September - the month that was

September came and whooshed by before I could blink. It even seemed like we skipped it this year. Like it was just August, and now October. I guess mostly because I've be racing to meet deadlines.

Books:
Umm.. well.. reading took a back seat this month, sadly. To make up, I attended the Bangalore Literature Fest and was enlightened by the many discussions I sat through.

Movies:
Strangely I saw very few movies this month. Seems unbelievable to me too.
Finding Fanny - A sweet movie, unlike a typical Bollywood film. Since I am a DP fan, I was happy to look at her for 2 hours. The story was o-k-a-y, performances were nice. Wouldn't say I loved the movie though.
Mary Kom - Saw this in the bus while going home to Pune. Thank goodness I did not waste moolah to watch this on the big screen. What a terrible thing they have done to such a remarkable story of MC Mary Kom.
Good Morning Vietnam - Heard so much about this one and finally got to watch it. A lovely movie, Robin Williams at his best. Great story and acting.

TV Shows:
I started watching Gotham (amazing), which is a take on Gotham before Bruce Wayne became 'Batman'. I love it.

Travel:
This month we were too caught up in work to travel anywhere. Except for a weekend when my college friends were in town and we had an awesome mini-reunion, the month just went by drowning in work.

Restaurants:
So I went to The Beire Club for the very first time. Yes, ironically I did not have beer (i'm not that big a fan) but instead ordered a Sangria, and must I say, it was one of the best I've had till date. Really well made. Also their Nachos were delicious. I had a really fun time there.

Also visited the hip and happening 'Church Street Social' and really liked the place. It's just the right amount of loud that I like in a place. They serve their drinks in really cool and innovative ways - candy floss cosmos, shots in syringes etc. It was a rather fun evening !

Also, tried out Dyu Art Cafe in Kormangala. The place is really pretty, and has a charm of its own. Can't say the same about the menu though. A really limited number of dishes, though the tea is nice. I ordered a Chamomile Tea and they served us an entire potful - 3 cups ! A nice place to just sit, read and doodle maybe.

 

October already looks like a fun month. Let's see how it rolls.

August - the month that was

August was a busy, busy month as expected. Lots of work came in and I was a happy puppy. Along with work, I also did a lot of personal art and craft projects. Altogether it was one fun month :)

Books: 
Neglected Poems by Gulzar - This is a book we picked up in a tiny bookshop in Jammu. It has these lovely poems penned down by Gulzar in Hindi and English. A very quick read, we took turns reading them aloud to each other, trying at times to decipher the slightly complex Hindi words.

Movies:
People like us - A sweet movie about a guy, who gets to know that he has a step sister, after his father dies. He has to deliver her inheritance and the story goes on.
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou - The last of Wes Anderson's movies, I think I've seen them all now, this one was about a movie maker, who goes out to seek revenge on a sea creature that killed his friend. A funny, strange one as usual.
Birdcage - I wanted to see all the Robin Williams' movies that I had missed and I started with this one. God, I could not stop laughing. In some parts, I was actually laughing out loud. A really hilarious movie.
The Fault in our Stars - I heard so much about this one that I had to watch it. The love story of two terminally ill people. I liked it, but not that much, but it had its moments. Some dialogs were really touching. And I thought the guy character was really cute.
Chef - This was a fun movie about a chef, whose reputation gets ruined on social media, quits his job to start his own food truck. Oh, and the food, I was drooling the entire time.
Water for Elephants - A movie about a circus and love. I quite enjoyed this one.
Mardaani - A good Hindi movie come along very rarely and I was waiting to watch this one coz the trailer looked rather good. Disappointed. Expected too much maybe, but the movie seemed half baked, with a loose plot and terrible supporting cast. Also, I thought that the way they handled the social evil of child abduction and trafficking was immature. Maybe it was made entirely for the masses and they had to make it a certain way. Bummer.
City Lights - We heard somewhere that this was a good movie, but oh were we disappointed once again. So much Bollywood masala in this. Damn, we were having a really bad movie run.
Unknown - We wanted to watch a good movie and I thought this one, starring Liam Neeson, would be it. Sadly, this was a rather stupid movie.
The Expendables 3 - I couldn't believe I was actually walking into a theatre for this one. It's not my kind of movie at all, but since the fella was having a tough work week, I thought I would humor him. Well, I kinda liked it, though I was told this was the least fun of the entire series.
Begin Again - Anything that has Keira Knightly and Mark Ruffalo has to be watched and this turned out to be a sweet, warm movie. I loved the soundtrack as well.

We also watched two plays last month. I hope we get to see a few this month too.
Hamlet - A very talked about and famous play, I liked it in parts but overall, it fell a little short of what I had expected. Good acting by most, but the adaptation was a little strange and not as funny as made out to be.
Jin Lahore Ni Vekheya - The title of this play by  Habib Tanvir, literally means - One who has not seen Lahore, has not lived. A brilliant experience, and a wonderful story about how the partition affected families on both sides of the border.

Travel: We got to witness the delightfully lush-green beauty of Coorg last month. I've never seen green like this before. It was breathtakingly beautiful. A separate post on Coorg coming soon, but I'll leave you with a sneak peek :)

September has already begun with a lot of work. Busy seems to be the flavor of this month and I'm happy to be occupied with things I love doing. 

10 books

This thing has been going around the inter-webs for the last week or two. I thought I'd do a little post here. It required you to list down 10 books that have impacted you, left you spellbound or had some kind of profound effect on you. Here is my list:

1. The God of Small Things - I think this is the first book that comes to mind when someone asks for my favorite book. I love the way this book is written and the tiny details it lists down. Here are a few of my fav excerpts from the book:
"It is curious how sometimes the memory of death lives on for so much longer than the memory of the life that it purloined."
"Somethings come with their own punishments. Like bedrooms with built-in cupboards."
"She drifted into marriage like a passenger drifts towards an unoccupied chair in an airport lounge."

2. Outliers - This was my first non-fiction read. I never could believe that I would like it so much. Everything Gladwell writes about makes so much sense. It was an eye-opener for me and also made me want to read more non-fiction

3. The Kite Runner - This was the first book that made me cry. Enough said.

4. The Alchemy of Desire - I almost forgot about this one. This book was really wonderful and after reading this I wanted to run away to a little mountain village and live in a cottage in the hills.

5. Unaccustomed Earth - I love Lahiri's writing style. So simple and yet beautiful. The truth be told, I am very fond of Indian fiction. Mostly because I can relate to it on some level or the other. This book is a collection of short stories, about love and life. It was a gift from the fella, the best kind of gift.

6. Middlesex - My boss gave me this book and  I have to say, she has impeccable choice. This is certainly an impressive book. It is about the life of a hermaphrodite, and it is least of what you expect it to be. There was a Greek/Latin phrase in the book, that I was planning to get inked, before I changed me mind - "Speramus meliora; resurget cineribus" - "We hope for better things; it will rise from the ashes."

7. Daddy Long Legs - This was one of my favorite books growing up. Maybe I will re-read it soon !

Well this is supposed to be a list of 10, but I can't think of any other books. It only makes me realize how many good books I have lying around that I need to finish. Do you have a list? Would you like to recommend a book that you love? 

June: the month that was

Books: Damn, wasn't able to finish my book in time. July will surely see more books here.

Movies:
Salmon Fishing in the Yemen - a really sweet movie that someone had recommended way back and I finally watched it. Pleased.
Breathe In - A strange movie about a girl who arrives as an exchange student, to live with a family in New York and how the family and their interpersonal relationships change because of her.
The Grand Budapest Hotel - Simple adorable movie. I love how it has been made and how the story is narrated. So much fun.
The Spectacular Now - A slightly predictable story of a popular high school boy, an invisible high school girl, love etc. Sweet.

Travel: Huge post on Leh coming soon. I keep postponing it because I just don't know where to start. This was surely one of the most memorable trips of my life. Here are some photos while you wait.

From cities to the mountains (the view from above)

A shikara on the Dal lake

May: the month that was

The entire month of May was spent waiting for our big Leh trip in June. Counting days, planning, dreaming and waiting.

Books: zero :(

Movies:
Strangely I hardly saw many movies in May. Here are the ones I did watch.
Million Dollar Arm - Fun movie, really good acting by some of the Indian actors. Feel good movie. (3.5/5)
Shaadi ke Side Effects - My god. This movie was a complete torture. I wonder what the director and script writer were thinking. Such stereotypes and lame jokes. Time completely wasted !

Travel: 
Being summer, we did not travel much. We went to Bombay for a friend's wedding and from there I took off for two weeks to Jaipur, to visit the sister. In Jaipur too, I mostly stayed indoors. There were a lot of dust storms and thunder storms during my stay. Here is a typical summer sunset:

Bangalore also had some beautiful sunsets that I got to witness from the Hosur Road flyover. Brilliant sights.

Highlights:
The kittens are growing fast and healthy :) It's wonderful to watch them scampering around the place.

I got to do a really interesting freelance project, which involved illustrating for a book of poems. It was great fun, even though the deadline was really tight. Here are some samples that weren't used. Hopefully the book will be out soon and then I can showcase the final images.

Thankfully the summer is officially over and we are back to great weather in Bangalore. Yippie. 

Finds of the week

I've been over-dosing on pretty design and craft blogs. Time to share the wonderful stuff I've found !

1. This beautiful fabric jelly fish installation.

2. This home is so quirky and cool. I totally love it !

3. Read this lovely, inspiring article on Should vs. Must.

4. Surely going to try this egg-shell project soon :)

5. And this song is simply stuck in my head since the last few days. Ah, can't wait for the album.
4 more days of torture.

April: the month that was

April is over and so is the insufferable summer in Bangalore. Thank goodness for that. The summer this year was one of the most terrible compared to the past years I've been here. Also, that could be because we now live on the top floor and the roof is directly under the sun. I'm just glad it is over.

Books:
I finally finished a book, after 2 months. Narcopolis by Jeet Thayil, which was gifted to me on my birthday. Pretty interesting book about the drug scene in Mumbai a few decades back. It really enlightened me about the different kinds of narcotics available *chuckles*

I picked up this book almost two years back, from this really tiny bookshop called Goobeys on Church Street, but never got down to reading it. It's a lovely collection of poetry and illustrations. 

Movies:
This was a really dry spell in terms of movies. I think I didn't watch a single movie I can write home about.
Out of the Furnace - The only reason I saw this was: Christian Bale. Sadly, the plot was so slow that I fell asleep and almost missed a lot of the movie. Blah.
Main Tera Hero - Thanks to our innumerable bus journeys, we get to see the most rubbish Bollywood movies and this was one of them. God. A sheer torture, except for the one catchy song.
Ragini MMS 2 - Another "bus journey" epic. Supposedly a horror movie, but I think it could be classified under soft-porn. Disgust is all I feel for Ekta Kapoor.
Total Siyappa - We saw this on TataSky Showcase, thinking that it would be a fun movie since the trailer seemed quite funny. We then realized that the funny jokes were just in the trailer. *facepalm*
2 States - I think this was the most decent of the lot and even this wasn't too great. Alia's clothes and a few scenes here and there, were the only things that kept me going.

Travel:
April did not see much travel, except for the monthly visit home. It was too hot for road trips and we spent most weekends hiding from the sun, indoors.

Highlights:
Our semi-domesticated cat - Flashy, had four babies and it was really blissful to watch them and her in this new role of a mother. It was the cutest sight. They lived under our cupboard for almost 10 days, before the mother decided to move her litter.

I attended a fun mocktail workshop near my place. It was organized by Nature's Basket and I found myself with not so much work on a weekday afternoon and decided to go and have some fun. It was quite interesting and I hope to make some of the drinks soon.

May is now here and with it came lovely thunderstorms and rain-showers. Bliss. 

Lots more to write about this month for sure.

Polyvore

So I recently recollected my fun times on Polyvore and decided to revisit the site and make some collections. It is really so much fun. I always wanted to do one of those style pages for a magazine.

Haha..maybe someday !

summer by chicabeingme featuring embroidery tops

I'm in love with Aztec prints and would love a jacket with some Aztec accents !
Bright, loose tops for summer - a must !
These flats are so cool and coveting this shape of sunglasses !

Kailash

I believe that our dreams/wishes rub onto each other. The fella's dream to visit the mighty Kailash Parbat has certainly rubbed onto me. Someday we will make sure we go there to find our peace. 

It gets high priority on our bucket list.

(This post is late but nonetheless a part of the art adventure at A Sunny Yellow Window)

Surround yourself with things you love

..and see life's magic unfold :)

I have been feeling extra creative these days. I cleaned up my desk, dug out old stationery and art supplies and I feel all set for the coming weeks :) 

NEXT: I'm planning to make a vision board for the year !

February: the month that was

2014 sure seems to be flying by. Can't believe it's already March. A quick recap then:

Books:
Terribly ashamed to say that I did not complete even a single book. I started two books but didn't read enough. This only means that I have to be tough on myself this March.

Movies:
Gunday (1/5) The 1 is only for the song: tune mari entriyaan, ke dil me baji ghatiyaan tang tang tang tang..I really didn't understand the purpose of this movie. Overacting and no story line.
Hasee to Phasee (2.5/5) This was a strange movie. It has its moments but overall left me bored.
Hotel Rwanda (3.5/5) Horrifying and a true story for that matter, so even more so.
Instructions not included (3/5) a sweet little movie, light hearted and fun.
Don Jon (3/5) The story of a porn-addict, quite hilarious.
Thanks for sharing (3.5/5) Again, stories of recovering sex-addicts, nicely done.
Orphan (2.5/5) Ok, creepy as hell.
Shahid (4/5) Really well made movie and super acting !

Travel:
February did not take us to new places but we revisited some. I had to travel to Hyderabad for a wedding and it was super fun. We also went home for a couple of days. March may have more in store.

Art:
I participated in #doodleadayfeb on Instagram and totally loved it. Doodling everyday without fail was blissful and really made me creative and active. I am illustrated a favorite poem of mine called Think Like a Tree by Karen Shragg. You can follow me on Instagram - @chicabeingme

A few pictures that summed up my birthday month :)

2013 in review

Every blog I read is doing this so why should I be left behind. Let me warn you, this is gonna be one of those typical end-of-the-year posts, which talk about the highlights of the year gone by and resolutions/hopes/dreams/wishes for the year to come. So do not expect anything more. Okay, let's start already.

1. I graduated !!!!! Oh yes I did. Sure this was the second time, but this time in a field I actually love and pride myself on doing so. Imagine, a Professional Diploma in Visual Communication Design. Wow. Even I never thought that after 8 long years of being in the legal profession, I would actually jump ship and do what I always really wanted to. I won't say that the two years at design school were absolutely blissful and a smooth sail. There were times when I questioned the entire decision, often wondering if I should have chosen another field, another school etc. But the day I finished my final year project and received kudos from a professor I really admired, I knew it had all been worth it. The self-doubt was gone. For good. 

2. I actually designed and illustrated an entire book. All 120 pages of it. After all the cursing, fretting and sleepless nights, it was done. And it might actually be published by a reputed publishing house like Penguin or Random House. Who had ever thought that I'd have a book out before I was 30. I know it technically does not count as a book-book but who ever cared about technicalities. It is a huge achievement and I will gloat. Thank you very much. Go check it out here - https://www.behance.net/gallery/The-Ayurvedic-Cookbook/12494661

3. Got engaged. OMG. Ya it was just a formality of sorts for the families, but it was quite fun. Dressing up, convincing the better half to pose for photographs, decorating the house myself, incessant banter of family et al. A memorable day to remember. One of the many we have seen the past 8 years.  

4. I learnt to let go. And that's all that will be said about that.

5. I started appreciating little things about people around me a little more. Judging less, accepting and valuing them more.  

6. A very memorable trip to the mountains. A first for me, and I did fall in love. I was always a sun-sand-cocktails person till I arrived in Mcleodganj. Sigh. A week seemed way too short. I just loved the mountain air, the sights, the people, everything. Thoughts seemed clearer up there. Also was the first time I slept in a tent and woke up to snow-caped mountains. It was incredible. Can't wait to plan the next trip. 

I think that about covers it all. The year that was. It seems to have gone by in a wink. 

2014 seems full of promise. Many things to be accomplished, many new places on the travel list, new experiences and what not. 

- I will read more. A small target of 12 books, 1 per month, to start with. I hope to over achieve. 

- I will paint more. Just one painting the past year, shameful.

- I also plan to be way more active, a regular fitness plan must be high priority as i can already feel my bones creaking. 

- I will de-clutter. My home and my mind.

- I will complete a DIY project every month. All those bookmarked, pinned and saved projects that I avoided with "I have a diploma project to complete" will be ticked off the to-do list.

This list is surely going to increase as the year proceeds. And I hope at the end of it all, I can see the above being crossed out with a smile. To 2014 !!

A list of nice sounds

I saw this post/picture somewhere which listed nice sounds. So here is my own list of sorts:

• The firing of a Royal Enfield Bullet 
• The sizzling sound of frying food - onions, jalebis
• The pitter-patter of rain on rooftops
• The sound of a train running through a bridge over a river
• Glass bangles clinking against each other
• The postman's cycle bell

Can't think of more right now. What's on your list?

The list

It's that time of the year when everyone is making lists, resolutions mostly. I decided to make one of my own, incorporating some of the things that were left undone from last year and adding a few new ones too.

Things to do before I'm 26:

1. Learn French. Enough is enough, I better start.
2. Travel to at least 2 new places, even if they are nearby.
3. Finish reading 'A Suitable Boy.'
4. Watch all 3 parts of The Godfather. (It's a shame I know)
5. Make 3 paintings and a dozen illustrations for my portfolio.
6. Work towards a healthier self.

I think I should keep it small, I don't really have too much time (2 months will fly by soon)