People, places and what triggers you to make faces

Thursday, January 26, 2012

At Home with Jorge Elias in São Paulo Homes: architecturaldigest.com

At Home with Jorge Elias in São Paulo Homes: architecturaldigest.com

J'adore. Anything that combines animal and floral prints instantly gets my vote, of course, but it's the overall feel of this room, and much of the house, that is so warming. I love the crowded, homely feel, the thought that went into the personalised choice of artwork, the comfort of the sofas. One can imagine long winter afternoons, and sunny spring days spent in this room as the staff brings in petit fours and tea.
That's what a home essentially is, isn't it: A setting for who you believe you are.

Monday, January 23, 2012

A propos Jaipur and Salman Rushdie


Wow, what a nasty couple of days for civil liberties in India and the rights of writers to, you know, bloody well write. When people talk about religious sentiments being hurt over what someone said in print, surely the only logical question to ask is: So why read it? Please carry on, with our blessings, to Church, the mosque, the temple, the totem pole for all the rest of us care.
If publishers only handled books that did not offend, the only paper we would be handling would be the toilet roll as we mused in the loo. And considering the Jaipur Literary Farce, it would have to be on the story of Pontius Pilate calling for a bowl of water so that he would have no responsibility for crucifying people.....no doubt read out to us at some underground meeting by rebels because, of course, the Bible would have been banned.
Oh dear. Now let me get back to reading Lady Chatterley's Lover.

Friday, January 6, 2012

More pearls that called my name


Up a little staircase on Commercial Street, you will find a lovely little jewellery store called BIA with the most creative bits and bobs in rings, lockets, ear-rings, chains and bracelets. Much of it is in an Indian motif, but there are some fusion pieces that are hard to resist. (The fact that the owner was playing Ray Charles when I walked in told me immediately I was in the right place at the right time, something I cannot say very often.)
The semi-precious pearl and ruby nugget here took my breath away and I intend to pair it with my boyfriend jeans and black shirt, never mind that it was made for churidars. Nothing like mixing and matching to come up with your own look, it's what fashion is all about. I mean, where do you think pairing a Chanel jacket with pearls and blue jeans came from. Oh, stop. If there's one thing that makes me groan it's the lack of fabulous boutiques in this sad little town I have never been able to call my own.

Oh, these foreign tongues

What in the name of all that's holy is a programme where the characters speak in a foreign tongue doing on the English channel Star World? Is nothing sacred? So ok, the language is Hindi but still – I don't speak it which is why – this is a no-brainer – I watch English channels, get it? get it? And the programme is Survivor India which is as noxious as Minute to Win It (India version), Masterchef India, Indian (gawdhelpus) Idol and so on. I mean, the day McDonald's entered these shores serving only chicken (!!!), I knew the world as I knew it had changed forever. Where's the beef? Where's the meaning of life, more like. Just watch the strange beings on Survivor India and you will soon be asking the same question.  

I've seen these hands before!


This is outrageous. Captivated by something I read which spoke of 'the greatest crime story ever written', I scrambled for Flipkart so I could immediately order The Hands of Mr Ottermole. Turned out to be a 23-page, Rs 438 limited edition imprint which was wonderfully written, yes, but really, if the words 'right under (policemen's) noses' gave the game away, it's a good thing this was written in the 30s – there would be no other excuse for it!
And horror of horrors, Georgette Heyer wrote a terrific whodunit, A Blunt Instrument, which has the same idea at its core. I refuse to believe she stole it, there's no law that says two writers can't have the same spark of genius. I also possess evey single book Ms Heyer ever wrote so obviously she can do no wrong in my eyes. But nevertheless, it was all most disappointing.

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Of saints and addicts

Wow, new year and much-improved Blogger. There is a God.


Just finished reading Narcopolis. So clever, some passages unforgettable, like the similarity between saints and addicts, or the very funny Introduction to Aggressive Reincarnation, or the learning from lines like grief being "a deep distraction, like absent-mindedness without the insouciance". And this amidst the hugely disturbing imagery and characters one watches like an impending car crash.
Not a bad impact for a first book of fiction.