A tea party for three...

Greetings from sunny Minnesota!

It's been exactly one week since we left Bangalore, India.

Here I am typing away on my laptop in a hotel room trying hard to communicate the memories of a delightful July afternoon in Bangalore, spent in the company of two most amazingly talented ladies.

Before leaving our beloved home in Bangalore, India, before it disintegrated into pieces to be bubble-wrapped and packed in cartons, I invited two lovely ladies whose work I have always admired to come have chai with me...

Super talented illustrator, charcoal drawing specialist & cat lover~ Priya Sebastian and multi-talented, creative self taught artist & dog lover Aarohi Singh.

So over huge mugs of chai and thick slices of plum cake we talked about how as bloggers we felt instant creative connections when we met in real world.

Aarohi, gifted me a tea kettle on which are painted two of my favorite things: Frangipani flowers & mugs of hot chai!

These will always warm my heart in a cold country far from home.

 I absolutely do!

Priya, brought with her a bunch of gorgeous bright cheerful flowers !

 I just had to get the artists to pose with their work:-) Priya with her bold charcoal self -portrait that watches over our study.

Aarohi poses with her vibrant kettle.

...and Priya decides to shoot me while I adjust the camera's timer.

I guess the timer worked well:-) 

This was a fun post to put together, an archive of happy times spent with creative friends in our Bangalore home. A special home that brought loads of happiness to us and corners of which I loved sharing with dear readers of Rang Decor!

These memories will keep me going while I wait for our 40 feet container to come sailing across oceans to our new home after 2 whole months!

To see Priya Sebastian's work do drop by at her blog the plum tree.

To see Aarohi Singh's work do drop by at her website Art by Aarohi.

Do stay tuned for some new features planned for Rang Decor!

Moving on...

I usually type directly on to my blogger template while composing a post but this post has been written on pieces of paper, crumpled, picked up, re-written, edited on Microsoft Word and finally comes to you in this final form.

In a state of mixed feelings I want to share some news with all the lovely readers of Rang Décor who have supported the blog and me to grow and evolve over the last 5 years.

We are moving to the US in the end of July this year. 

Minnesota: The Land of 10,000 Lakes will be our new home.

We leave behind our home, our city, Bangalore, that we love dearly and carry with us jewel boxes filled with innumerable precious nuggets of memories of life spent here.

This move will mean a big change for me personally, my family and also for Rang Décor.

The interior ideas that I have shared on Rang Décor have been ‘predominantly Indian’ because of that which inspires me, that which surrounds me, that which I love so deeply.

India.

Everything India.

Everything about India.

Everything about my life in India.

As I move on, Rang Décor too will hopefully evolve into a space that will be a grand mix of Indian aesthetics along with global inspirations. An interesting combination of eclectic ideas curated with my design sensibilities!

Glimpses of our life, our travels & home have been posted on Rang Décor many times before. Today I share with you few more frames of the home that we have nurtured as a family with great love.

 Eastern light bathes our terrace in a golden hue every morning...

 A wide angle of our study...

Priya Sebastian's self portrait watches over our study, a Pepperomia plant grows wild in a bottle...

 Blogging one quiet afternoon in our study...

 Aarohi Singh's Goddess Saraswati Thali blesses the music corner of our home...

 Will miss the morning sunlight the most, where I have shot so many of my photographs.

 My frangipani trees, so long!


As I embark on this new journey, a new chapter of my life in a new land, I hope all of you will join me. 

 This is how the road ahead looks at this time of the year. (We just returned from a hectic week in Minnesota) 

The sun sets  around 9 p.m. leaving behind an orange glow in the sky. 

“I don’t know where I am going from here but I promise it won’t be boring.”

~ David Bowie.

Amen.

Signing off the India chapter, will see you all on the other side of the globe.

(Would appreciate any kind of suggestions, tips and virtual hand holding that all you Rang Decor readers can offer! Thank you!)

INDeco Hotels Swamimalai, 1896 Tanjore Village.

I had posted about this serene place near Kumbakonam, Tamilnadu way back in 2007 when I had just started the blog, it was called Sterling Swamimalai. 

Since then it has evolved into a even more beautiful heritage resort and has been rechristened INDeco Hotels, Swamimalai, 1896 Tanjore Village.

INDeco Hotels Swamimalai, 1896 Tanjore Village is a heritage resort which consists of a painstakingly restored main village home built in the late 1896 and many other heritage structures which have been restored to create an ambience of a Tanjore Village.

 Terracotta figurines and idols compliment the heritage space with pops of burnt red.

Painted prayers~ Kolams adorn the brick paths and entrances to the rooms. 

My daughter learning to make little kolams on a little chalkboard...

Kolams are drawn every morning after a generous sprinkling of water on the paths.

The swimming pool has been designed like the village temple tank with niches for earthen lamps that I imagine would create magic on special days and festivals...

White-washed terra-cotta 'yalis' guard the dining hall which is tucked amidst thick banana plantation.

Beautifully designed entrances to various rooms in the resort.

Few walls are painted red and white reminiscent of South Indian temples with beautiful sculptures of Gods & Goddesses.

The trees in the resorts have faces! The Cannonball tree (Nagalingam) seem to come alive with a terra-cotta face and floral hairdo. So delightful!

The Cannonball flower has such a mesmerizing fragrance.

 The terra-cotta Gods are omnipresent:-) 

The resort has been conceived and designed by Steve Borgia. It also houses the Steve Borgia Indian Heritage Museum where you can see a beautiful collection of antiques and collectables. 

Lovely geometrical patterns created by Mr. Sun.

A huge Lord Shiva face in the museum open courtyard.

 The sun-bathed courtyard in the 1896 village home.

 A peacock enjoys the morning sunlight...

Hope you enjoyed the tour of the stunning South Indian village style, heritage resort. So next time you are on a South Temple trip in Tanjore District, do check out INDeco Hotels Swamimalai, 1896 Tanjore Village.

Have a great day with a stainless steel tumbler of the famous frothy Kumbakonam Degree Coffee:-)

(Images by Arch)

Manjal, M.Rm.Rm Cultural Foundation. Chennai

We were in Chennai for a couple of days and despite our hectic schedule, one place that I needed to visit was the M.Rm.Rm Cultural Foundation.

M.Rm.Rm Cultural Foundation is a non-profit organization run by Ms. Visalakshi Ramaswamy, that supports and undertakes documentations of, and works towards the revival of rural crafts, textiles and architecture that are fast disappearing today.

I reached Manjal, their craft store one hot afternoon and as I pushed the glass door into the cool room I was welcomed by blocks of vibrant colours! 

Square niches' in the wall saturated with colourful woven baskets, bags and boxes in various shades. 

The crafts supported by the Foundation include the Chettinad Kottan which is the traditional palm leaf basket, handmade tiles made in the village of Athangudi, the Kandanghi sari both in cotton and silk, the Chettinad lime-egg plaster and plastic baskets.

The colours tantalized the eyes while woven baskets transported me to a bygone-era where in the Sourthern India, the grandmothers in their leisure hours would weave the plastic wires into bags.

"The traditional Palmyra basketry of Chettinad, 'Kottans' were once woven by the women or ‘Aachis’ of affluent families and found a place in every Chettinad activity, from ritual and ceremony to daily use. Over the passing of time, kottans, often decorated with beadwork and crochet work, slowly stopped being made. The Foundation has revived the craft in its’ original colours and patterns by teaching it to a group of village women from Keelayapatti"~ M.Rm.Rm Cultural Foundation

Beautiful designs and patterns on Kottan baskets

"Plastic baskets are the latest innovation that the Foundation has undertaken. The baskets are woven by some of the women from the Kottan project who have difficulty working with palm leaf and who depend on these baskets for their livelihood."

"These brightly coloured baskets are washable and very durable, and being reusable, do their bit towards the environment. Available in different sizes, these multi-purpose baskets may be put to a variety of uses from gift packaging to home accessories like laundry baskets, plant holders, waste-paper baskets, beach bags and market baskets."

~ M.Rm.Rm. Cultural Foundation

I completely fell in love with these mini-coin purses!

Must confess, I was a bit of a kid in a colourful candy store;-) I did pick up a few beautiful products for my home and for friends.

A tiny little plastic basket that seems to have many uses:-)

Some gorgeous Kottan basket boxes for my beads and bangles...

...and a huge woven plastic bag that will always remind me of my grandmom and to carry my own vibrant shopping bag!

I must thank the very gracious people at Manjal for allowing me to take photographs of their lovely store and share them with readers of Rang Decor.

Great admiration for Ms. Visalakshi Ramaswamy for an initiative like M.Rm.Rm. Cultural Foundation that is dedicated to reviving rich art & crafts of our country and for helping sustain the talented artisans by providing a livelihood. Kudos!

So do drop by at their store if you are in Chennai or visit them on Facebook~

M.Rm.Rm Cultural Foundation

(Images by Arch)