Taj Mahal - A Symbol of Love

One of the 8th Wonders of the World,
A monument of Pride for every Indian,
And every architectures dream....
The Taj Mahal is indeed one of the greatest monuments existing today.
I was barely 6 years old when I witnessed this beauty in person. Though I wasn't mature enough to appreciate everything about it, my trip to the Taj Mahal will always be etched in my memory.

All these things aside, I really don't agree with it being a symbol of love.
I do appreciate and understand the emotions behind the maker of this gigantic structure, and I am sure he loved his wife Mumtaz Mahal a lot.
But I cannot grasp the logic behind doing something for your love after they are dead.
Why not do things for the person you love when they are alive and around you?
People who say they can't express love really amuse me. I mean you don't have to be a poet or a singer or have some super power to do it.
All you need to do is make the person feel appreciated, valued and respected.
Surprise your mom by buying her a saree without any reason or occasion, fix your Dad's car over the weekend, do your wife's laundry when she is out, or go swimming with your kids over the weekend.
All these are definitely bigger symbols of love for me than building the Taj Mahal.
Do I make sense? If not, lets move on to the pictures.

I recently came across this brand called Perfect Cutt and I was amazed by their Insta feed.
Beautiful, artistic and classy hand made clutches that looked too good to be true.
But when I was sent two of their pieces for styling on the blog, believe me I was more surprised. Because pics do not do justice to the actual beauty of these clutches.

After a very long time, I came across a clutch that was so beautifully made. Quality fabric, expert craftsmanship and perfect finish. These clutches were pure love.

In this post, I have styled their Taj Mahal clutch and I really cant believe this beauty costs merely Rs.1350, which is hardly $20. Can you believe it? Nether can I!

And just so that you know, Perfect Cutt ships internationally too.
For more updates, you can follow them on FB, Twitter and Instagram.

Also, I want to wish all So-Saree Readers a very Happy Gudi Padwa!

Outfit Details:
Saree: Borrowed from MIL
Necklace: Oriflame
EarCuff, bracelet and Ring: Confusion Fashion Accessories
Clutch: Perfect Cutt
Photography by: Deepali Suryawanshi Photography

Girls Night Out at The Cutting Room, Vancouver

I have always been in admiration of handmade products. And could never imagine the pride and happiness one must feel after creating a piece of art on their own. Last Tuesday, I finally experienced what it exactly feels like!
I was privileged to have the opportunity of attending a media event on behalf of So-Saree at The Cutting Room. Based in the uber chic neighborhood of Kitsilano, this super creative space is home to Production as well as Fashion Design and Merchandising Academy. With 25 years of experience in the fashion and apparel industry Liza Deyrmenjian, a New Yorker and owner of The Cutting Room runs this double duty business along with her super talented team.

When I got to the Cutting Room I met a few other bloggers who were equally excited about designing a tote bag, but the one other thing that we secretly shared was the nervousness of using a sewing machine for the first time. Liza assured us that we’d be fine and we all wanted to believe them. So it started with first choosing the material for our tote bags from the variety of options available. I personally found this part the toughest as it was difficult to pick one item among all the beautiful ones available.

After making our almost satisfied choices everyone moved to their sewing machines. Liza and her team gave the group a step by step tutorial of the sewing process. As we progressed through the way and actually witnessed our bags coming into shape and life the joy and confidence kept increasing. The energy and enthusiasm with which Liza and her team taught us was so impressive. They enjoyed the process as much as we did and so was the energy contagious in the room.

We made mistakes but when the bags were finally ready everyone was on cloud nine. Each one of us was super proud of our creation.

I couldn’t believe that in just less two hours I designed and stitched my very own tote bag.

As I went home that night feeling accomplished and a happy heart and mind, I couldn’t thank Liza and her team enough for the most productive and enjoyable evening I’ve had in a recent time.

Apart from conducting these fun workshops for a perfect girl’s night out (click here to book one), The Cutting Room offers a variety of classes for kids and adults.
For more details about the classes please visit this link or click Classes. Not just that you could also launch your Own Line of Fashion with this 6-weekcourse.

To avail a $30 discount when you book your favorite class please use the code SAREE30 (case sensitive)

Whether you’re interested in fashion designing, pattern making, sewing or just want to venture into the field of fashion, The Cutting Room is a one stop shop for all your needs.

-SOnali
 For So-Saree

So-Saree Readers Speak - Richa

And today we are back with another Reader feature.

Today's reader is an entrepreneur and runs a successful Tours and Travel Company in Mumbai.

As much as she loves to travel, she loves flaunting her sarees.

So, here we go...over to you Richa.

As much as I love to travel and work, I love wearing sarees.
I mean where would you find an outfit that's elegant, can be worn for any occasion, never goes out of fashion and fits each and every size.
I love reading So-Saree because it not only talks about my favourite outfit, but also because it covers most topics of my interest like food, travel, festivals and much more.
Below are a few pics of me wearing a saree on my trip to the holy city of Varanasi.

Hope you like them.

Thanks Richa for sharing your pics. You look absolutely beautiful.

When the Germans celebrate – they CELEBRATE!!!

Are you one of those who believe that Germans are a reserved and curt community? Well, then you most certainly need to visit Germany (mainly Dusseldorf and Cologne) during the “Fasnacht” or “Karneval” festival.

Traditionally, this festival has been celebrated to usher in the period of fasting, or Lent (carne vale literally translates as farewell to meat). The Germans believe in bringing in the spring with a lot of merriment and celebrations galore. Although the festival begins around the 11^th of November every year, the last week of February is where carnival peaks. Dusseldorf and Cologne are primarily the epicentres of the festival, but one can experience glimpses of the celebrations across Germany, and even parts of Austria and Switzerland.

Anyways, I do not want to inundate you all with information which is available on the internet, but give you a first-hand recount of my experience at the Fasnacht this year.

Me and my husband spent five days (two in Dusseldorf and three in Cologne) at the karneval this year. I deliberately stayed away from any information overload of the festival before leaving, as I love being caught by surprise at such events. But still, I was sure of one thing (knowing this was a traditional German festival) and that was the overflowing BEER!! (And I wasn’t disappointed)

We got the first taste of the festival on the Dusseldorf central station itself, the moment we alighted our train. The whole station was bustling with people of all ages and races decked up in various costumes. Oh yes, the main attraction of this festival is the costumes! You can come across every imaginable (and unimaginable!) costume during these five days. Ranging from onesies of animal costumes like bunny rabbit, lion, giraffe, zebra, tiger etc.., to fantasy characters like spiderman, batman, harry potter to historical characters like Charlie Chaplin, Mozart and the Queen – you can bump into anyone!!For the next five days, we would keep getting amused and delighted by the plethora of characters surrounding us!

 

Getting infected with the festival bug, we rushed into the first local shop we found and got ourselves some costumes too! And then spent the rest of the festival dancing, drinking beer and in general merriment.

And then comes Rose Monday – the penultimate day of the festival. This is the day when there are official parades all across the city. We had moved to Cologne by then, and were expecting some nice floats and music. But we were again stumped!!

Yes there were floats and yes there was music...but there was a sweet addition to the proceedings and that was CANDIES and CHOCOLATES!! All the paraders from the floats were showering sweets on the roads where children and adults alike were yelling “Kamelle” (sweets) and “Strüßjer” (little bouquets of flowers) and jumping around to collect them (just as a reference fact – apparently about 3 tons of sweets are distributed on this day in Cologne alone!) . Within a matter of two-three hours I could see the kids’ sacks bulging with sweets and their eyes twinkling with anticipation (we adults were not really immune to this too!)

The parade begins at about 11 am and goes on till 5.30 in the evening, but there were no signs of exhaustion from either the paraders or the spectators!

This brings the festival to the end; and although there are smaller parades and events happening the next day, Rose Monday is considered to be the climax of the Karneval. We stayed on till Ash Wednesday just to do some sightseeing and get the vibe of the festival ending.

One thing that I would like to mention before winding this piece down – even with hundreds and thousands of youth on the roads for the festival, drinking and dancing the night away, I did not come across any pickpocketing, eve teasing or any such nasty mishaps which are very common in public gatherings in our country. Something worth noting and learning from?

All in all a week well spent and something I would highly recommend the next time any of you are planning a trip to Germany in this season!!

-Gouri Patwardhan
 For So-Saree