The City of Dreams

You know how some people say the entire concept of a place having its own distinct vibe is overrated? Well, let me tell you they are ABSOLUTELY WRONG and I'm a living example of that. If you are a regular reader or connected to me on social media, you'd know about the slow and dangerous depression that started taking over my life ever since I had moved to Indore. I tried embracing the place- exaggerating the quality of dahi at 'Joshi ke dahi vada' and extending the time in the gym but with its not-so-charming small town vibe, closed people living in an age where women are supposed to do all the household chores and keep quiet if they are harassed on the streets, banners and hoardings urging people to quit drinking and eating non-veg or be hanged if the non-veg happens to be beef...Indore just never worked out. I was slowly turning into a person I didn't know- introvert, pessimistic, cynical, irritable and snappy. I also kept falling sick often and the experience of going to a doctor and describing my problem in Indore had been so bad for me that I preferred gulping medicines down day in and day out and stay indoors instead.
                                                                                                As they say, after every dark phase, there is a silver lining. In my case, it was an intimation from the Management regarding my temporary posting in the Mumbai office. Even though I was still recovering, I was elated and couldn't wait to leave! And then came the much-awaited day when I could finally say goodbye to Indore even if for a few months. I woke up the next morning, somewhere near Sion, already feeling the infectious positivism I find Mumbai synonymous with. I could already smell the fish and seafood, see the bustling vada pav stalls, feel the sand and water under my feet, hear the Colaba hawkers calling out to me in my mind. The City of Dreams represents the undying, indomitable spirit of life to me. People do everything they can here to earn themselves a livelihood. And despite poverty, inflation and all other common problems(other than safety of women) Mumbai shares with the other Indian cities, the people in Mumbai just refuse to let these get to them and make them unhappy. Every person has different sides to their personality and each place uncovers one of these. I'm no exception either. The moment I arrived in Mumbai, gone were the depression, the urge to lock myself in a room and cry for hours, the withdrawal symptoms and everything else I had been struggling with. When I ordered my first vada pav in two months at a roadside stall near Chandivali, I was a happy soul and it hasn't changed since then. Small, small things make me happy in this city- a long walk all alone post 11 p.m. without the fear of getting groped, watching people rushing about in one of the local railway stations during the peak hours, looking at the street lights and the cars whooshing past them when I wake up after a rare nightmare(traces of Indore I'm slowly and methodically getting rid of), the city talking to me when I stick my head out of the auto to embrace the fresh morning air on my way to gym early in the morning, the vada pav wala near LnT crossing who never forgets to make my vada pav with extra green chutney and no sweet chutney...and all I feel coming out of my heart is gratitude. Gratitude towards life for giving me a chance to be happy again, to get my dreams back in exchange for the nightmares I had been dealing with for the past few months, to live...
                                                                                                                                         And since this city has healed me so soon and so perfectly, here goes an outfit as a tribute to my second favourite city(Kolkata would be Kolkata and hence, my favourite city always, no matter what)-

DIY distressed denims and crop top- Jabong, satchel bag, ring and spiked loafers- B.K.Market, waistcoat- Colaba Causeway, shades- Myntra, lipstick- Orange Punch by Colorbar

Ever since Debi distressed this pair of denims for me, I find myself reaching for it at least once every week. And since my love for layering refuses to die even in the humid Mumbai weather, the waistcoat had to find its way with the crop top. The serene beach, the wind in my hair and the sand under my feet took care of the rest. I'll be back with more florals, pastels and everything girlie and meanwhile, you take care and like I always say, keep it stylish.                                                                               

Breakup shorts and another blogger meet

I considered myself to be pretty much superstition-free for the first eighteen years of my life. But as soon as I turned nineteen, I found out that I wasn't superstitious for all these years simply because I didn't have an option to. I needed to wear the school uniform, eat the same food every day, go to the same place et cetera et cetera.but once I went to college, I suddenly started imagining that my exams won't go well if I didn't wear the same blue and white striped tee every day with the same pair of denims and wait for it, the same underwear too. Consider eight exams back to back in the heat of April. Let's observe thirteen seconds of silence for those who survived these semesters sitting around me.I think they were the happiest lot when we discovered that we had only four papers in the final semester. I also made sure I took the same bus every day, had the same fish spring roll from Monginis(it had to be second from the left) and sat at the same place for studying(I even refused to move if someone asked me to shift a little so that they could sit). Are you thankful that you didn't go to the same college with me? I thought so. So, moving on to my MBA, I got over this absurd dressing rule partly because I was growing up(feel free to replace the word 'up' with 'old', I really don't mind any more) but mostly because I was dating and there was high probability of any of my boyfriend(s) turning up to surprise me after my exam. Instead of feeling liberated, I was paranoid and tried to make up for it by having the same breakfast, waiting for the same rickshaw wala and metro no matter how long it took, sitting with the same crowd and not wearing a watch. Given the examples, I don't think you'd be surprised if I tell you that these are my breakup shorts and this is my breakup blouse. I've worn these twice(both of them together once and only the blouse another day) with a boyfriend and we broke up on that day, both the times. The most suspicious part? On both the days, we started the day in a great mood and were having one of our good days(relationship-wise) and hadn't fought in near past. Still, we broke up. Since then, I've decided to wear these only with my girlfriends because the best part about your girlfriends is that they never break up with you. I also suppose I could call these my breakup shoes since they have been there during both the breakups but I've had more than ten happy days with them. So, I'd assume I don't have a breakup shoe and thankfully, I was carrying different bags during different breakups and wearing different accessories too. So, I don't have a breakup bag or a bunch of breakup accessories either and I couldn't have been any happier about it!
                                             Now, if you are done explaining to your younger brother in great detail how education has failed to enlighten me in true sense, let's move on to the next part, shall we?
                                                                                                                                 To much chagrin of bloggers from other cities(if I dare say so), we Kolkata bloggers are a tightly knit community and with the kind of bonding that we have, we could jolly well have opened a sorority house or something equally pink. Of course with yours truly leaving for Mumbai in a month, it would remain a dream. Let me just wipe a tear or two. Yes. So, given the perfect hosts that we Kolkata bloggers are, no blogger from any other city leaves Kolkata without meeting a few of us, if not everyone. So, when this lovely beauty blogger Sheetal came to Kolkata for a visit, we all decided to meet her at Wise Owl-this nice little cafe near Golpark that is crowded and charming at the same time since they take ages to bring your food and therefore, you can sit for ages without any disturbance, other than the shouting of course. And thanks to the kind of gossip only we can imagine of, it was definitely an evening well-spent. Just spare my fat legs for a month or so. I promise to get back in shape. Soon.

Striped shorts, bag, spiked loafers, neckpiece-B.K.Market, shirt-Miss Chase, lipstick- Orange Punch from Colorbar

Picture Courtesy - Anu

I hope to start the Sisters of the Travelling Pajamas post that I couldn't stop gushing about by this month. Till then, take care and keep it stylish.
                                                   Much love,
                                                                   Soumi

Technologically Handicapped!

Do you have days when you wish the nasty T word didn't exist at all? Well, that would be describing my, EVERY OTHER DAY! I'm a believer in good ol' charming things. I like letters, books, sunsets, horse-drawn carriages, long walks, home-cooked food, bonfires, pianos, holding hands and everything old school. I want to wake up to the smell of my loved one instead of a phone call from him. I want to meet my friends for Sunday Brunch and talk about my life instead of whatsapping about the same. I want to  make it a point to read the newspaper or a book instead of fiddling with my phone while waiting for someone. And I always prefer coming back to a meal of rice,dal and chorchori(a dry preparation of mixed vegetables) instead of finishing another can of fizzy drinks with a cheesy wrap while working.
                                                                                                       My hatred and discomfort with everything even remotely related to Technology might have something to do with the fact that I, despite having a B.Tech in Computer Science, have always been technologically handicapped. Even during my graduation, I had no idea how to fix minor issues with my dektop while I was perfectly comfortable doing Linux or Unix coding, Artificial Intelligence simulations and what not for my exams. Management provided a temporary relief. Use of Technology in here was no less than my earlier course and even though I managed fine, I never fell in love with making presentations or reports or snippets. Why I preferred Management was because it still retained the human side of me since at the end of the day, a Manager sells their words and nothing else, relies on their basic instincts, observing skills and emotional maturity, sensitivity and competency to solve all the problems. The tools merely help them justify their decisions.
                                                                                                              But then, for every Management student, the Summer Internship Report is something of a life changing thingy. So, everyone puts in their best efforts to make it THE Report of their life- with all the cutting edge technologies, creative ideas, vast literature and tireless research. I was expected to do the same and I did, to some extent. But all hell broke loose when I started putting my thoughts into something more tangible- like a document. Some alignment won't work, some diagram won't get projected the way I wanted it, some Statistical Tool or the other would fail and long story short, I would be in complete mess. And after preparing the report, converting it to pdf was another task I dreaded. My friends back in the Engineering days came to my rescue but because of the long distance relationship, even they couldn't save my sinking ship entirely. With a lot of help from them and the much-needed support from the two most important people in my life, I finally managed to finish it. Decently. And decided that it was time to reward myself with complete detachment from Technology for a day. Tomorrow is the day when I won't be available over phone, whatsapp, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and every other social media. Tomorrow is the day I won't be using immersion heater, gas oven, microwave or any other electronic home appliances. I won't be watching TV or listening to music. I won't be going to gym either. I wish I could reach college without using auto or metro too but then, trade-offs are everywhere. That's a compromise I'd gladly make. So, before I'm about to have a taste of the life I've always craved, I thought of saying 'hi' to you all with an outfit post after a long time. The pictures are from our alumni meet back in November. They have been rotting in my folder for a while, thanks to my lazy ass. This dress is a #favourite, given my monochrome mood and since nothing gets hotter than an orange pop, here I am.
P.S.Excuse my dhaai kilo ka haath. :-P
Allowing you a close look at my ring and earring was the intention, as you must have bee sweet/smart enough to understand.

Dress,feather earring,ring,spiked loafers- B.K.Market
Picture Courtesy-Anu

I will be back with the Tolly Club outfit I had promised in my last post. Till then, take care and like I always say, keep it fashionable.
                                  Love,
                                  Soumi