The Bewitched Hour: Dusk

My unequivocally favorite time of the day is dusk. Wherever I am, whatever the season, I invariably find myself wandering outside as the day draws to a close and glimpsing the twilight hour. I reckon that I am not even particularly interested in seeing the sunsets, as spectacular as they may be; I am more drawn towards the palpable atmosphere that dusk conjures up, the partition it heralds and cements between the day and night. Dusk is that time which appears to be a sea of possibilities, where time itself becomes suspended and dreams are free to be fleshed into existence.

Here are some pictures of dusk in old Jodhpur on an August evening, the latter pictures having been taken in a Krishna temple. I love the color of the dusk light - and how different surfaces and textures respond to it.

Even the pigeons have come home to roost...

Darshan at Krishna temple

And, finally, this is my current laptop wallpaper - there is something rather calming and serene that I find in the image.

You can read about my dusk experience involving a falling kite over here

Zubeidaa: Of Rajput and Vintage Glamor

Some posts are just meant to be written.

To do away with the enigma, ever since I have begun to blog, everything that I lately experience and witness deems itself to be blog-worthy! (Yes, call it a blogger-newbie excitement:) This holiday has been an interesting bagful of assorted experiences so far: accidentally stumbling upon an abandoned, moss-dressed house and watching a wonderful Kathak performance accompanied by Carnatic and North Indian classical instruments at NCPA in Bombay, talking to passengers of the Indo-Pak train service, Thar Express and witnessing a contemporary/ballet-traditional Rajasthani folk dance performance at Arna Jharna Desert Museum in Jodhpur, and discovering a sleek, uber-chic haveli-turned hotel in heart of old Jodhpur - all of which I hoped to blog about in greater detail only once I returned to Oman.

In the meantime, I have been indulging in shopping to my heart's content and decided to get a traditional Rajasthani poshak stitched this time round in lieu of purchasing a customary churidar-kameez/anarkali suit as an elegant - and Rajasthani! - alternative to special occasion (or what I call, Diwali-best) wear. I was trying to describe it to a friend and the most immediate visual reference that popped in my mind was Karisma Kapoor wearing the poshak in Zubeidaa, where she plays a Rajput princess. You can see only a bit of the poshak in this picture as Karisma is overloaded with so much jewelry; it is basically the traditional costume of women of the Rajput community in Rajasthan, consisting of a kanchli (inner-wear with sleeves), kurta (a sleeveless blouse), and flowing, pleated ghagra, or skirt.

Zubeidaa (2000, dir: Shyam Benegal) happens to be a great favorite of mine, perfectly mixing my interests: period cinema, vintage fashion, and Indian royalty in equal measures. The story of a high-spirited Muslim girl, Zubeidaa, living in pre-Independent India's Bombay and who dares to indulge in the otherwise then taboo dream of becoming an actress, she eventually marries a Rajput prince, Maharaja Vijayendra Singh of Fatehpur(Manoj Bajpai), known as Victor; Victor is purportedly based on the Maharaja of Jodhpur, Hanwant Singh although the film obviously does not allude to real-life monikers/parallels - incidentally, the film was banned in Jodhpur upon release. However, Zubeidaa struggles to be allowed to retain her independence of thought and action in the strict, rule-bound Rajput royal household, which she shares along with her husband's first wife, Mandira Devi (Rekha) and eventually dies in a mysterious plane-accident alongside her husband. Her story is narrated through the perspective of her son from her first marriage, Riyaz (Rajat Kapoor), a journalist, attempting to make sense years afterwards of the enigma that was his mother. For trivia buffs, ex-Filmfare editor and director of films such as Fiza, Zubeidaa's writer, Khalid Mohammed literally wrote himself into Zubeidaa, Zubeidaa being his mother.

Apart from thoroughly inhabiting the role of Zubeidaa, Karisma Kapoor looks beautiful in her various style avatars throughout the film: a fresh-faced, starry-eyed school-girl, channeling 40s Bombay high-society glamor with meticulously styled hair and make-up and sophisticated saris, and lastly, a Rajput princess in traditional Rajput clothing.

Thinking to blog about Zubeidaa at some later stage, I then happened to chance upon today this image of Sonam Kapoor looking especially lovely in a divine sky-blue Manish Malhotra sari (a pleasant surprise as I am not particularly a MM fan)and Amrapali jewels at the India International Jewellery Week 2011:

It instantly reminded me of Karisma's Zubeidaa look in this picture:

Coincidence, much? And I found myself blogging about Zubeidaa, after all...! Needless to say, I love the way Sonam has been styled (word is that her sister, Rhea is the stylist) - the look just spells out vintage and I would love to experiment with the three-quarter sleeved blouse myself. Hmm...now what would be the perfect sari that will go along with it? And so another shopping quest begins!

Jazmin Berakha: Embroidering Fashion

One of the first style blogs that I stumbled upon a few years ago - and which has remained a firm favorite since then - was The Clothes Horse; apart from her innovative styling and outfit shots, I looked forward to her thoughtful, contemplative textual descriptions. The locations and photos' often surreal and mysterious quality (beaches, abandoned houses, clearings in the forest, or lakes) along with the textual accompaniments have always made me look forward to The Clothes Horse's posts.

Alongside the blog's fashion quotient, The Clothes Horse has also introduced me to a host of amazing artists: photographers, visual artists, and collage artists and whanot, leading me to marvel at the sea of creativity - and the creating creatures lurking below!

Her recent post featured Buenos-Aires based Jazmin Berakha's embroidery illustrations and I could not help but admire both the finesse with which Jazmin had rendered these illustrations as well as the idea
itself. It reminded me of art works that my mother had purchased from Hong Kong years ago whose illustrations were minimalist, embroidery done upon paper: mountains, a weeping willow, a tree in autumn bloom, and few lines of blue to indicate water.

As I am not particularly inclined towards needlework (apart from the occasional period during my university years when I became interested in customising my clothing, my jeans especially being the site of my needlepoint adventures - although ultimately I had to ask my mother to take over, being much more accomplished than I was), I could not help but admire with great awe the intricacy of her work, each stitch as distinct as a significantly minor paint-stroke.

The controlled geometric patterns of her coat makes me recall a story of a similarly patterned jacket and how it represented an instance of an amazing art-fashion synergy that occurred between artist, Namrita Bachchan and fashion designer, Anamika Khanna (I read about the incident ages ago in Elle India so hopefully my memory transcribes it correctly!). Grand-daughter of acclaimed Hindi poet, Harivanshrai Bachchan, and graphic and visual artist, Namrita launched an illustrated version of his famous poetry collection, Madhuashala: House of Wine, the illustrations being her own art-work.

This is one of her works below:

The designer, Anamika Khanna instantly connected to the patterns and visuals of her work, identifying it with one of her jacket designs - and gifted Namrita the very same jacket. It was one of those rare and perfect instances where two artists - fashion designer and artist - saw an alignment and indeed, intermingling of their respective artistic visions.

In Jazmin's case, she has literally made fashion art, embroidering it into posterity.

Images courtesy: Jazmin Berakha; Santa Banta forum

Rajasthan ahoy...

Rajasthan time soon..

This picture below was taken on a rainy day at Meherangarh fort, Jodhpur; as I am usually in Rajasthan during monsoons, the picture is simultaneously an appropriate reminder of past travels and refreshing prologue to an entirely new journey. Even though I visit Rajasthan almost on an annual basis, each journey yields its own discoveries, haunts, and incidents. I wonder what awaits me this time - and I look forward to documenting it within the scope of this blog...

This picture instantly evokes for me the essential aspects about Rajasthan that are especially dear to me: its iridescent color-palette and its ancient, history-laden spaces. I also like the feeling of dampness that permeates the picture, the unseen gray clouds and drizzle of rain dulling the usual brilliant, almost harsh desert sunlight.* * Considering the temperatures are currently ablaze where I am and the sky woefully absent of the slightest sense of gray, the water-color like intermingling of rain and color will be a welcome sight!

** No wonder I gravitate towards this painting so much...