Self-mythologizing Commedia dell’Arte harlequin.
Too often a realistic sense of what our relationship is to the world, beauty and ourselves ends up weakened by a complicit silence. What does real beauty look like? Sexiness? Vulnerability? Contentment?
We consume images everyday which are really just evidence of how sophisticated we are at creating personas on social media platforms.
This image is me- but not me. It’s a sexy creation which hides my everyday blemishes, wrinkles, sorrows and triumphs. And that’s ok. As long as you recognize it for what it is- and know there’s a different story that lies beneath.
#WeAreAllIslands #WeAreAllThings
What a fab event launching @rado festive collection in #Vishkapatnam
The port city of #Vizag is a revelation!
Also a revelation is this chic ensemble styled by wonderful @manekaharisinghani
Assisted by @kareenparwani
Trench @varanaworld
Jewels @gehnajewellers1
Fab MUH @zoya.makeupandhair
Trusty manager @jainisha_shah @exceedentertainment
#Rado #proudbrandambassador #design #unique Novotel Visakhapatnam Varun Beach
And so, at the start of this colourful, contagious, cacophonous, (occasionally annoying) often uplifting festival season in India, let’s remind ourselves that the gods and goddesses are meant to be birthed within ourselves; so they can express all their attributes and powers through us. That’s what, I imagine, truly lies beneath all the festivities.
What a cool world it would be if we let the devis do their thing through us?!
#UseME #livewiser 😜💃🙏🏼
Amidst all the reports of flooding and floating vehicles in #Mumbai what stands out is the spirit and humanity of its citizens and businesses offering shelter and support to each other. As just one example, @thebombaycanteen posted this offer of garam chai, Parle biscuits and free wifi for stranded #mumbaikars. That’s my city. Stay safe everyone.
#MumbaiMeriJaan #rainedin
Aaaand…one more post of this hot pink pantheress look by my dear old friend @jamesferreiralabel styled by @manekaharisinghani for the @rado launch of the festive collection in #Vadodara
Jewels @gehnajewellers1
MUH @zoya.makeupandhair
Managed by @jainisha_shah @exceedentertainment @kareenparwani Welcomhotel by ITC Hotels, Alkapuri, Vadodara
Sparkling memory from 7 years ago.
Image from a shoot for @vogueindia by @farrokhchothia after a birthday in Goa which was defined by gladiator pool games, a floating cake and a spontaneous out pouring of love-fun-frenzy from old friends which created a memory to sustain for lifetimes. Plural. 💕
Cheers to my lifelong beloveds (you know who you are) and a toast to my #rebirth.
#SeasonsintheSun
Thank you #Vadodara and #SwissGallery for another great @rado event launching our festive collection just in time for #navratri2017
Feeling fierce in hot pink @jamesferreiralabel styled by wonder woman @manekaharisinghani assisted by @kareenparwani
MUH @zoya.makeupandhair
Jewels @gehnajewellers1
Managed by @jainisha_shah @exceedentertainment Welcomhotel by ITC Hotels, Alkapuri, Vadodara
Culmination of a fine afternoon immersed in art with @artpediemdotcom
Natasha graciously took me on a tour of galleries @tarqmumbai and @project88mumbai to view emerging artists’ work with a final stop @clarkhouseinitiative an artists’ collective in south Mumbai, currently exhibiting #BirenderYadav
His #fingerprint work is both lyrical and hard hitting, throwing a spotlight on the lives of the anonymous men and women whose entire identity is represented by the impression made by the lines on their thumbs. Clark House
Capturing the glow of good vibes after a fab catch up lunch with #RosieSekhri @spigahongkong on a rainy, rainy day 🎉
Wearing @thelabellife bien sur SPIGA Hong Kong
Outside
a temporary autonomy of rain,
birds.
Rose ringed parakeets,
I think.
They are pausing time
in a tree of knotted thread.
Timid trespassers,
who capture the sky,
and every kind of dirt,
to remind you
of the sodden little pleasures
of a kind of Mumbai morning
you will miss
when you are gone.
Lisaraniray @protestpoet Bandra World of Storytellers
And the good vibes continue top of @novotelvizag
Styling @manekaharisinghani assisted by @kareenparwani
MUH @zoya.makeupandhair
Trench @varanaworld
Jewels @gehnajewellers1
Watch @rado
Mgmt @jainisha_shah @exceedentertainment Novotel Visakhapatnam Varun Beach
And I think to myself…
What a wonderful world.
And why are we screwing up our one wild and precious home? Vishakapatnam
Oh, hello #Vishkapatnam
Trench @varanaworld
Jewels @gehnajewellers1
Watch @rado
Styled by @manekaharisinghani assisted by @kareenparwani
MUH @zoya.makeupandhair
Managed by @jainisha_shah @exceedentertainment
@novotelvizag Novotel Visakhapatnam Varun Beach
Repost from @mediumbyriddhijain using @RepostRegramApp – In the early 90’s the Rani was on one of her annual vacations to India when she was ‘spotted’ and shot for a Bombay Dyeing campaign. She was suddenly the new girl everybody wanted to work with. It was the beginning of a very simple ideology: That life was for her. Not against her. And this soon turned into a prayer that acted like a lasso to pull the things that she wanted toward her. And whenever the road got a little bumpy, she’d hear the whispers from corners of her mind she’d painted yellow: “Keep going. You’re doing great Lisa Rani.” Prayers have a very tangible, touchable form – Love. To love, therefore, in a way is to offer tribute.
The way the Sari is draped, is a method of worship on it’s own. The gentle folds, the reassuring tucks, the encouraging pleats all streamline towards the offering of tribute to one’s body. And as the fabric kisses skin, it whispers to it “Keep going, you’re doing great…”.
.
.
The Jamban Journals is a dedicated documentation of journeys – Of Women and our Sarees. Be a part of this journey and watch them evolve…each in their own way.
A playful amalgamation of territories & traditions, this collection of contemporary sarees is Medium’s experimentation with Bengal’s extra weft weaving delicately syncing with Gujarat’s indigenous tie-dye techniques.
@lisaraniray shot by @dhruv.satija
Thank you beautiful #Vizag for such a warm welcome, you’ve been a revelation!
Thanks also to #kamalwatchco in #CMRCentral for hosting our @rado event
#Vishkapatnam #IncredibleIndia #Rado Novotel Visakhapatnam Varun Beach
Eight years ago I embarked on a health odyssey I decided to chronicle in a blog called #TheYellowDiaries. A lot has changed, both in myself and the world.
I think it’s time to revisit #TheYellowDiaries and share snippets here both to remind myself, and connect with you from the deepest part of myself.
September 12, 2009
It never occurred to me that talking openly about cancer is anything other than perfectly natural. And hopefully kind of, like, hilarious. I mean Membership into the cancer club has come with a long set of Seinfeld-esque episodes that are too juicy not to laugh about. Including the meltdowns, reactions to the meds or the bleed in your spirit after a day when you need support but don’t know how to ask. Like any long term commitment, there’s gonna be some baffling days when the only out is humour or a cleansing cry. But I never thought of giving up. And it’s never occurred to me that I won’t show up rebooted on the other side.
And then I understood. It’s a taboo to speak openly about long term, potentially fatal diseases.
Jeez. Why didn’t anyone tell me?
So I started thinking bout a revolution: A world without the pathology of perfection. Without an unrealistic and painful belief system that we are entitled to get through life without suffering. And then a chance to live fearlessly and realize how important it is to say what needs to be said, and do what needs to be done. Without denial. ‘I can be changed by what happens to me- but I refuse to be reduced by it’ said Maya Angelou.
Mumbai daze.
Reporting live from #HongKong
Pre-typhoon thunder storm.
Third major tropical storm in two weeks.
Eight years ago I embarked on a health odyssey I chronicled in a blog called #TheYellowDiaries. A lot has changed, both in myself and the world.
I’m revisiting #TheYellowDiaries and sharing snippets here both to remind myself and connect with you from the deepest part of myself.
#TheYellowDiaries
Chemo is cumulative. Sort of like compounded interest. But not.
The toxicity accumulates in your system. I’m limp all the time, like a heavy camel coat in the summer. Being a covert type A I don’t think I have ever spent longer than three days in bed before this. Not that I haven’t been ill. Often a Doctor would be called on set, I’d get a shot, or some pills and doze between takes. Health never stopped me from staying busy.
Before.
Now, however, my body is in shock. You excavate a mountainside, or the marrow, and you bring material from somewhere deep into consciousness. One of the unexpected side effects of Cancer for me, is the release of some toxic patterns and thoughts. I call it flapping out the fears. Hang them up on poles and watch them flap. Violently. Like flags in a windstorm.
Snap, snap, snap.
So what’s flapping?
Is it the material or the wind?
No.
It’s my mind.
So with mind flapping, in this last cycle of treatment for MM, I’m without strategy.
Cause just now, I don’t have enough energy for the present. Except to do what’s essential. Like, tell them you love them. Burn off excess interactions. Use your best plates and don’t scrimp on the gourmet mustard. Secrets melt from my marrow. When I catch their stir, I will extract them from my body. It’s alchemy. Cancer is alchemy. In our body is hidden a substance which is the incorruptible medicine. Release it and you heal.
Barn Burn Down
Now I see the Moon
Our allegiance is to making sense of stuff. We have immense preoccupation with figuring things out.
Or I can surrender, release the fear and gaze at the moon.
Repost from @mediumbyriddhijain using @RepostRegramApp – The Rani
The footprints of her childhood must have surely mingled with her fingerprints for they seemed to follow her everywhere. From the letters in her name to the whispers of her ancestors, they were not just observing her profile, but constantly participating in everything she did.
And as she whizzed from movie sets to magazine shoots, she could always feel a little embrace that always seemed to say, “Keep going. You’re doing great, Rani”. Rani – Queen. The word has such deep connotations mapped across India. Surrounded by a culture imbibed with stories of courageous and strong-headed Queens who went to war with their swords blazing, she knew very well what it meant to be one. And everytime her father, wearing a fond smile, said “My Lisa Rani” it no longer mattered if she were five, fifteen or thirty-five. It always sounded the same. And it always sounded like an inheritance of courage.
.
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The Jamban Journals is a dedicated documentation of journeys – Of Women and our Sarees. Be a part of this journey and watch them evolve…each in their own way.
A playful amalgamation of territories & traditions, this collection of contemporary sarees is Medium’s experimentation with Bengal’s extra weft weaving delicately syncing with Gujarat’s indigenous tie-dye techniques.
@lisaraniray shot by @dhruv.satija
Repost from @mediumbyriddhijain using @RepostRegramApp – People are always told that for good things to happen to you, you need to believe in them. They say you attract the good. But the summer of 2009 was far from it. That summer was confined within the white, white walls of the hospital room. Her father slept in a cot while she was going through her stem cell transplant. And she could almost hear the words emanating from his pores “Keep going. You’re doing great, Rani.” Like a little prayer. And she believed it.
Things got better. Because she believed they would. And sometimes, your beliefs are so powerful in attracting the kindness of the universe towards you.
Even when you did not know what you wanted until you got it.
.
.
The Jamban Journals is a dedicated documentation of journeys – Of Women and our Sarees. Be a part of this journey and watch them evolve…each in their own way.
A playful amalgamation of territories & traditions, this collection of contemporary sarees is Medium’s experimentation with Bengal’s extra weft weaving delicately syncing with Gujarat’s indigenous tie-dye techniques.
@lisaraniray shot by @dhruv.satija
like Nothing I’ve ever seen
#alysonprovax @alysonprovax @uprisenyc
The @jayahemuseum in #MumbaiAirport has transformed my travel experience. There’s always an eye catching work that makes me pause in the fury of the moment. This work is called Resilient- Resonances of a City, and it evokes a reflection on time, memory and loss in the demolition of old buildings.
#CharmiShah #RajeevSethi #ThresholdsofIndia #IndiaElemental #t2terminal #mumbaiairport Chatrapati Shivaji International Airport
Shelter and soft shell crab sliders.
#rainedin #HongKong @moofish_hk
