While traditional houses often incorporate diverse wall materials and designs, modern construction practices mostly prioritise standardised, uniform approaches. There is a need for a more thoughtful and contextual approach to wall design in order to create unique and sustainable living spaces
Read More
Star anise benefits for hair growth and thickness: Star anise's properties may help nourish and strengthen your hair while leaving a pleasant aroma. Below are ten home remedies people have used with star anise for hair growth.
Read More
Karnataka government’s proposal asking beer manufacturers to declare the sugar content in the beer on the bottle’s label and capping the use of sugar to 25% of the weight of malt of grain has riled brewers, who have sought withdrawal of the notification.
Considering the impact of sugar consumption on health, the State Government on August 23 issued multiple draft notifications intending to amend the Karnataka Excise (Brewery) Rules, 1967, under the Karnataka Excise Act, 1965. The brewers have taken exception to the proposed two new rules that they say will redefine standards from what the FSSAI has defined the beer as.
Read More
Made with absolute luxury of time and embroidered with intricate details, the Rahul Mishra X Tod’s edit of bags and shoes has been launched today, during London Fashion Week at Tod’s Bond Street Boutique
Read More
From the flapper fashions of ‘Downton Abbey’ and the skinny suits of ‘Mad Men’ to the label love of ‘Sex and the City’, ‘Emily in Paris’ and ‘The Devil Wears Prada’, here are some of the best dressed films and shows to pamper your peepers
Read More
Grey Goose Vive Le Voyage recently collaborated with designer duo Shantanu and Nikhil to launch a line of limited-edition bar accessories. From royal blue and patina gold shakers and jiggers to elegant glasses detailed with the brand’s emblem, the collection is a blend of luxury and functionality. “The choice of materials, such as the nostalgic patina gold and the luxurious royal blue with self-textures, enhances its representation of luxury and craftsmanship,” says Nikhil Mehra. While the signature tape detailing reveals their attention to textures, the etching of the brand’s three geese emphasises the feeling of togetherness and conviviality that underscore their products. The barware will pop up at bars for service across the country in the coming months. Exclusive taste
The French vodka brand also partnered with mixologist Yangdup Lama to come up with an exclusive Martini menu to complement the barware. Lama says he worked with Indian ingredients to create simple yet sophisticated cocktails. His quartet includes ‘Martini de l’Est’, with the Himalayan rhododendron as its highlight, and ‘Le Sommet Martini’, which pays homage to the distinct notes of black Darjeeling tea.
Read More
For fans of the beloved British cartoon Peppa Pig, the one-hour-fifteen-minute theatrical adaptation will have songs, dances, interactive dialogues, and games
Read More
In 2022, Balenciaga collaborated with Lay’s to create bags that looked like packets of chips. These debuted on the hallowed runway of the Paris Fashion Week. This year, the snack brand has teamed up with homegrown label Huemn.
And the first look of the garment-heavy merchandise took place across grocery stores in Delhi in a rather innovative way. “It was a treasure hunt. We hid them in custom-made Lay’s chips packets in a few grocery stores,” says Saumya Rathor, category lead — Potato Chips, PepsiCo India, adding, “I found this idea very disruptive. We really believe that collaborations are a good way to propel the brand narrative forward.”
Read More
Sculptor Anila Jacob’s spacious home in Aluva, on the banks of the Periyar, is transforming into a gallery, showcasing some of her seminal works. Anilam, the exhibition that opens here today, is a retrospective on the artist, who made sense of wood and metal and melded them in curious ways. Before leaving for Ireland to join her son, Anila wanted to have a show of her works at her own space. “This show is a personal one for me. It encapsulates my journey thus far and I want people to come into my home and see my works,” she says, over the phone from Aluva.
The 83-year-old sculptor says she has had a fulfilling career spanning six decades and she would still love to work on very large sculptures. “May be 15-foot ones. If someone commissions, I would definitely love to do a huge sculpture,” she says.
Read More
With home design trends veering towards all things earthy and natural, it was only a matter of time before evergreen materials such as bamboo, wood, and cane were brought back into the spotlight. A prominent material seen everywhere from largescale lighting fixtures in commercial establishments to furniture in residential spaces is rattan. The tough material has found fancy among Indian designers who are using its flexible nature to craft furniture, decor artefacts, and installations. We track a few...
A decor artefact by The Green Collective | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Read More
Since it is the season of sadya with its vegetarian and non-vegetarian iterations, a Thrissur-based patisserie, The Lilly’s, has come up with the concept of a ‘Pastry Sadya’. This is for those with a sweet tooth and then some more.
In keeping with the sadya template, it retains elements such as the ubiquitous palada and pazham payasam, the pappadam, banana chips and sharkara peratti (jaggery coated banana chips). But the twist is the strawberry-dates pickle, saffron milk cake, carrot halwa thoran — the piece de resistance and centrepiece — Thai sticky rice, which is served with mampazham (ripe mango) sauce - all served on a banana leaf.
Read More
The Mirzapur-based brand explores the potential of carpets as vehicles for storytelling by collaborating with Tarun Tahiliani, Anju Modi, Anita Dalmia and Ashdeen Lilaowala
Read More
Designer Rahul Mishra’s first store in Hyderabad is a reflection of his artistic vision. In a hat tip to the city, the 5000 square feet store has a metal ceiling featuring ripples of water inspired by the Hussain Sagar lake , and rocks resembling the Deccan terrain at several places inside the Banjara Hills store. The store’s facade incorporates Rahul Mishra’s signature trompe l’oeil technique, which creates optical illusions that trick the eye of the viewer.
If a store can be this stunning with so many natural design elements, one would wonder what would his home be like. Rahul Mishra shares with a laugh, “My dream home is currently getting built at Ranikhet and I am looking forward to its completion. This home will give my family a breathtaking view of snow-capped mountains on one side, and an infinity view of the mountains on the other. We will be living amid Nature.”
Read More
Forgotten Foods and Plesantre @ Prakruti Farms Nestled on a sprawling five-acres in Tharalu, off the busy Kanakapura Road, is a tropical seven-layered food forest that has been designed to mimic the natural ecosystems found in tropical regions. Prakruti Farms, run by Raja Varun and Nethra HB, is an organic permaculture farm with fruit-bearing trees, timber species, aromatic plants, flowering species, herbs, medicinal plants, as well as roots and tubers. “My father, driven by his passion for farming, acquired our farmland about 25 years ago. From a young age, I spent my weekends and vacations at the farm, and enjoyed trekking through forests. This connection with Nature inspired my interest in natural farming and permaculture. Over the past 12 years, I’ve immersed myself in learning and implementing these practices at Prakruti Farms,” says Raja, adding that several areas of the farm are dedicated to chikoo and coconut orchards, while others are spread out with lush betel nut plantations.
Offerings at Forgotten Foods | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement The husband-wife duo explain that they adhere to sustainable farming practices. “We create our natural fertilizer, jeevamrut, which is made using cow dung and urine, enriching the soil and promoting healthy plant growth,” says Nethra, adding that they also run a farmstay for guests keen on learning about permaculture and getting a taste of the rural life. “Our farm is also home to a variety of animals, including desi cows, chickens, sheep, rabbits, and dogs, each playing a vital role in our integrated farming system,” she adds.
Read More
A burst of colours greets commuters on the dusty, busy, and congested Vattiyoorkavu junction in Thiruvananthapuram. Yellow, orange, and white marigolds and scarlet blossoms of Bachelor’s button dance in the breeze, giving a splash of colour to the bushes and creepers laden with vegetables. Onam arrived early in this corner of the capital city thanks to an initiative of VK Prasanth, Member of Legislative Assembly, and Thushara Chandran, Agricultural Officer at Krishi Bhavan, Vattiyoorkavu.
Prasanth had discussed the possibility of Krishi Bhavan coming up with a plan to grow pesticide-free flowers and vegetables that could be used for Onam. Since vacant land is at a premium, Thushara decided to focus on terrace farming and encourage residents to devote at least 10 flower pots to grow one kind of vegetable. She contacted resident associations to seek the help of those who might be interested in vegetable cultivation.
Read More
Catapults to Cameras is not just a wildlife documentary. It’s also an experiment to encourage youngsters in rural Bengal to move away from ritual hunting
Read More
These days Bhanupriya Rao, 48, is obsessed with how women utilise their time. Thanks to the sporadic Time Use Survey released by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), we know that women devote three times the amount of time that men do to unpaid domestic work. But that’s not enough for the founder of Behen Box, an independent news organisation founded after the 2019 general election that spotlights how policies and laws affect women and gender diverse people. She wants to know how much time women spend on leisure.
“An ASHA worker’s time use looks completely different to my time use. A contractual worker spends her time differently from a farmer, a rural woman from an urban woman, a woman who has a full-time job and also takes care of a disabled child vs. one who takes care of a non-disabled child,” she says. “So how do we document these differences — and then make it into a data set?”
Read More
On a Tuesday afternoon, we settle down for lunch with artist Joya Mukerjee Logue, after a guided tour of her solo exhibition, Those Who Walk Before Me, at Vadehra Art Gallery. Many of us present — writers and editors — have brought along pieces that hold value of “ancestral memory”. For me, it’s an album with photographs of my mother performing on stage as a singer in the 1960s.
My mother is young, and in one photo accompanied by British-Italian pianist Charlie Mariano, Portuguese-Goan saxophonist Pobreno Dias, and a bassist who is hidden by shadows. My father had taken it. “I love the fact that you brought us these beautiful black-and-white photographs. The handwriting under each image is such a lovely touch, in the age of emails and typed fonts,” she tells me, recalling her days of writing letters to family across her diasporic existence. “I also love the dress your mother is wearing,” she adds, with a laugh.
Read More
When Victoria Gardens (now Rani Baug) was constructed as a botanical garden in the 1860s, in then Bombay, it was a significant colonial project. The aim: to import plants from Asia, Africa and the Americas for cataloguing. “Its role [was to serve] as a laboratory for the Empire, and a Victorian English garden structure was imposed on the Indian landscape to reflect a Eurocentric view,” says Amba Sayal-Bennett.
But colonial botany also involved rigorous processes of extraction, transfer and erasure — in this case extraction of plants and labour, transfer of specimens across the globe, and erasure of local knowledge. For the London-based British-Indian artist’s first solo show in India, titled Dispersive Acts at TARQ, she created a series of sculptures and drawings “thinking about this botanical garden as a colonial archive, a witness, and a site of resistance”.
Read More
The menu highlights Himalayan culinary culture Chef Prateek Sadhu calls himself an “accidental chef.” Through his formative years, cooking was never in the scheme of things. He wanted to become a commercial pilot. After high school he planned to attend flying school. In the gap between the two, he joined the Institute of Hotel Management “for the fun of it.” He adds, “After three months in the kitchen — during the course — I knew this is what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.”
After noteworthy stints at restaurants of luxury hotels in India and the US, and a stellar role at Masque in Mumbai, Prateek upped and left the bustle of city life for the hills. A year and eight months later, in November 2023, Naar was born in the lap of the Himalayas, cocooned within a lush pine forest.
Read More
When she was given a DSLR camera, Nagapattinam-based A Mahalakshmi automatically trained her lens on her fellow fisherwomen. She documented the lives of young widows from the fishing community, who struggled to fend for their families with the little they made selling fish. “I shot a lot of photos,” recalls the 34-year-old mother of two, speaking about the three-month workshop by independent photographer M Palanikumar, organised by the NGO Dakshin Foundation in 2023.
“I wondered what we would do with all of it,” she says.
Read More
Leading chefs and caterers from Kerala travel every year to West Asia, US, UK and other states in India to serve Onasadya for the Malayali community settled there
Read More
Rasanai
Avanashi Road You can savour inji puli, a classic relish made of ginger, tamarind, and jaggery and a star of the sadya, or mezhugu peratti, a spicy dish made with tiny cubes of yam, erissery made with black chickpea and vegetables and more as Rasanai lays out an elaborate Onasadya packed with 28 dishes starting from upperi, sarkaravarati, puliserry, sambharam, chakka pradhaman and paalada pradhaman.
We first had an Onasadya at Thiruvananthapuram, followed by another at Kochi. Both were different in terms of dishes, taste and flavours,” recalls Sheik Mohideen, brand chef for the Pricol group’s South Indian brands including Rasanai. “We got Manian from Thiruvananthapuram and Unni from Kochi who makes sadya for Thrissur pooram and Nenmara pooram to present their dishes before finalising the menu for Onasadya. A team of cooks from Kerala are here to dish out the festive menu,” says Sheik adding that the takeaway boxes also carry an educative map on how to eat the sadya.
Read More
Port Muziris
Nedumbasserry Onam at Port Muziris, a tribute portfolio hotel by Marriott at Kochi Airport, will serve two iterations of the Onasadya - vegetarian and non-vegetarian. You can either dine in or take away; home delivery is free for a five kilometre radius. The sadya is available from September 13-15, between 12.30pm-3pm. The sadyas are priced ₹899 and ₹950 plus taxes for the vegetarian and non-vegetarian options. There is a 15 per cent discount for early birds. Payasams such as palada are available for dine-in and takeaway, available till September 16.
For more details contact 90726 11892
Read More
Being a Bangalorean, trips to Mysuru have always been for work or for family and friends. Rarely have I seen it as a holiday destination. So, when I was invited to visit the city to experience the newly opened Ibis Styles Hotel, I was excited to see what it had in store for me.
Thanks to the new expressway, we made the drive from Bengaluru to Mysuru in just two hours, reaching the hotel just in time for the breakfast buffet. The Verandah is their all-day dining restaurant. Hotel breakfasts are the best part of staying in a hotel. I tucked into fresh fruit, hot pooris, and a piping hot filter coffee before heading up to my suite.
Read More
Wondering where to book lunch this Onam in Chennai? Every year families and friends gather together to dive into this sumptuous vegetarian spread, served on a banana leaf. Here’s our round up of the best Chennai has to offer for Onam, this year.
Read More
The time is half past eight in the morning, when a mini truck only half-filled with flowers of different shades cramped inside plastic crates speeds to Pookada Junction, Thiruvananthapuram where veteran flower sellers in the city have set camp for decades. Garlands of yellow, orange, and white marigolds adorn the flanks of the streets as if its visitors were guests of honour.
Workers unloading fresh stock of flowers that arrived from Tamil Nadu at Chala market. | Photo Credit: NIRMAL HARINDRAN
Read More
In Chennai, vendors have long been known for selling teddy bears, Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse, and other soft toys. But a new wave of anime-themed merchandise is taking over, appealing to customers young and old.
Japan’s anime and manga culture — through shows and comics — has had a steady following in the city for years, and now figurines from popular series are creating quite a buzz. Several local vendors have quickly picked up on this trend. “We have stocked up Naruto, One Piece, Dragon Ball, and Blue Lock anime among the usual kids’ show character toys,” says Nagoor Meeran, who runs a roadside toy shop at Pondy Bazaar. “More customers started visiting us after reels featuring our shop began trending among anime fans in Chennai. Even some students studying abroad had their parents pick up a Naruto figurine from us,” he says.
Read More
Actor Vidya Balan held an audience of women entrepreneurs captive with her infectious laughter and audacious jokes, even as she spoke about her journey in the film industry, learning to love her body and managing her finances at an event organised by FICCI FLO, the Ladies Organisation of the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
The event, held at Taj West End, featured handloom products from artisans all over Karnataka. Sharing her love for handloom saris and the importance of supporting India’s unique textiles, Vidya was quite vocal about how women ought to wear sarees as they wished.
Read More
Award winning Chef Thitid “Ton” Tassanakajohn from Thailand brings modern Thai flavours from his Michelin-starred restaurant Le Du, to India The six course meal at ITC hotels in Kolkata, Chennai, and Delhi, will feature dishes and techniques that he incorporates at Le Du
Read More
Six-year-old Shivaparvathi is a picture of concentration as she nimbly fills in the colours on a figure sketched on a red-painted, flat piece of wood. In the company of her father, cousins, uncle, grandfather and his brothers, she is busy finishing work on the ritualistic Pallivillu, also known as the Onavillu.
Different kinds of the ritualistic Onavillu are dedicated to the deities at Sree Padmanabha Swamy temple on the day of Thiruvonam. | Photo Credit: SREEJITH R KUMAR
Read More
Olympian Archana Kamath, one of the top table tennis players in the country, has bid goodbye to the sport. The 24-year-old from Bengaluru, Archana who was perhaps the most talented women’s table tennis player that Karnataka has produced, decided to call it a day to pursue higher studies in the United States. She had recently participated in the Paris Olympics and felt it was the time to hang up her racket for a master’s programme in public policy at the University of Michigan.
Archana’s decision to retire so early came as a surprise to table tennis fans and her former coach Bona Thomas John, who says, “It was indeed a surprise for me when she revealed her plans after returning from the Olympics. I hope she does keep playing even while she is in the United States.”
Read More
In its fifth edition, Geneva Watch Days (GWD) has come a long way from August 2020 when it was launched by its six founding members — watch brands Breitling, Bvlgari, De Bethune, Girard-Perregaux, H Moser & Cie, and MB&F. An exhibit-cum-celebration of watchmaking, the event was held across various locations in Geneva, from hotels like Beau Rivage, Fairmont, Angleterre, Ritz-Carlton and Woodward, to boutiques of watch brands like Breguet, Blancpain, and Breitling. It had a common pavilion though — at the lakefront promenade in the backdrop of the city’s largest fountain Jet d’Eau — where all the 52 participating brands converged for discussions on horology and to display their new collections.
Held between August 29 and September 2, the five-day event is testament to new trends in horology. We hand-pick five must-watch timepieces from over 100 that were showcased at GWD 2024.
Read More
Can you contain Onam in a box? Looks like you can. Pick anything from traditional snacks to payasam, pickles, Onakkodi, and even a little Kerala souvenir to remind you of home, these Onam gift hampers have them all. If you are planning a creative gift to give this Onam, check out these hamper options.
Aarpo Onam hamper by Loaves&Muffins | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Read More
Hiphop Tamizha Adhi comes back will serenade Chennai at the Return of the Dragon concert on September 21, but he has manother tricks up his sleeve including the release of upcoming action-thriller ‘Kadaisi Ulaga Por’
Read More