Get your Geography right.

Ask any Indian where the US of A, is and he will happily point out on the map and also very confidently tell you the name of its President in correct English  ," Obama" Not  Osama.

 Ask him where is Tamil Nadu, Kerala ,Bangalore and watch his/her face blank out.  Were they  not paying any attention during  geography class in school?, one wonders.
" One and the same thing" is what they say. Well it is not so, please go get an atlas or google it.

Guys, Kerala is a  South Indian state. It is ONE of the South Indian states and not THE only South Indian state. All Keralites speak Malayalam .They do not speak Tamil, which is a whole new language with its own grammar not do they speak Kannada  or Konkani or Tulu. These languages do exist but in different states of South India. OK? Just because I speak Malayalam does not mean I also understand all of the different languages although I may know Kannada or  Konkani.

 " It all sounds the same to me" says one of my friends.  Well to me it doesn't. In fact what it does show  is the lack of information and knowledge  of the person making the statement.

 Another thing I absolutely cannot take is one's ignorance of the National Anthem. Its not just ignorance but complete lack of  Respect which is reflected in our surroundings. We need Independence Days not just to remind us of the Martyrs who lost their lives,We need Independence Days so we can be free from our own ignorance.

India is not the land of Corruption

Its funny, but of late I am coming to the conclusion that  India is not the land of the corrupt as has been stated in the various magazines etc.. Its absolutely nonsense!!! I am making a very important point and I invite people to feel free to disagree with me. Because I am speaking from experience.You know, in my normal routine day to day travel to work and off it, I find people breaking the law and getting away with it, but heck, if I even think of it, , lightning and thunder accompany my very thought and I find I cannot even fudge a single document, give a guy wrong change, a torn note, lie.. nope just doesn't work. ... I GET CHECKED!!!.
And that's funny, cos,  This is India,right ?  the land of corruption and it should be okay right ? WRONG!!!

I think we were so unhappy when the British left, we decided to settle for Corruption !. I mean we just couldn't live without all that abuse ( If you go by what  the history books say) we just had to get something else to replace them. But now I am not so sure ; Either the Times of India and Mumbai Mirror is full of bull crap about the corruption because I have absolutely not been able to hoodwink anyone till now, embezzle funds etc, hide and get a new passport ...

Yet, everyday, I am faced with this invisible corruption monster who laughs at me because I am just soooo not smart. Beggars on the roads, begging bindaas right in front of a cop vehicle at Santacruz Station. Not one but ten. OK, ten persons smarter than me.

 Hawkers selling  clips earrings, brushes toothpaste,wallets what have you in a First class ladies bogey without a pass. They even let the guy enter inside and asked him to have a seat. I was the only one complaining.  You guessed right. I wasn't asked if I wanted a seat.

Slums coming up left, right ,centre some right under police chowky noses but hey,  if  I stand outside a shop they ask me to move on.Maybe they think I will open a Vada pav stall  while I just stand there?

The residential building we live in has a tailoring shop and a dentist working out of their homes for commercial purposes and guess what, after beginning talks for redevelopment with the Builder , they backed out at the last minute,citing some irrelevant details, and in the meantime legalized their practices ,for a fee ,of course. How they got the society consent is a mystery and whose signatures have been forged, Heaven knows; But hey everything is legal. Corruption? Nah! Just perfectly  inconvenient to a bunch of the rest of the members who now have to run around and fix things in the perfectly legal way.

How the terrorists got fake passports is a mystery to me. I went for a reissue and they scrutinized each and every word. I was standing in line from 8.00 am in the morning outside the Passport Office and was there till 12.30 am by which time I was asked to get the correct documents.
 I go .."Sorry? I have the documents". "Maybe you didn't check properly"
Clerk : "Sahi paper leke ao".

Haan!Haan Bhai Haan!

 I am glad somethings are the way they should be. Jai Hind!!!

Desirable dresses on Shopstyle

Looks I like - Emily and Fin Blushing Ambition Dress $99.99 – ModCloth

Pumps by Jimmy Choo
Wallets by Calvin Klein

Fashion silhouettes for Fall 2010- India

I am seriously looking for inspiration and have been checking out various blog spots in the hope of spotting the one key look for an Indian Pret look which is not over the top and not attempted before.
The International looks are all about ruffles, frills,ditsy prints,trench coats and I am getting kind of lost in the maze.
Need a look without gota laces and katori sequins and bling!!!!
But funnily found some inspiring blogsites like Moodboard and Silhouette Girl. International fashion sites are celebrating Nautical stripes and wondering how to pull off  blue and white sequinned striped kurtis with silver pants maybe? Hmmmm.
Interesting .... Ok gotta go to work now..

CREATING SOLUTIONS

As a working mother of two kids, I find I am constantly looking for solutions . Fix this , fix that and I find I m also looking for ways to enable myself to be ableto handle situations better and I figured that the less stressed I was, I would find longer lasting solutions. Anyway this is for parents with children who constantly need a "fix" to their hyperactivity and it also doubles as a

learning tool.

You will need a about 1 and a half metre of plastic (non slip) and a permanent marker.

Well, scribble out large characters of the alphabet randomly on the plastic.

Get your kids to enjoy and hour or two of "play with alphabets"

and watch your kids jump and recognise the alphabets quickly.

I tried this with my daughter, now 5 when she was having trouble recognising letters and it worked!!!

New trends - sites to follow

Here I was looking for new trends and colours for Summer 2011 and came across http://trendland.net/. Its a cool site and for 2011 they have covered quite a few trends. I thought the Givenchy collection pictures were clear and awesome. Anyway for all those designers looking for inspiration and colours , this site kind of puts it all together in terms of looks and colours.

Samples of My Work

KANYA KUMARI

HOLIDAY AT CAPE COMORIN,KANYA KUMARI, INDIA

Bianca and My Favourite Aunt Sushi

I I love this picture because my aunt is holding my daughter and I think she is saying a silent prayer for her. My Aunt is special and loving and although she is the youngest of my mum's family, she is the strongest. God Bless Her

The Mumbai Fashionista's Dilemma - brands and more brands- keep em comin'

Mumbai is the new chosen location for a lot of big brands from abroad and although brands like M&S and Mango have entered the market, nothing quite compares to the Zara opening. For the Indian discerning shopper, the choice just got bigger and grander. Located at Palladium, Phoenix, Lower Parel, 3 floors of shopping, catering to Men, women and kids, boys and girls.

At affordable prices, one saw quite a lot of shoppers around and this I believe after a month of the opening.

But seriously, the clothes aren't exactly to die for and I've seen better designs at the local stores selling designer wear. The ditsy prints part of the fashion forecast last year have hit the market in July when we in India really move into monsoon clothing and bridal wear, and the clothing is part of their spring/summer collection (at least what I saw on their online website) but what I thought was really interesting is how the Indian fashion forward woman is going to accept the bling less designs since a lot of shoppers normally associate their money's worth with that little extra shimmer of stone or bead work embellished on their tunics and dresses.

Anyway, I loved the accessories and shoes especially though,especially the black strappy flats wins hand down and will see you through day and evening. The kid's sandals too had me eyeing them enviously, but at the moment capable of creating quite a crater in my pocket. So, Bianca,( my 4 year old) , darling ,you have to wait till Mom gets a Big Design Project.

I loved the fact that I could browse the store without any sales person breathing down my neck and actually felt guilty that I hadn't bought anything. But if I do decide to buy anything , it will be the sandals for the potholed Indian road and now that Zara's here, wonder when that will change.