About
It’s the break of dawn. Overcast. A considerable breeze flows across the hills. A girl sneaks out of her house, with an odd-looking backpack. She races up the hill, climbs atop a tree, and sits on a branch, staring at the sky. Patient, waiting, eager. Her hair flutters, the slightest ray breaks through the clouds. Her eyes light up, her heart races. A camera emerges from her backpack. A glare from the lens, like a message to the heavens themselves.
Read More
My Profile
Data Scientist | MS in Computer Science from University of Southern California | Artist | Dancer | Photographer | Traveler | Lover of Cinema | Hobby Writer Mumbai | Los Angeles | San Francisco
I’m Currently Here!
As travelers and hikers, we’re not easily surprised. We all do our research, create itineraries and pretty much have a good notion of what we’ll see and do at each destination we’ve visited. But on my recent long weekend trip to Northern California’s Mount Shasta region, I was not only surprised but fell in love with this magnificent, awe-inspiring wild corner of the country—hikers’ wonderland. Ditching the crowded Yosemite and Tahoe area, I decided to explore Shasta county on 4th of July long weekend. Resides less than a four-hour drive from the Bay Area, the not-so-famous Shasta Trinity area is a hub of wilderness and full of mighty waterfalls, vast forests, nordic trails, and rugged snow-capped mountains.
For all those who have followed my Instagram posts, you must be familiar with how I always struggle to choose between bright bohemian color shades and pastel color palette. Being an artist since childhood, I have always paid special attention to color balancing in my pictures. While packing my bags before any trip, I run a quick scan of all places I am going to visit and depending on the place, weather, colors of the environment I pack my outfits. For a very long time, I wanted to have pictures maintaining an equilibrium of fresh bright background colors and pastel shade outfits. Recently while ticking things off my bucket list, I stumbled upon the unchecked Tulip Festival and that’s when I realized that this is the perfect occasion. I quickly planned a short weekend trip to Seattle.
With the arrival of magical spring in the state of Washington, a new life begins and colors start peeking out from the cover of darkness. Beginning in April, for about a month, cherry blossoms reach peak bloom and the Skagit valley puts away its gray-colored winter jacket and wears a VIBGYOR spring cardigan. The white and pinkish flowers start popping, setting a beautiful pink canopy for the travelers. The University of Washington is one of the great places to view Cherry Blossoms. These fragile cherry blossoms really evoked the joy of springtime and the fleeting nature of beauty.
Bombay. Bambai. Mumbai.
No, it doesn’t have the prettiest sights. No, it doesn’t have pristine lakes or snow-capped peaks. It’s hot and noisy, there’s smog up in the air. Hundreds of people spend their entire lives on the street. You’d probably be better off spending a vacation somewhere else. But that’s exactly where this city wins. It was never designed for vacationing. It is meant to be a home. A city that bears the weight of a million dreams every day. A city that feeds a businessman in a Mercedes, but also finds something for the old man living under the bridge. Mumbai might not speak to you but sooner or later, even its chaos seems organized. Like they say, once you have lived in this “Maayanagari” you can never satisfy your habitual taste in any part of the world.
Photo by: Madhura Raut
Bombay is an emotion, deep down a feeling which is difficult to detach from. And frankly, it’s a task being a tour guide in your own city, especially because everything I think is normal may be a surprise to the outside world. That said, I’ll try my best to make it as interesting and as less touristy as I can.
I remember the day when my cousin playfully told me that I wasn’t pretty and modern enough to understand fashion. Maybe because when everyone else in the class was busy writing ambitions in each others’ slam books, I was sitting at the corner, putting ideas in ink and imagination into colors. Maybe because I preferred gold medal at that age over the gold sequined dress. Even then I knew ‘fashion’ was something very personal and unique, instead of a ‘one size fits all’ formula that is updated each season like the mass production powered fashion houses would pay ad gurus to make you believe.
Fashion is like a signature- to each his (or her) own. It is the first, unspoken, spontaneous ‘hello’ you say to everyone you cross on the street. So why make it forgettable, why not squeeze in a little bit about yourself in there? I get upset seeing every other girl on the street in western outfits, making a boring attempt of keeping it “casual” and “modern”. I am not a fashion extremist. My wardrobe is full of vibrant, colorful dresses, gypsy trinkets, bohemian bags and handpicked tribal jewelry but I still wear neutrally toned coats, knee touching boots, body-hugging skirts or striped pants paired with blouses to work. But when it comes to wearing casuals on weekends, I always love infusing Indian, bohemian and western styles, creating a unique and wearable look.
There’s something about the wilderness which has always attracted me. Smell of the rain, the majesty of mountains, the rawness of the dirt roads. So of course, backpacking to all national parks in the States is the newest addition to my travel bucket list. Sequoia and Kings National Park is full of wild history of giant trees, incredible caves, otherworldly landscapes, and outlaw trails to follow. This trip was a long cherished dream for me and two of my best friends, Tanay and Veer. Since we didn’t have campground reserved, we scouted through wilderness to find a perfect spot to set up our tent in dispersed camping area, which is always a bit of a gamble. (dispersed camping is not very safe bet but it gave us the sense of achievement of living in the jungle by ourselves)
Recent Comments