I am a realist and this citizenship isn’t just presenting me with a passport to the world, but also opening up doors for my significant other who I have seen struggle for the last four years with his H1-B visa situation. Not being able to leave USA for the last 4 years for the fear of not being able to come back, being stuck in an insipid job that sucked the life out of his dreams and just the misery of not being able to believe that ‘anything is possible.’….. I will never know what its like to be in that situation, but boy, am I glad it will change!

It is ridiculous and immature to question my allegiance to either India or USA or ask me what I feel like. I feel ecstatic, stupid. And incredibly proud to have India in my heart and America on my mind (and my passport!)
But just tonight, I will indulge my irrational-self and go to bed with my Indian passport in hand. Tomorrow, it will become a relic, a thing of past, of no intrinsic value but still priceless to me.

Welcome to America, BabEy!

I was pretty ecstatic when I learned that Paris’s famous Colette is coming to New York. Alas, I was mis-informed. Colette is not coming to New York. Instead, Colette has partnered with GAP, ColettexGAP, to bring a selection of curated items to NYC. GAP is desperate for any ingredient brand to help pull itself out of the trenches, but Colette was coveted and special. Of all possible partnerships of creative brand ideas Colette could have executed in New York, a brand alignment with GAP is unimaginative and quite distasteful. And frankly, these sort of relationships and limited edition products/ pop-up stores concepts are now overused and rusty.

Colette, a purely commercial enterprise and the brain-child of Sarah Lerfel has exuded and has been perceived to be more of a cultural curator, a salon, a library of diversity and cultural relics, rather than a retail experience. Colette blurred the boundaries between commercial, artistic and cultural interests and although I have never been there in person, I couldn’t be more off the target when I say that Colette has successfully managed to give each of the three dimensions equal priority.

Anyways, it got me thinking about this whole merging art, culture and commerce, but I’ve come to realize that to succeed and have longevity now (by now I mean, in a world rocked by changing media and economic landscapes), an enterprise simply cannot afford to think of art and culture as disparate elements, as something you pick and choose in measures when the enterprise needs a boost or some fresh PR. I have come to believe that a cultural and artistic sensibility has to be in the DNA of a commercial entity. Just the way the commercial DNA was/is in-built in the works of Andy Warhol, Keith Haring and Takashi Murakami.

We have moved beyond philanthropic sponsorships of art and cultural events to a more inherent embrace of arts and culture. The one strongest benefit of this rocky economy and associated budget cuts organization-wise is that business managers are being forced to consider carefully how to make the most intelligent and creative use of their budgets, while still meeting the bottom line.

I might have been too quick in doling out my judgment for the GAP+Colette partnership without having experiencing it in person. To watch a brand I have no respect for (GAP), enter into a synergistic relationship with a brand I absolutely adore (Colette) bought out a visceral reaction. I may change my opinion if this experience transforms my opinion of GAP. Let us wait and watch.

Irrespective, maybe its time GAP began to rely on itself and stopped creating these short-term ingredient brand relationships to raise their bar.

Again, I apologize - my thoughts are pretty scattered. Its like my brain has been short-circuited! LOL. But I’d love to hear your thoughts, if any on this matter.

I watched Mammia Mia this weekend and my spirits were lifted and I just had a warm happy glow about me. I hadn’t seen the musical before but Meryl Streep is my favorite actress and I simply had to see the movie version. Every frame of the movie was filled with inspiration. The Grecian sun, the glittering blue waters, the fresh sun-kissed skins of the actors and the colors! oh the colors - of the fabrics, the clothes, of Donna’s villa… simply beautiful!
The guy playing the piano in this clip from the Dancing Queen is Benny Anderson, one of the original composers of ABBA.

I’m gushing, but I’m so inspired. Donna, Tanya and Rosie’s friendship reminded me of my best friends. Two things are clear from the movie 1) that I’d like to spend a few months in Greece and 2) I want the Josef Frank fabrics in my new apartment. At almost $250/ meter, they are soo out of my budget right now but definitely on the wish-list.

Three reasons to watch the movie:
1) Meryl Streep
2) ABBA
3) Greece

And I know what my gift number 3 should be for my “25 Gifts to Myself” promise

Anyways, Apple was generous enough to let me download all my itunes songs that I had paid for from itunes store. I’m so very thankful! The rest I will steal from my boyfriend’s collection however, its those songs that I cannot remember I had in my library that have now slipped into the abyss that bug me.
I did have some pure gems that were mine alone…

But, I guess like Ingrid beautifully says, all we can do is keep breathing… and the music will come
But really, thank you Apple. I heart you. Even more.

An aside - I watched Hellboy this weekend and Barry Manilow’s ‘Can’t Smile without you’ is stuckk in my head

This harkens back to the era as artist as inventor, philosopher, politicians, humanitarian, engineer and sociologist. We don’t believe that specialization’s are the key to the future, but rather the connections among them.”

- Design Studies Manifesto, Central Saint Martins School of Art & Design

This whole week was a little weird. I haven’t been feeling too talkative and was just a teensy bit disenchanted with life. Existential crisis of sorts, I guess. I was also very depressed because I couldn’t find the right sort of gift for myself. There’s something about turning 25 - I feel like it should be commemorated or celebrated or something like that. My better-half wants to buy me something special but he is as frustrated with me as I am with myself because I just don’t know what I want.

So, I’m trying to be a little creative here. And from this June until next, I am going to give myself 25 beautiful gifts. I don’t know what all of them are yet - sometimes you just have to live in the moment.

But here’s are two gifts that I know I will give myself:
1. Nikon D40. - My first Digital SLR.
2. A week in Tokyo.
3. (Update) Visit Greece

The weird thing about growing old (for me) is that my fascination with material things has waned and I’m more interested in fulfilling my creative needs and pursuits - like traveling on my own, learning new things and seeking my spiritual journey. Ahh - happy birthday to me