A New Shade for Shades of India

This is the story of one passion and two people -- fabrics in the hands of David Housego and Mandeep Nagi, titled Shades of India. For the last twenty years, David, a former journalist and Mandeep  have been nurturing their love for textiles by experimenting with textures and techniques. 

Regulars at the Good Earth store would have noticed fabulous under-stated soft furnishings, bags, jewelry and a certain line of fashion that coordinated with the three. Well, this chapter of Good Earth arrived as an entity with its first flagship store in Mehar Chand Market - an up and coming neighborhood of Khan Market and Lodi Road, to tell its tale. 

Duvets, cushions,  bags and fashion line, line up against grey textured walls  on simple under-lit floating wooden shelves

Shades of India style has consistently been one that is subtle yet sharp, toned down yet one that makes a statement and which is contemporary yet sings an ode to tradition. Presenting the new collection in its brand new home, these attributes are carried over to the interiors of the store, much as a seamless amalgamation of materials, textures and tones.

This large window on the upper level is a treat 

Wall detail

Understated but never staid, there is always a pop of fun. 

 Loved for magic with stitchery and fabric permutations, their soft furnishings, bags and fabric jewelry complete the story of a woman’s world with the Shades of India fashion line. I hope they will some day add a little café to their lovely new store! See more at www.shadesofindia.com

Lado Sarai: seeds of New Delhi's Brera district?

Last week Lado Sarai, New Delhi’s latest art district had one of its Art Nights. Having missed the last few opportunities, this time I altered my travel plans to be in town for it. And I am extremely glad about the decision. After a long time, here was an event that put you on a high before the wine got into you. Nine galleries opening their shows simultaneously, each one better than the other, the evening was an incredible treat. The energy was scintillating and the Art Strip was exuding high voltage. 

 Tunty Chauhan's Gallery Threshold opened ceramist VN Daroz's Solo Show of Ceramics. His latest works are a combination of scale, play of muted shades and glitz, ready for modern homes and corporate installations. 

Wonderwall presented DAY FOR NIGHT, a fabulous collection of surreal photographs by Baba Anand.

Latitude 28's Show titled TACTILE is a Group show with works of  Shivani Aggarwal, C Douglas, Manisha Gera Baswani (who is having a solo show currently at Gallery Espace) and Mohammad Zeeshan among others.

The Show is a fabulous curation of a self-explanatory title.

Title says it all!

It was an evening of artistic gratification with loads of possibilities. A thought that has stayed with me as I drove back around 10pm when the galleries shut their doors, is that Lado Sarai could be New Delhi’s parallel to Milan’s Brera neighborhood. The Art Night hinted of loads of promise, those that can take it to become our own Brera district. I have since spoken to a few like minded friends and they all seem to agree except that moving things in our context isn't as easy. But my argument to them is that we have come thus far to organise the Art Nights, so it is a matter of concerted initiative to keep the momentum going.

Lado Sarai has all the makings, it has Art Galleries, Design Studios even a café at Art Positive that serves fresh sandwiches and cakes though limited in variety but good quality nonetheless.

While organic growth of an area as fresh as this is important because that is forming the DNA for the years ahead, a watchful eye with a broad plan agreed upon by those who have brought to where it is today, might be one way of giving it a desirable direction. 

Hidden Gallery had a Pakistani Truck Art Show going on simultaneously at its regular gallery timings.
Transferring Truck Art onto pieces of furniture and other accessories as lights and table-tops, this design studio cum gallery  sold one-off pieces during the exhibition which lasted four days.

Their signature chair wearing new colours.

Art Positive showed Nidhi Khurana and Anju Kaushik's in a show titled MAPPING MINDSCAPES

Nidhi Khurana

Anju Kaushik

The other participating Galleries are Gallery Ragini, 
Exhibit 320, Art Motif, Studio Art and Abadi Art Space.

Brera, the Art district of Milan with its famous museums has a unique artsy bohemian spirit that echoes in the lanes of Lado Sarai. If the bye-lanes, which will get occupied soon, (we already see the  strip extended) are managed well and kept clean (a huge factor that makes Lado Sarai a preferred destination), very soon we could see cute little cafes and design stores adding to the existing charm and taking it to where the neighbourhood has the potential to be. 

Art and culture focused new routes such as art appreciation workshops, apprenticeships and gallery management could be a learning arm, while efforts and training towards conservation and enhancement of the historical and artistic heritage of the territory, given the proximity to Qutub Minar, could be another prong. It will be a pity if the area is allowed to go the Hauz Khas Village or the Khan Market way, where the prospects to upgrade have been lost, at least for the near future.

Here is what Brera looks like on usual working days...

 Lively buzz all day long

Brera: Preserving character and heritage of local territory

Clean by lanes that make for a pleasurable walk through

Interesting signages

Art and Culture focussed commercial activities

A fun place to meet, greet and eat besides art chomping

Not too difficult...is it? Certainly not impossible!

house to home transformation

Dilemmas of Decorating a Rented House

Moving into a rented place is always a huge challenge when it comes to decorating or as we say 'doing it up'! The rented house is going to be your home, but to really make it feel and look like your signature home it might demand huge sums of money. Its happened with me twice over...my previous house, which I had rented, had a beautiful balcony and a large terrace with huge design potential. Each time I tried to set up a pergola,  the contractor would run up a so-called 'conservative' bill of my next 4 months' rent!  This went on till the rains of 2009 ruined the walls completely and I moved to a bigger place...happy I should be ...right...? But guess what....despite no balcony and nor a demanding terrace I could still see huge bills looming, again. I had wanted to change the flooring, to repaint all the walls etc etc. Just as the list was being drawn-up, my friends who were helping me with the shift, put their foot down...."you are not spending on a rented accommodation"!!! Period!

My experience says that all expenses told, your new house to home transformation will need you to spend substantially extra and it is only wise to plan for it and phase the expenditure. Of course there is no one shoe size that will fit all requirements but as a thumb rule if we follow a flow-chart of prioritize, allocate, execute and maintain, we are on a logical and an efficient track.

A few weeks ago, my friend Keya Chatterjee, who I had been meeting at several social occasions invited me over to her place for a coffee. The coffee was of course great but more exciting was the walk-through that she took me on. What really struck me was the look and feel generated vs. the expenses incurred, in this rented apartment. No doubt endowed with a good plan with lots of natural light but it had little besides clear white walls. Keya had quite a few fixtures put in to give the apartment interiors a shape, and these were all on a super budget! I couldn't help but return, this time to have it photographed.

Says Keya: "Since this was not to be a permanent home, it made no sense to invest in expensive furniture and artworks. " This single statement holds the key to what she has created using her years of experience in interior design.

 Let's walk through the house and see what exactly she has done...

Keya of course made the right decision when she rented this flat...open public areas and lots of natural light.

A well lit kitchen got new handles for its cupboards.

The tables, both corner and coffee were designs developed by Keya out of materials she found easy access to: recycled wood and painted glass. The white sofas were made at the Hidden Gallery and the Man sculpture was also directed by Keya, made of paper and slurry.

Here is reference to the context: Keya has lived in almost all the fashion capitals of the world. Moving with her late banker husband Keya has been practicing interior design both residential, and institutional in New York, California and London. Earlier still, living in Dubai in the early 80s, she was designing chandeliers and ran her boutique Le Chandelier.
Moving to India after 35 years, her first home in Gurgaon was a 5500sq ft Central Park apartment which was completely a Ralph Lauren home. When she moved to Beverly Park she wanted a completely different look. "Even though my personal style is more towards Ralph Lauren, I set myself a new challenge: to create a very NY look with a museum quality pervading all through. I wasn't going to spend much but I couldn't find anything worthwhile within my budget. I knew then that I would have to find my own design solutions. Neither was I going to spend on art. All the art that I have belongs to a totally different genre. There was no way it would fit in with this look. Hence I fabricated my own pieces for this apartment. ....And so this is it...!"



 

Built-in dining console

Main Foyer  Arches and such a flooring wouldn't work for a NY look. Keya does a block stacking in one corner while the other gets a row of numerical calligraphy...from a salvage yard. (see pic below)

To the right of the foyer is the Living room and to the left is the dining room. Both have balconies with glass doors that allow an abundance of natural light.

Keya had this wall unit built-up and added a artwork canvass that she developed herself.

A simple headboard with cushioning that does a great job.

Powder room has a NY magazine cover framed.

And when we were done going around the house listening to her story and taking pictures with Atul,  www.atulpratapchauhan.com; Keya surprised us with this lovely lunch......

What is more, she even agreed to share the recipe for our readers.....

AVACADO PASTA SALAD

1/2 a package of any kind of pasta

1/3 cup olive oil

1/4 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon roasted chilli flakes

2 avacados cut  into largish cubes

1 teaspoon cilantro chopped

3 tablespoon lemon

3 tablespoons pine nuts roasted 

Bring a large pot of water to boil.Cook the pasta tender yet firm.Drain.

In a large bowl toss in the pasta with all the ingredients except the avacados,chilli flakes and the pine nuts.

Just before serving mix in the avacados.

Garnish with chilli flakes and the pine nuts.

ENJOY

We will be inviting Keya to respond to questions or queries that some of our readers might have.

And in case you wish to ask Keya to customise artworks or furniture-on-a-budget she said she would be more than happy to do so. Just post us request and we will get back to you....! 

Cheers to a new way!!