Pictures I Took This Month

Sometimes I think I don't have what it takes to become a good photographer. Good pictures have so much to say. When I look at photographers on Instagram and Pinterest, their images are simply beautiful, a thousand words and all, even the most ordinary ones. Every time I look at them, I notice something new. A wave of realisation hits me: many of my pictures look flat, devoid of any story. And that discourages me from taking out my camera, so I make do with my basic-ass phone.

But sometimes, a few pictures, no matter how average they are, are just enough. They don't need to be good. The perfect lighting may have escaped them altogether, the angles unimaginative at best. The pictures in this blog post are of places that occupied my visual world growing up. So I tend to look at them through the eyes of a child who is yet to know what a perfect shot is. It helps that these houses haven't changed a bit. Maybe that's all I wanted to capture.  

...........................................................................................................................................................

Please follow me on GFC and Instagram if you like reading the blog.

A Pop of Colour

Growing up, I hated red.

The colour was too much for me. It was loud, reminded me of blood, and most of its shades seemed angry at something or someone.

But I guess what truly influenced my dislike was the fact that red also meant weddings.

Almost every bride back then wore red. And I have always hated weddings and marriages. Because I had never seen a happy married woman.

So perhaps red became guilty by association.

Fast forward to today, and I tolerate red. Brides have started wearing different colours these days. Pastels, pinks, greens, ivory, even wonderfully unconventional shades that would have been unthinkable when I was growing up.

So red no longer has quite the same hold over me. I can tolerate it now. Just a little bit. As a pop of colour. Not the whole outfit. Not yet.

...........................................................................................................................................................

Please follow me on GFC and Instagram if you like reading the blog.

A Beautiful Pause

A picture. A thousand words.

Or a moment one never gets back.

The light that shines bright.

The shadows that grow.

A picture. My heart.

Almost like kindred spirits.

Looking in the same direction.

And then at each other.

Staring hard till one of them blinks.

Till the backgrounds melt.

And the air shifts.

A picture. A beautiful pause.

To Feel Like Before

So last night, long before my bedtime, I sat in the dark for no particular reason. For a while, nothing happened. Trying to focus on the shadows cast by the palm tree outside my balcony, I held on to the stillness I felt. I realised I had the privilege of living in a quiet locality. 

For a while or so, I let myself visualise everything that came my mind's way. There were memories of me eating in my hostel, walking through the college campus, singing out loud, sitting near the rose bushes. Someone was playing an A.R. Rahman song somewhere. I then saw myself in a metro, laughing at lame jokes of my male friends because I wanted to fit in. I took a cab. I was waiting for someone, can't remember who. I ate a lot. A sense of longing for the past enveloped me. 

I then realised that what I wanted the most was not my younger body or the good moments from the past. Or the comfort of the truth that I had years ahead of me to fix and unfix things. What I truly wanted was to feel like before. To be able to move in the world with my old heart beating in my chest. I wanted my own old feelings to lift me up and drop me at a place where I could just glide, hear all the songs in my head and not see past the beautiful haze of a sense of reality that I once had. 

Sometimes I wonder if others feel the same way? Do they also feel different as they grow older? 

Today, as I write about all this, I think of this bright, sunny day. I took a colleague to a place I had visited exactly a year earlier, just to see if everything felt the same, if the trees looked the same, if the houses carried the same vibe. They didn’t. But it was still a good day. We walked for hours, noticed small things, saw cherry blossoms, had good coffee and matcha, and took some nice pictures.

Cooking at Airbnbs

Who cooks on their holidays?

The question may have an obvious answer for most people. Who, in their right mind, would fly for hours, drag heavy luggage, spend at least an hour trying to find their Airbnb, and also make dinner? And even when you are not tired, why bother to cook? Isn't exploring local food a part of the reason why you are where you are?

Of course, I eat out every day when I travel. But I do try to cook once a day. Sometimes it is not even proper cooking; it's just a simple meal thrown together with local ingredients. It all started with the goal of saving money. Just one home-cooked meal every day for, say, a 15-day vacation, and you end up saving a decent amount of money. But money is just part of the reason. Allow me to explain.

So whenever I go to a new place, I have this urge to head to the local grocery chains. I feel almost a childlike excitement as I explore aisles of wafers, ice cream, cakes, noodles and whatnot in completely new flavours. And then there is the fresh produce, in all its glory. In this picture, I have blueberries, plant-based milk, and cereals (not the usual kinds). A no-brainer breakfast that allows you to sit down and plan your day. 

Sometimes, cooking at my Airbnb also allows me to enjoy a quiet day. No rush to go anywhere or book a table. I can explore the nearby area on foot, come back, read for hours, get up, fix a simple lunch like this rocket-and-tomato salad, and enjoy the view outside. 

And then there are evenings when the nearby restaurants are closed. The thought of taking a train to have dinner in the more crowded part of the city crosses my mind, but it feels like too much effort, given my health. So I put together a quick pasta with spaghetti, tomatoes and olives, all bought earlier from a local store. And I pour my water into a wine glass (I forgot to take the picture), because I am fancy like that. And then I sit down, with Lana Del Rey in the background, have a quiet meal, pretending that I live there.

...........................................................................................................................................................

Please follow me on GFC and Instagram if you like reading the blog.

A Solid Dose of Nostalgia

So, flannel shirts are back. From Emily Ratajkowski to Jacob Elordi, celebrities seem to be going for this easy-to-style piece quite a lot lately.

For me, flannel shirts come with a solid dose of nostalgia. My first shirt was a flannel—a blue and red checkered one that I wore with a black denim skirt. Since I had just one pair of shoes—a pair of light purple Keds—I barely looked at my feet, telling myself people around me didn’t care anyway.

Fast forward to today, and I think that outfit would work beautifully now. All I need is the resolve to find the exact items, down to the shoes. For these photos, I borrowed this Uniqlo piece from a friend. Okay, bye for now. Will come back with a new blog post next month.

...........................................................................................................................................................

Please follow me on GFC and Instagram if you like reading the blog.

The Sandwich Method

There are days when style takes minimal effort. It almost happens to you—the perfect top, a satin skirt, a pair of sandals that you didn't even know existed in your wardrobe. Something like that. 

And then there are days when you are getting ready while answering a call and packing your lunch. For days like these, I match my bag with my sandals/shoes and let the harmony do its job. Some call it "the sandwich method", a lazy hack to look a little put together where you wear at least two things (the slices of bread) in one color. I add a touch of big hair, just for a little extra something

...........................................................................................................................................................

Please follow me on GFC and Instagram if you like reading the blog.