Pushkarma

The Pushkar mela was on my list of must visits for years .. am I glad I finally made it.

It's the India of angrez books and tourists, something we choose to wave off in dismissal. When a firang remarks about the snake charmers, camels, cattle, dust, color, dirt, crowds, sadhus, bathing in the holy waters, I'd look at them like they'd grown two heads. But hey, it's all here!

We are probably as droll to the locals at the fair as they seem to us. Indians from metros are considered as phoren as foreigners by the village folk.

There's much to observe in the face & demeanour, stories & character etched out; of endurance, patience, of giving, calm, distress maybe, hardship and an honest living. I noticed a lot of giving & sharing (the poor giving alms) and and some taking too (touts), it seemed to balance & come full circle in subtle ways.

The Rajasthani  persona is oh-so perfectly chiseled; poise and simple perfection, I'd sit and gaze for hours; entertaining too for the surprises their guises sprang as I sat & watched from the chaiwalla's. And this chaiwalla was a piece of work, he'd make fancy ginger-honey-lemon tea for foreign visitors & shoo away the locals unceremoniously. I didn't care for him but his shop offered a vantage point to people-watch.

 Nihang Sikhs (Punjab)

 

--- Its a photographer's paradise.. and the COLOR can send you reeling.

Style Archives!

Style grows on one, one creates it or one's just born with it.

These are a bunch of style archives I caught on the Italian streets. I think the pictures speak style, I needn't say much, just that each one's spotted at completely different locations and still there's a string running through.

Montenapoleone

Piazza Duomo

Piazza Duomo

 

Naviglio

See also Fashion'Ages'

Roma Roma

Rome is a monument, the whole city is one big monument! 

Romans 'live' life, si verramente la Dolce vita. The food, the streets, the people, the music and the costume.. its a whiff of LIFE. I could spend days together at a piazza in Rome and go home feeling rich.

There's such a distinct difference in the dialect when we move down from Milan to Rome.  The language just gets more musical and the people more theatrical.

The Vatican ofcourse has fantastic costume and a lot of maybe other fantastic stuff that doesn't take to my fancy really. (The Romans are probably the Pope's closest enemies)

Mime artist

French guards at the Vatican

Gladiators at the Colosseum

Friar at the Vatican

    

Love these jester like uniforms
 

Founded in 1506, the Papal Swiss Guard is the Vatican’s military unit and is charged with protecting the pope and guarding the Apostolic Palace and the gates of Vatican City. The vibrant blue, yellow and red—the colors of the Medici—have been used since the 1600s, and the uniforms have had minor changes through the centuries.

Arrivederci!

Androgyny Milano

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Turning to tubes

Summer's always warmly welcomed in Europe unlike in India where we dread it!

Getting those coats off and slipping on a tube is ahhh.. one of the most awaited time of the year!

 Interesting accessory accents!

 Solid color block worn so well!

 Prints

 Innovative style

 Mumbai

Mumbai

I like the variations of the tube.. and how one can accessorize it since its non-interfering. Tube dresses, jump suits, tops.. 

Le Bambole & the secret tales

What I wait most for in Milan is the antique market at naviglio that gets me so excited I can hardly stop smiling, like wise flea markets are small treasure islands. Every object has a story to tell! In Bombay its chor bazaar (thieve's market) in london I love  camden town... old boots, tins, toys, keys.. selling anything that one can probably not think of.

There's always a common string that runs through most of these markets I've visited, and what catches my fancy is 'dolls'! 
Everyone has played with dolls.. some of them leave them behind and some like me never tire of them.. and each doll carries a story. More than only a chronological history, they have emotions and tales to them.

 Camden town (London)

These by far are the most queer and unfamiliar objects I noticed scattered all over chor bazaar.
They're doctor dolls, I wonder if you know what I'm talking of!

The spares.. doll's eyes at naviglio (Milano)all colors of eyes for sale, neri, verdi, blu..!! hah

Flea/antique markets are chic and the objects, buyers and sellers are equally curious!! Its a treat! and I really have that smile glued on right through :)

Back in time...

The long neglect has been tugging at my heart too. 
I've been away from metropolitan Mumbai -  in smaller, historic, Ahmedabad and how laid back life seems there.
Having lived in Ahmedabad before makes it quite familiar but it still intrigues me and I always discover something new.
This time I stayed in the old quartier of the city, which I've been wanting to do for a while.
In a 'pol' (pronounced pole) (wikipedia) , nestled in the older part of the city, are old heritage structures that seem neglected, their beauty lost on the locals. I was delighted to stay in an Artists' Residency in the pols called the 'Arts Reverie', a restored 'Haveli' of the 1920's.

Living in the pol was like a throwback to my junior school environmental science texts, to the semi rural lifestyles... 

women scrubbing clothes & pots and pans, the chime of temple bells, cows parked in the common spaces out side houses (its a common sight in older parts of Indian cities), the local flour mill and tiny grocery shops, a road-side barber, a milk man, and the friendly greetings in the neighborhood; its a  self contained microcosm of a city within a city.
I love these slow, kind & humane pockets of the city .. soon to be picture postcards alas as they get swallowed up by 'developers' & metamorphose into anonymous towers of glass & concrete perhaps.

A short walk out into the main street, and voila .. welcome to the impatient honk honk! of noisy fume-burping two-, three- or four-wheelers whose proud owners have junked their bicycles & must show off their new acquisitions.

The markets: now there's a method in their madness. There's everything under the sun & nope google maps won't work, only the locals can tell. Its the fabulous 'GeniusLoci'  of the place that leaves its imprint on you. Its a maze of unfolding treasures .. textiles to plastics, hardware, stationery, buttons and pins. I return drenched and tired but its a more fulfilling experience than a trip to the mall. Sure.

 More art..

 Bold Hussain strokes and color at the "Ahmedabad ni gufa"

The Art Book Centre is a haven for creative readers; rare books on art, history, design and architecture. What makes it interesting is its kitschy front with a million interesting details: calico prints, miniatures, photographs, traditional crafts .. a blast of color.

Its a great place to visit even if you're not buying. I like to observe and feel a place than fill my bags, usually.

Rural Fashion ..

Threads, drapes, people and the street... rural fashion fascinates me...
The clothing is weather-apt and the colors are a joy..
It's highly communicative style and is really really 'sustainable' ..  considering how little they own and how long they use it.


Aav jo!!