Sea-breeze and salty skin

Sunkissed beaches, sea-sprayed hair and a whole lot of fun in the sun. Last month was packed with a whole bunch of work, new projects and new collaborations and a much needed break. Like most of my travel plans this one was an impulsive decision, a relatively short break when you are in the thick of things and you feel like there's a cacophony of thoughts and ideas bouncing around in your head a breaking routine is the perfect remedy.

When Goa comes calling we must be polite and pay heed, so I scooted away for five whole days of blissful respite from the rigour of everyday work! I've had this conversation with so many people I've lost count - how taking a short break and more importantly breaking the routine can bring clarity, new perspectives and reenergise your batteries like nothing else can.

Five days filled with long bike rides, singing under the stars, late night musings, dips in the seas and chilled beers on the beach and I'm back to my brushes and paints with wonderful memories and experiences and so many new ideas to sketch and paint!!

Two spanking new product ranges will be out soon, details in my next post!!

It pays to get lost to find such a beautiful hidden treasure

5am walks on the beach to catch this beautiful sunsets

Sinking our teeth into this one

Sunshine shack doggies

My partner in crime, one of the most fun travel buddies

Do the twist!

Dipping my toes in the sands of time

Biennale!! Oh you were everything I imagined and so much more

With the lingering smell of fried fish that wafts out of every home in Kerala and coconut coir fires that seem to magically tend themselves all day long, my trip to Kerala was a wonderfully refreshing one!

After a week of hairpin bends and swirling through roads engulfed by luscious green foliage, the last leg of my 10 days trip caught me standing outside the 'Aspin wall' in Fort Kochi at the whimsical 'Kochi-Muziris Biennale'.It breaks my heart that I chanced upon this gem with only one day in hand. Here's glimpse into this wonderfully creative and inspiring Art festival, I really do wish I had more time to explore the nooks and crannies that makes Biennale such an addictive delight.

Majestic Kerala architecture holding within its walls a treasure trove of creative expression

Ghost Keeping-István Csákány

Dia Mehta Bhupal- Bathroom set

Dance of Death by Yardena Kurulkar

Live Art:An absolute delight to see such skilled artists at work

Big Dog: Liu Wei

Wu Tien Chang - Farewell Spring and Autumn Pavillion

Defile by AES+F

Vintage finds

What's going on in that traveller mind!

“The pleasure we derive from journeys is perhaps dependent more on the mindset with which we travel than on the destination we travel to.” -Alain de Botton

I remember reading this beautiful quote by Alain de Botton recently, unlike most of the other travel quotes I've chanced upon, this one struck a deep chord. We often find ourselves travelling to escape from our reality, we travel to be with friends, we travel to find ourselves, we travel to enrich ourselves. It's a really fun exercise, to try and go back in time and recollect  what was your exact mindset was just before your boarded that flight, took that train or hopped onto that bus.

Trust me you'll be pleasantly surprised, to find out how much your mindset influenced your travels. Some of the fondest memories and wildest trips I've had, have been the ones which weren't planned or where I was looking to take a break and escape from reality.

Happy tired

It's been a heady crazy past couple of weeks,with bulk orders,customised orders and of course the very  very last minute orders.The project I've taken up isn't relenting either, with meetings,meetings and more meetings,launches and get togethers.On the social life front, things seem to be following toe with birthday celebrations,catching up with long lost friends who decided to show up in Mumbai after eons and other commitments I couldn't weasel my way out of!! It sits well though that all of this chaos and madness ended with a lovely road trip to Pune, one that I've been planning to do for a long long time to meet a very close friend of mine who just had a super adorable baby girl!!

I've love getting out of the city!I haven't landed up doing as much of it as I'd like, it makes so much a difference to just get out of this chaotic city, even if its just a short drive to Pune and back.Suddenly I feel all set to take on the blows and punches the next week might bring with it.

This trip had it fair share of drama,my friend who was supposed to drive us down drank too much the night before,[the mallu he is!!]other friends who were supposed to join us made some last minute change of plans.After  much banging on the door at 7:00am,huffing and puffing and spewing the most innovative of swear words, a sleep deprived person could come up with at that hour,we all made it to Pune in one piece,with loud music blasting in the car and everyone singing at the top of their lungs[pretty much making up the lyrics as we went along]After a lovely time spent playing with little Sia,it's the mid-night conversations I love the most.I'm not sure guys rock it as well as we girls do, but suddenly when the lights are turned off and everyone in their PJ's lounging around on the bed conversation invariably takes a turn for more heart-felt.It's these small moments in life I cherish the most and live for!!

What made the trip all the more magical was ,on the drive back we were greeted with a  delightful downpour.There's something about the rain that has this ethereal magical feeling of washing away all your worries.So with raindrops seeming to take on a life of their own on our windscreen and the music taking on a more contemplative and melancholic garb I returned to Mumbai a content happy trooper!!