I own THE SARTORIALIST book

Finally, I got it!! My priceless possession – A copy of Scott Schuman’s book – The Sartorialist.

The Sartorialist by Scott Schuman

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Happy Anniversary PIINK!!

Its been a year since I started writing this blog. Happy anniversary Paisleys and Indian Ink. I have enjoyed this experience and I am looking forward to write more and more, hoping my travels would take me to places unknown.

Happy Anniversary Paisleys and Indian Ink

Browsing through numerous beautifully encapsulated moments, having archived images of wonderful places, having learnt new cultures, languages and having adopted newer fashion styles, I am thrilled to write a column on what I love, what I recommend people to read and what to explore out there in the world full of art, culture, fashion, lifestyle, music, architecture, customs, food, travel, photography and writing. Happy Anniversary again!!

Montreux – Swiss, Eurotrip

Montreux, Switzerland

Nestled at the foot of the Alps and facing Lake Geneva, this ravishing beautiful and vivid town of Montreux gets encapsulated into minds of the traveller forever. Montreux Riviera is filled with scenic beauty, culture and wine, gastronomical delights, casinos, yachts, leisure, entertainment and music for the soul.

Lake Geneva & the Alps, Montreux

View of the Alps, Montreux

Lake Geneva at Montreux

The flowers, mainly tulips, were in full bloom at this time, growing in vivid colours and changing the look of the place.

Tulips, Montreux

Tulips, close-up shot, Montreux

Vivid flowers, Montreux

Baazars were set up on the lakeside to entertain the flock of tourists with small flea shops selling Kashmiri shawls to antique jewellery, Red Indians playing musical instruments and people selling dry fruits.

Flea shops, Montreux

Flea shops, Montreux

Red Indians playing music & selling candles, Montreux

The statue of  British icon ‘Freddie Mercury‘ (born Farrokh Bulsara), the lead vocalist and songwriter of the rock band, Queen, stands at the main tourist attraction spot facing Lake Geneva. Every September since 2003, Montreux celebrates Freddie Mercury’s Montreux Memorial Day.

Statue of Freddie Mercury, Montreux

I took a long walk along the beautiful lakeside upto Chateau de Chillon, capturing every beautiful view in my camera and in my mind. Switzerland gives you that relaxation, peace and being one with nature feeling, Nirvana, as one might call. I happened to see some of the amazing things on my long walk such as a circular platform on Lake Geneva where people can read books or chat, children playing in the water, the flower gardens with hay sculptures of ‘Madagascar movie’ animals, creepers, vines and tulips near Lake Geneva, beautiful yachts, people sun-bathing at the luxury resorts of Montreux,  a long over-bridge built on the mountains at Veytaux and the stunning sight of the beautiful Chateau de Chillon.

Platform on Lake Geneva, Montreux

Platform on Lake Geneva, Montreux

Children playing in the water, Montreux

Hay sculptures of Madagascar Movie animals, Montreux

Hay sculptures of Madagascar Movie animals, Montreux

Creepers, vines, flowers and yachts on Lake Geneva

Veytaux, Switzerland

View of Chateau de Chillon, Veytaux

The historic castle of Chateau de Chillon, 3 km from Montreux, is Switzerland’s most visited monument. Since the roadway is lodged between Lake Léman in the commune of Veytaux and the cliffs, there is no way to get around Chillon. In the modern times, the Castle is known for having inspired Lord Byron’s poem, The Prisoner Of Chillon (1816).

Chateau de Chillon, Veytaux

Chateau de Chillon, Veytaux

And there ends my journey of this beautiful lakeside of Switzerland, Montreux, whose every moment is etched in my memory forever.

Morges, Swiss – Eurotrip

Day-time in summers in Europe are pretty long. The sun sets only at around 9pm. This gave me a chance to not only cover Geneva but also Morges on the same day in Swiss. Lucky for me, Morges was having its ‘Tulip Festival’. Beauty beyond words, I will be not be writing much in this blog. I shall let the photographs speak for themselves.

Berlin Wall – Eurotrip

Berlin… after battling the -15 temperatures, snow, cold winds and being stranded on Christmas Eve at different train stations in Germany, we finally reached Berlin. The first thing that comes to your mind when you decide to go around Berlin – is to see the reminiscence of the  World War and the post World War drama that took place in Germany, especially Berlin.

The Berlin Wall serves as a reminder that when two super powers such as USA and Russia decide to tear a country apart in the name of ‘peace’ and ‘harmony’… what can happen… So, here are some memorable images drawn, painted and written in distress, in the hope and with a promise that it would never happen again…

London Street Photography

LONDON STREET PHOTOGRAPHY – The new exhibition at Museum of London showcases the works of 59 street photographers who have captured vivid images through their lenses for over a century.. right from everyday life to chance encounters, colourful snaps to retro images to moments frozen in time. The exhibition explores the works of photographers from 1860’s to the present day digitally captured and airbrushed images; street photography at its best.

Courtesy: Museum of London

Courtesy: Museum of London

London Street Photography Metro Competition – In conjunction with Metro, conducted a competition to create your own street photography image in order to win an iPad. This offered a chance to the winners to exhibit their work at Museum of London.

Zdenda Lesovsky, the winner of the Metro Competition had stunningly captured the heart of London street style imagery through her lenses.

Zdenda Lesovsky's Street Photography

[Link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/zdenek_lesovsky/5376030188/in/photostream/]

View the entire collection of Metro competition on Flickr.

Eurotrip Diaries

I have been waiting for ages… as to how to put it together… My EUROTRIP!!! And yes, its finally here….

London – Lille – Brussels – Delft – Rotterdam – Amsterdam – Berlin – Basel – Zurich – Paris – Lille – London

My Eurotrip Diaries.. cultural experiences.. food… art.. music… and personally how it has influenced me!! Short stories from Eurotrip experiences.. Coming Soon…………

Coastal Chennai: Colours of Bessy Beach

‘Colours of Bessy’ is yet another vibrant addition to my ‘Coastal Story’; adding yet another diversity to my fashion travel stories.

Chennai, India is a culturally vibrant city, traditional yet contemporary in approach. I got up one fine morning on my visit to India and just randomly decided to capture the essence and morning glory at Chennai’s Besant Nagar Beach, fondly called ‘Bessy Beach’.

Among all the beaches I have been to, this remains my most favourite, Chennai’s Bessy Beach. So, I decided why not add it to my blog’s collection of ‘Coastal Stories’. Although, it  was a cloudy start, I was able to capture the ‘colours of the beach’ at my very best. Never before have I captured such vibrancy (P.S. that too so early in the morning). ‘Mamis’ (aunties) in their colourful Pattu (silk) sarees going for a early morning walk in their ‘sport shoes’ or the ‘colourful’ auto rickshaws or boys digging in the sand in their colourful tees.

 

The sand, the sea, the sky, the sun, the posters on the beach, the boatsman and his guts, the colourful food stalls with their unique typographical yet colourful boards and the magic of colours all reverberate the ‘heart and soul’ of ‘Bessy’.

 

Bollywood & Kollywood influences along with TamilNadu’s politics & its influence are quite evident on the beach. The mix-match, vibrant and bright colours create a ‘kitsch’, a uniquely different and rich colour palette.

A chrome, rusty yellow colour story is seen emerging right  from the yellow painted lockers, to autos, to posters to ‘pattu sarees’ and moving right onto the colourful merry go-around. Its a wee-merry yellow story with shades of rust and sand.

Chennai’s Bessy Beach: chrome yellow, rust, brown, bright reds, highlights of blues, sand and ice blue.