object of my affection

In the Architects and designers section of Architectural Digest I came across this very inspiring piece discussing “what is one accessory, piece of furniture or design element in your home you cannot live without?”

It got me thinking of the object of my affection in my home, that one piece that is so very dear to me. The accessory that I cannot live without, the one design element that makes my home very close to home (my homeland). And it brought me to this group of sepia prints that hold sentimental value for me.





The three images, from left to right anti-clockwise are of three different cities of Pakistan, Peshawar (Qissa Kahani Bazaar, transl: story-telling bazaar), Karachi (Tollington Market) and Lahore (Badshahi Mosque) photographed towards the end of the nineteenth century. The fourth piece is a post card in the most beautiful Arabic calligraphy of the Ayat-ul-Kursi (verses from the Quran).

One would question why these particular pieces. Well for one, the three photographs were originally part of a calendar that someone had heartlessly thrown in the garbage at my architecture school back home. Now I’m no garbage digger, but as I saw the grandeur and serenity of the Badshahi Mosque magically captured by an unnamed photographer through his camera lens and stored forever in this image, I could not help myself. One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. 7 years ago when I had pulled it out of the trash I had no idea what I would do with these images or how I would use them. But here they are 7 years later framed and cherished. The objects of my affection, a constant reminder of home, seamlessly bridging the gap of nostalgia, shedding light on childhood memories. My companions during the day and inspiration at night fall.

As for the postcard, it is part of my father’s wide range of postcard collection, that I unquestionably inherited (my siblings dare not put up a fight). Seeing these pieces everyday make me positively reminiscent and make my house a home.

I hope you enjoyed my object of affection. What is yours? Please do share

a changed perspective

There is something in the warmth of the morning light peeping through the curtains, the sparkle in the eye at the break of a smile, the beauty of a wrinkle around the eyes, the age of a brick through its color, the smell of coffee through the steam it produces, the rusting bench sitting at the corner of the street.

I’m seeing all this and so much more since i befriended a Nikon D40. A new journey has begun. A journey of unraveling the simple joys of life, capturing moments, faces, emotions, spaces, cities. Learning and seeing. Clicking and observing and clicking some more.

I wish to master this art some day. I wish to speak through my lens. I wish to communicate all that i cannot through words. I wish to share the world through my eyes, as I see it. I wish, I wish, I wish...the wishlist is endless. But till then here(pictures in this blog) are some wishes that I’ve captured. I hope you enjoy them!

this Girl

This girl is deep orange-red and blue seas. She is crashing waves and the smell of rain. She is green leaves, earth and wood. She is lightness and laughter and all things so.

She is autumn not winter. She is daisies not roses.

She is streetcars and subways. She is breakfast and Sundays.

She is patios on a sunny afternoon and jazz with the girls at night. She is dancing not yoga. She is friends and joy.

She is antique markets and beauty that catches her eye. She is stones and silver not diamonds and gold. She is breathing and alive not dead and cold.

This girl is winding roads and spider webs. She is silence and screams, contradictions and dreams.

She is lost and yet found. She is surrounded and yet alone.

She is urban and chic. She is brick lanes and coffee beans.

She is oil paints not watercolour. She is camera lens and detail lover.

She is cooking not baking. She is entertaining and swimming.

She is textures and maps. Doesn’t forgive and forgets.

She is books and bookshelves. She is Wizard of OZ and Alice in wonderland. She is Nin and Frida, she is Hepburn and Amelie.

She is moments and memories. She is nostalgic and naive. She is impulsive and creative. She is chaotic and wild.

She is making mistakes. She is trial and error. She is a mother and married to her high school lover.

She is trekking through the self, she is discovering on the way. She is black and white with no shades of grey. She is living and learning, clicking and noticing, she is fashion and design, she is architecture and all things fine. She’s searching for balance and looking to pause. She is happy she found sweet indigo life. She feels inspired and revived. This girl is everything me!!

Who are you?