Comptine d’un Autre été: L’Après-Midi // Calmshet diaries

Summer is almost gone. Time for another season change. I love how mother nature feels so compelled to change every 3-4 months. Change of color, change of temperature, change of rhythm, change of routine, change of playlist, change of appearance. You get my gist. I am a big fan of change. I completely believe in the age old cliche of change is good. And also in ‘why have a mind, if you can’t change it.’  Like mother, like daughter.

 

So change it man. Don’t like something in your life? Change it. Cant change it? Then change your mind. Don’t be the same. Imagine how sad it would if you were the same person throughout your life. Thinking the same things, doing the same things, wearing and talking the same things. listening to the same songs, eating the same food, discussing the same things, fussing over the same things. The scary part is – the world is full of such people. Stagnant. So please i beg you – don’t be one of them.

Einstein once said Insanity is  doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

So do yourself a favour and change. Do different things to get different results. Change your mind, change your heart, change your perspective, change your playlist, Change your wardrobe, change your thoughts, change your friends, change your thought processes, change the conditioning, change your choices – may be thats how you will one day change the world 🙂

So this weekend i decided to change my view + temperature scenes and move away from the scorching mumbai heat. Kalmshet is a small quaint little place somewhere near lonavala. Famous for paragliding, beautiful lake, amazing sunsets, gorgeous weather and FIREFLIES! So i went to this beautiful little place to chase peace, clouds, monsoon and some magical fireflies. Got all those things and then some more.

Ok so one thing that hasn’t changed in my life for a few years now is my love for Amelie. The movie, the music and the feeling – i am obsessed with it all. I wouldn’t call it a song – i prefer the term feeling. So the feeling of this post is ‘comptine d’un autre été: l’après-midi’ which roughly translates to a rhyme for another summer afternoon. And i tried to match this feeling with some footage i took while on the trip.

Le Fabuleux Destin d’Amélie Poulain: The Fabulous Destiny of Amélie Poulain is one of the greatest movie ever made and this blog post is a dedication to all the things amelie has taught me :*

The footage in this video is all taken at Calmshet. please go there is you get a change – its heaven on earth. The music is by Yann Tierson taken from the movie Amelie of course.

Listen to the full playlist here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wCLK9iOPDw

So that’s it for now. Go watch this movie, listen to the beautiful playlist and think of the next thing you wanna change. Find another rhyme of a sunny summer afternoon 🙂

Dancing People Are Never Wrong / The SulaFest Journal

This town’s a judgmental place
And I’m unsure in any case
It’s not under my control
They’re taking aim for heart and soul

Not havin’ an opinion at all
Is what is left from doing all that research
Is this the curtain call?
I can only love what feels right
What are all these questions for?
I know I like it but I can’t say more
I know I want it but is it right?
Conclusion’s out of sight
I can only love what feels right
I can only love what feels right

There ain’t no song
Dancing people are never wrong
And what a shame
I cant blame you for groovin’
You better not stop moving
I wanna’ see you crying on the floor
Thats what people are dancing for

SulaFest happens in the beautiful Sula Vineyards in Nashik. Every February all the lovers of wine, music and sunshine gather at this magical place to lose themselves and also find themselves in the process. My favourite act from the whole festival was jan Blomqvist.

Dancing to his set, i was the happiest i remember being in a long time. It was intense. i love it when music does that to you. makes you feel. i love the goosebumps and the over whelming hold of the beat that just transcends you to another world and its crazy how easily your feet keep up with you. its nothing short of magic.

So thats the message i took away from this experience. Dance. Lose it. Forget people. Forget problems. Do what you love. Don’t worry. Things work out. But please do lose yourself. To dance, to love, to music, to wine to anything really but do lose yourself. Otherwise how will you find yourself?

The song for this post is dancing people are never wrong by Jan and The Bianca Story. Please listen to it and dance. And also take the title very very seriously.

Next stop: Supersonic.

Ophelia – The tale of tungarli

What is escapism? The tendency to seek distraction and relief from unpleasant realities by seeking entertainment or by engaging in fantasy. But then again what is reality? Is anything even real? #MrRobotForLyf

If we don’t escape from a place, how will we ever reach another place? So i say, escape. And sometimes the so called real world can get the best of us and in times like those, it is essential that we escape, it is essential we get lost in order to find ourselves.

This weekend i managed to escape the city life, which has started to lose its charm, to a place called tangurli lake/dam. I had no idea what to expect. But i had good company, better weather and the best music so i happily went along, expectationless and lost in my music.

‘Cleopatra’ by The Lumineers has been on repeat since the last few weeks now and my favourite track on the album is Ophelia. This album was on loop even when i was on my way there. Throughout the road trip there was overcast with slight drizzle. It was cloudy, misty, hazy, all sorts of sad and still impeccably beautiful. The music matched the weather matched the thoughts matched the music.

The clouds, the slight drizzle, the cool fresh breeze, the stillness, the reflection, the green, the flowers – oh there were too many perfect things at this place. synchronicity. I have already renamed this place Ophelia in my head.

Ophelia is also a Shakespearean character from hamlet. She was a hopeless romantic who was torn between her family and her love. A love which didn’t reciprocate. But is reciprocation really necessary in order to love? not really. But it sure would feel good.

“Ophelia enters with her hair and whole figure entwined with chains of flowers; and in her thin outer skirt, she carries a mass of them. She advances slowly with the strange light of insanity in her eyes, sits down upon the floor, and plays with the flowers in a childish way, as she sings. Then she arises, distributes rosemary, pansies, fennel, columbine and rue, sings her last song, loiters a moment after her parting benediction, and runs out in a burst of mad laughter.”

Thats how this place was. It was calm but creepy at the same time. Peaceful but intimidating at the same time. Beautiful but still broken. It yelled out love. The love of nature – which is the only thing that could possibly create something so beautiful. But it also yelled out indifference.

I could somehow relate to it. To the song. To the character. To the place. To everything. in the end we are all one aren’t we?

This song is as beautiful as this place. As beautiful as Shakespeare’s Ophelia. As beautiful as escapism. This song takes me to a place. To a place i was at, not too long back. But now the place somehow doesn’t exist. I wish it did because…

Oh, Ophelia, you’ve been on my mind girl like a drug
Oh, Ophelia, heaven help a fool who falls in love

its crazy how loves makes you write poetry, climb hills and do all sorts of mad crazy fun things then suddenly its all gone and what remains are words. Words that were once said in a reality that doesn’t even exist anymore. Just like shakespeare, just like this 100 year old place, just like me, just like ophelia. So back to the initial question, is anything real?

rogue

red. rogue.

anger. love. passion. vibrance. danger.  frustration. evil.

one color so many meanings. we all are like this color. we become different people in different situations. its a great thing. be dangerous. be love. be angry. be passionate. be rogue.

or just be the devil 

blue shades have become a favorite. after all who doesnt love a bit of blues?

love the contrast red and blue creates

in my last post i said every photo tells a story. its the same with every outfit. sometimes it feels like i am a part of some movie. things just happen around me, like a series of coincidences but may be they are not coincidences at all. or may be i am just too high on hope. 

blue will always be a favourite but as picasso said ‘when i haven’t any blue, i use red’

so that’s about it.

signing off for now.

hope i inspired you to be red.

Stay cool.

picture credit: https://www.facebook.com/shuterheadphotography

Blue Valentine

Valentine’s Day. such a sham. With all the reds and hearts around it gets very annoying. But still its a reason to dress up and here’s what i wore on the V-Day.

 

Stockings and boots have become my most favourite. Will wear them till i die.

The electric blue skirt i had to have. Its lace, it fits perfect and no short skirt can ever be not hot.

 

LOVE my hair in this one. Ombre curled up goodness. I wish there was a way to forever keep hair like this *sigh*

 

The pink earrings are really not visible but they match the bright pink neck piece. If you follow my blog you’ll know that pink and blue is my favourite combination.

So i guess this is it. My blue valentine.

And here are the lovely people i spent my valentines with. LOVE ALL OF THEM :*

Hope your valentine’s wasn’t as blue as mine.

Until next time.

signing off.

stay cool