8. MAD HATTER!

Mom used to knit me these remarkably lovely and colourful woollen caps. Shillong was cold when I was growing up and on any other normal morning, I would be dressed up in warm socks, a pair of ankle length boots, a warm overcoat and of course one of Mom’s special knit caps! And off I would go to play with my cousins and friends from the neighbourhood.

I remember I bought my first official base-ball cap when I was working as a Senior Marketing Officer for East West Airlines. The city office was bang in the middle of the shopping area, Fancy Bazaar and I would just have the time of my life gleefully shopping to my heart’s content....bags, shoes, skirts, jootis, bangles, scarves, jewellery, clips, hair-bands and what not!

And there used to be this small shop at the corner of a footpath where they had these attractive caps. I just used to hang around the place first, just gazing at the caps. I loved doing that and then at the spur of a moment, I just picked up this really bright red and black combo baseball cap, which had a shiny rectangular sticker in front. I loved it. It was the smartest thing I had bought in a long time!

And now, over the years, I have an enormous collection of hats, caps, berets; you name it and I have it. There are a range of colour variants and some delectably different material. Of course not to forget the humungous numbers of scarves, mufflers, stockings and gloves.

But hats and caps it is for me! Whether I wear them or not, I just love collecting them. And the ones from Reebok are so cool! I have at least five of them!

 

On my trip to Canada in 2004, I just couldn’t help but bring home around five really smart caps. Black with yellow graffiti, black with green trimmings on the shades, bottle-green with black embroidery, a bright yellow and black combo and a white with red maple leaves all over. I have always worn them with great élan!

I got this bright pink summer floppy hat on my return from Canada and somehow had the opportunity to wear it during my stay in London. The weather there is just right to wear caps. Somehow, though I so want to wear caps here, but the humidity gets the better of me, not really allowing the fashionista in me be as stylish and fashionable as I want to be.



 

I also have two straw hats I simply love, more so for the fact that I got it from a village vendor in a local market in Guwahati. It has a very hip design and I often tie a coloured scarf around it to make it more colourful.

I love shopping in Shillong for hats and caps. They have quite an uber collection and it's pretty much comfortable to wear one there, more so because of the super cool weather.

I was in Mumbai the beginning of this year and I bought a red beret, which I had been searching for quite some time now and a fawn coloured felt floppy hat from Accessorize. They have a supa-dupa collection, I say!

And back in Guwahati, I picked up all the hats from newly opened Ayesha. I especially loved the purple one. Sadly, none of them are summer wear hats! So now I have to actually wait for winter when I can wear one out of my 20 odd hats, caps and berets that I have, without actually getting sweaty in the head and having to bear with sticky icky hair!

I have always had an eye for over the top things! So, I would someday like to go to the races with an outrageously eye-catching head-piece for a hat! Like I told you, I am nuts about hats!




7. MERGERS

...... and there I am, always exuberant to create something new while dressing; something that will set me apart, yet something that I will really be comfortable in. I can never be at ease in a pair of shorts and spaghetti in public, especially in my city, where almost 90% of the people I am associated with know me for who I am. I, of course wear it when I am on a beach in Goa or when I am travelling abroad. I have always thought that it is so much more beautiful to see a girl dress up rather than seeing her half nude. And especially when we have such a variety of exotic prints to choose from every length and breadth of our country!

I love dressing up for any occasion, whether it’s dropping my son at school, or going shopping, or just plain chilling out with friends over coffee. My son Tirus makes it a point I am dressed ‘propahly’ whenever or wherever I may go. I love his concern. And after I am all dressed up, he without fail tells me every time, “Mom, you are looking beautiful.” Love you my dearest son, my baby! You make me feel so special!

While driving down from Shillong!




My day out!!

Coffee??

Kolkata calling!

Shopping spree!



Kolkata again!

At Pizza Hut

At the Brown Bean Cafe!

Tirus's first day at school!



At a resort in Nowgong



Oh! The air is so fresh near the Brahmaputra!

With Tirus at Baskin Robbins



Just for a spin in the car!

Lunch at the Toklai Tea Research Guest House

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For some momos at Johnz Kitchen!


 









Just for fun!



Now for some girly fun!

 





I was in the mood for some blues!







For some official work!



Love to mismatch colours!

So, it’s like I am trying out all possibilities when it comes to putting together pieces of different clothing to create something totally different. I might have bought a blue pull-over sometime. If I am in the mood, I put together a black spaghetti and black palazzo pants with the blue pull-over and tie my hair in a lose side plait and accessorise to the bare minimum. Silver goes very well with blue but to add a bit of shimmer I try gold accessories. I love my blue peep-toes with this! Looks pretty good!

Indian summers are fun. There’s so much to choose from. The colours are exotic and the jewellery is all the more exciting. Anywhere I go, I love the Indianness; the clothes, the shoes, jewellery, especially the bangles, the finger-rings. All of them, awesome! I have even tried out nose-rings, not that I look great in them! One has to have a beautiful nose for a nose-ring! But all said and done, we Indians are enormously gifted I say, when it comes to a choice of clothes!

6. SWADESHI AT HEART and LOVING IT!

I wore a saree for the first time in Class VI. Mom draped it around me while I stood stiffly, simply unable to decipher how to behave. I remember it had a plain purple body with a light and dark purple chequered border. Mom’s sleeveless blouse fitted me as if she had stitched it for me. The second time was at the Class X farewell party. I had a ‘bob-cut’ and walked like a man. Mom, after draping her pink satin saree around me, requested me to ‘please walk gracefully’. I guess it was quite a task for me at that point of time. Not anymore!

All said and done, at the end of the day, a traditional ensemble makes me feel regal, whether it’s a saree or a mekhela-sador! After all, I could never disguise the Indian in me. Mom gave me my first mekhela-sador when I was in Pre-University. The mekhela was woven in white checks on a blue base and the sador was plain with a similar design as the mekhela on the pallu. It was hand-woven Andhra cotton and so comfortable that I wore it for many many years.  I still have it. Mom stitched me the most amazing blouse ever with this mekhela sador.

Over the years, I have literally gone over the top buying mekhela-sadors and sarees. I have a huge collection and it is only getting more humungous by the day. I love shopping at trade fairs and haats. They have some of the best collections. When I go to trade fairs, I pick up at least six pairs of mekhela-sadors at a time. This time I bought a green and purple combination mekhela-sador with woven jaari, then a burnt sienna woven in jaari work, a royal blue again with woven jaari and a plain off-white cotton mekhela-sador with a striped border. The choices are awesome and I only wonder when I get to go next to a trade fair or a haat.

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A year back, I got close to a contemporary designer of sarees and she designed for me five exclusive mekhela-sadors,  which were pretty much over the top compared to the ones I was used to wearing. But I loved each one of them. They were royal and the blouses my designer got stitched for me was more than what I would have ever asked for.

In addition to all the known designers I pick my sarees and mekhela-sadors from, I also pick up from lesser known yet innovative designers and they do a really good job!