Jodhpur: beating the blues

Jodhpur. It is not just another city. It is an offering. Of everything stunning in nature: desert, sunrise, sunset, mist, flora and fauna. All beautifully entwined in the local history, arts, architecture, crafts, textiles, design, and cuisine. Much loved by its inhabitants. Jodhpur is a treasure. History: Jodhpur was established by Rao Jodha in 1459,... Continue Reading →

Instagram takeover #2: Pragati Singhal

"Best design is something which works with all of your 5 senses and is invisible." Pragati Singhal, Textile Designer, February 2020 For February, the second VarnikaDesigns Instagram takeover was by Textile Designer, Pragati Singhal. She was very keen on highlighting 'senses' and took us on a Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious ride. We love it and will never forget... Continue Reading →

Instagram Takeover #1: Suyash Srivastava

Dear Debby This post is especially for you - thank you for your encouragement and being such a wonderful inspiration VarnikaDesigns started its first social media colab with Suyash Srivastava, Textile Designer. He was completing his project from Siwan in Bihar, one of India's most sensational states, and gave us live coverage from there. His... Continue Reading →

The V S Gaitonde exhibition review

A humble offering in the form of a review of the paintings by the celebrated artist V S Gaitonde by the Jehangir Nicholson Art Foundation at the CSMVS, for the ArtFAct monthly newsletter. This December they complete a year 🙂 The text of the review is given below: The Sea There is a pleasure in... Continue Reading →

Workshop: Access & Inclusion in Museums, Mehrangarh Fort Museum, Jodhpur

Workshop alert: Access and Inclusion in South and Southeast Asian Museums Venue: Mehrangarh Fort & Aana Jharna Museums, Jodhpur Dates: 28 - 30th November, 2019 Organised by: Commonwealth Association of Museums (CAM), ICOM ICTOP (International Committee for Training of Personnel) and ICOM India, in collaboration with Mehrangarh Museum Trust, Jodhpur and Maharaja Sawai Man Singh... Continue Reading →

“People who love to eat are always the best people.”

  "People who love to eat are always the best people." Julia Child An American chef, author and very famous TV anchor, Julia Child established French food in the American palate. If you haven't seen Meryl Streep play her in the film 'Julie & Julia' then you ain't seen nothing! Every festival in India has... Continue Reading →

Nobel Prize for Economics & the Santiniketan connection

"This urge to reduce the poor to a set of clichés has been with us for as long as there has been poverty. The poor appear, in social theory, as much as much in literature, by turns lazy or enterprising, noble or thievish, angry or passive, helpless or self-sufficient," Mr Banerjee and Ms Duflo wrote... Continue Reading →

Amar Kutir: revolutionaries, Batik & local culinary delight!

Amar Kutir Society for Rural Development near Santiniketan, West Bengal, is a registered cooperative society since 1978. Susen Mukhopadhyay started it in 1923 as a safe haven for the young revolutionaries fighting for Indian’s freedom. He was greatly concerned for the daily livelihood of these young people who had left home and were mostly hiding... Continue Reading →

Sundar Nagar Nursery: lose yourself there :)

One extremely sultry Sunday morning, I visited the Sundar Nagar Nursery. It reopened to the public in February 2018 after a restoration project by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC), in partnership with the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) and the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). What an absolute beauty!!! It is a great... Continue Reading →

The past is always with us, for it feeds the present: Ruskin Bond

Landour is the land of Ruskin Bond. He's my love of the same infinite and unfathomable intensity as Gulzar - am not giving up either  one is English love and the other is Hindi+Urdu love 🙂 If this sounds bizarre at all then that's how it is! Everything about Landour and Mussoorie is quite surreal...... Continue Reading →

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