  to say it is well underway and am working on it quite furiously.  More on that in the next few posts.

For right now, many of you have written in to ask me why dogs? I say why not?

I love dogs, I’ve grown up around them, they were always part of family…

This is me years ago in Wellington with my father and Choti, an adorable black Labrador

Choti and me again!

This is my Rana, a golden Labrador when he first came home to us

And then he grew and he grew and he grew…..!!

My father with Rana

My brother, mum and I with Rana

After Rana we were too heart broken to keep another dog. But, fate had something else in store for us. My parents and I had the absolute joy of having Natasha or Tasha( as she was called) with us for two years. Her original family were posted to Russia and she would never have survived quarantine for two months. So we dog sat her She was an absolute doll, a gorgeous golden Labrador again. It was heart breaking to give her back to her original family but I wouldn’t trade those two years for anything. Sadly I can’t find pictures of her. Will update as and when I do.

My kids are at that age where they are now demanding a dog. And I am finding ways not to get one. Mind you, I am fast losing that battle. But, with our current situation and living in a flat, with two VERY active kids, a husband who travels…. very hard to do.

Meera, my daughter with Jackie

Mansher, my son with Chintu - a stray. This was a case of love at first sight

I had no clue about this write- up. Got a call from a friend in Delhi who saw the paper first thing in the morning. And then congratulated me on Facebook.

Me? I am clueless at that point.

So I did a little digging, found the write up was indeed about my work and my house

Thank you Meenakshi for the wonderful write up.

Thank you Pavita for sending the hard copy to me all the way from Delhi to Bangalore.

Here it is…

Sorry it took me over a month to post this… too much happening!

There are gods and then there are gods. In India, we have them in all shapes, sizes and denominations. This kettle is dedicated to some of the ‘Gods of Cricket‘ down the ages- Kapil Dev, Sunil Gavaskar, M.S Dhoni and the one and only Sachin Tendulkar.

To cricket and it’s many big and small gods – We love them, we hate them, we love to hate them….but as a nation we can’t seem to live without them.

We all have them. Those fears that don’t let us sleep. The demons that show are frailty, our vulnerability. It makes us human.

Superstars have them too!! Both Amitabh Bachchan and Shahrukh Khan have spoken of their fear of anonymity publicly.  Mr. Bachchan on ‘Rendezvous with Simi Grewal’ and ShahRuhk on a mini series on his life (I forget which channel it aired on now )

I hope this new year brings love, laughter and resilience in all our lives. I hope it allows you, my readers and me to embrace the future without fear.

Happy New Year everyone!!

And to both the Shahenshah and  the Baadshah of Bollywood – I wish you both more success and more fame. May you both never have to fade away into obscurity.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!

The last few months have been hectic. A lot happening on the home front and in the studio. I have been working on two simultaneous collections… that part has been mind numbing at times. The dependencies on other people in the supply chain as also vendors is something I still need to get used to.

I know, I have not been updating you all regularly on whats happening in my studio. And that’s not by chance, but by design. I have a lot to share with you but all in good time Good things come to those who wait.

Though with this post you should get a little idea on whats coming next. But, I promise- I will still surprise you!!

For right now, I am sharing my first foray into home furnishings with four cushions. These are  truly mixed media. They started out as Pen & Inks and watercolour paintings. These were then digitally printed on the highest quality organic cotton canvas. Then further hand painted and reworked with acrylics and fabric paints. All of this of course means that these can only be gently hand washed or dry cleaned. But, I am willing to take the extra effort

I love the end result. I hope you do too!

They will be available for sale on www.shopo.in  and www.ofindianorigin.co.uk really soon.

My Thayyam trunk made it to the accessories page in the magazine.

Thank you Rekha Nambiar. Prismma has recently changed it’s format into a delightful spread of little nuggets spread across six sections. Very well done.

My work has been featured along with the super talented Vineeta Nair of Artnlight, Swati Seth of Colour Caravan and last but not the least, Varnam at Shopo.

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