Tag: #warmth

Summer of ’88

Little did I know in the start of that summer it was my last one in Lahore. By the fall of same year I was 6,300 km away on British Council fellowship at Chelsea School of Arts. Then I was teaching photography at NCA. Most afternoons,after college, I would traipse the city to discover new places, sample food, drink copious quantities of sugarcane juice with lemon and ginger, and to photograph people.

Continue reading Summer of ’88

Drawn from Life

This spring after a gap of over 30 years when I started to draw again, it was followed by, “Why did you stop in the first place?” There isn’t a straight forward answer to this, however I applaud my learning and un-learning that’s revitalised me to exhibit drawings for the first time in London.

From my teen years the prefix ‘mono’ left me craving for more. For me mono denies Abundance. Not that mono is good or bad per se, however, wether it be monogamy, monotheism, monopoly, monosyllabic, monologue or monolith, I have always had a propensity towards POLY. Whilst I adore the drama of the monochrome, I find Polychrome fantastic. While I respect a mono-theist’s singularity of belief, I believe in a universe of many Gods. All interconnected energies and faiths pass through my heart. I LOVE loving many. Pantheism feels aligned with my being. Continue reading Drawn from Life

Casa Ali >> Happy birthday India Pakistan!

Coming up… August. Two of my homes, India Pakistan celebrate their 66th birthday. My recipes for the month can not help reference some of the food that I grew up with. And its Eid as well! What’s nearly gone is…

… July and what a packed month it has been. Four Casa Ali gatherings, created and handed over content for food4thought, some of my harvest has begun, couch surfer guests from Turkey and Australia and a new kid added to the line of royals in a summer which has been the hottest in many years (wonder how it would impact on the future of united kingdom). Continue reading Casa Ali >> Happy birthday India Pakistan!

Mementoes of my memory tree

May your life always be filled with beautiful, exotic, deep, enriching, blossoming and blissful scents… and may you always know your own and wear it with pride. Gérard

This hand written note on the inside leaf of Patrick Süskind‘s Perfume is a memento which replays the time I had a fling with a young man, a sensitive soul, while I was in my long-term relationship. Whenever the page presents itself, the distant past flashes back. Not that I am a nostalgic by any means… I love memories. Am not attached to them yet they bring a serene joy in my life. Strange though it may sound, in the spring clean, year after year, my stash of troubled moments have been recycled into enchantment. Continue reading Mementoes of my memory tree

Let a thousand flowers bloom

A wandering, loving and vegetarian menu

First course of JOL&ML

Dictatorial is thumbs down and negotiational is thumbs up for me – almost always! For Journeys of Love and More Love I have had to send the menu to Melbourne and to Singapore, to make sure, the taster offerings would get prepared in time. Not that magically one sends the menu/recipes and items get churned out just because I had also emailed pictures from the ‘prepared earlier’ selection. Different cities, different ingredients, not even the same continents – all different negotiations and different solutions! Continue reading Let a thousand flowers bloom