The Burning Man Festival

What Is Burning Man?
Once a year, tens of thousands of participants gather in Nevada's Black Rock Desert to create Black Rock City, dedicated to community, art, self-expression, and self-reliance. They depart one week later, having left no trace whatsoever. Burning Man is also a year-round culture, based on the Ten Principles. Read Burning Man's mission statement.

What Isn't Burning Man?
Burning Man isn't the kind of festival that most people are used to, with big stages and acts booked to play on a set schedule. Rather, it's an entirely participant-driven event, and therein lies the novelty.

Check out some really cool pics from there !!!

Me Grandad Ad' an Elephant

Play : Me Grandad Ad’ An Elephant
Where : @ PRITHVI THEATRE
When : 9, 2011 a 9PM
With : Hrishab Sanghvi
Production : “HIGH-POT-IN-USE-TRI-ANGLE” and “NOT QUITE THERE” Productions
The Team : ADAPTED FOR STAGE BY AHLAM KHAN
Lyrics : RAMU RAMANATHAN, AHLAM KHAN, POOJA ASHER & SHIVANI SAVANT
DIRECTED : BY DIGVIJAY SAVANT
CAST : AHLAM KHAN, AYESHA RAZA, DILSHAD EDIBAM, TOM ALTER, ZAFAR KARACHIWALA
CHORUS : AJITESH GUPTA, ANSHIKA GOEL, CHAITALI BOSE, ROHIN PURI,RYTASHA RATHOD, PRATYUSH SINGH, SERENA WALIA, SHIVANI SAVANT,SOHELA JALALI, VARUN VAZIR
MUSIC : RITESH

I wasn’t expecting too much out of the play. For an odd title like that – I thought the Ragda pattice with Hrishabh Sanghvi to keep me company would be the high point of the evening. We talked about me being judgemental – it did tick me off a bit, but I care less about people’s opinion with ever passing day : )

2 bells down, he was still finishing the last of his mushroom sandwich and going gaga over the Irish Coffee which I promised we would drink after – we went inside. What I love about Prithvi Theatre is the size of it. Its small and cosy and rather welcoming. We sat on the stage left, and I did not regret it. From start to finish, this play has been adapted superbly.

If you are a theatre enthusiast like me, this is one which you definitely should not miss. Based on the Novella by Vaikom Mohammed Basheed and translated by R.E.ASHER & ACHAMMA COILPARAMPIL, “Me Grandad ’Ad An Elephant!” is the story of Kunjupattumma, an innocent and loving soul, who lives with her family in the Malabar region of Kerala. It revolves around the growing pains of this young Muslim – Malayali girl in a society of conflicts and is set against a backdrop of implied criticisms of outdated Muslim customs, an appeal to live in the present, an abundance of comedy.

Dilshad Edibam – playing Zafar Karchiwalla is simply outstanding !! Words cannot match her acting skills – her little snotty remarks of a 17 yr old.
The play attempts to understand a shy girl played by the beautiful Alam Khan, who is at the centre of human life, a community, a village in North Malabar. Lilting melodies and charming lyrics lend this story a delightful flavour that brings the region and time alive on stage. What emerges is an unexpected blend of laughter and tears, of mellow moments and sudden threat that are very intimately related to a fanciful legend about a Grandad Who Possessed an Elephant.

The story moves onto a then typical riches to rags story.. And then about a bickering household. The mother – Ayesha Raza beautifully portrays the blinded mother, fooled easily into believing folk-lore, black magic and a god that seems to not hear anything.
And ofcourse.. There is the comforter – The handsome Zafar Karchiwalla – He stole my breath away. With the depth of his voice and his poise and posture – this man surely did have women go weak on their knees. He steers this lost household into leading a life with modern day value systems.

If that was good enough for me – the girls singing in chorus – each one beautiful in their own right, danced, shook their neck in a story telling fashion and rolled their eyes to emphasize the GrandDad’s Elephant – The story was peppy, the people were amazing on stage and the audience instantly responded.

I have seen quite a few musicals on Broadway and in the West End – but this one – with the bare basics simply bowled me over… Tam tit a tam… tit a tam tita tam… The music is so well composed – in the end everyone was humming it while walking out.
Of course – The Irish coffee was not forgotten. And that was worth it too. The conversation between Hrishabh and I steered to childhood sweethearts and marriage – no no – not between the two of us – in general – that seems to be a flavour of the season for all 24 – 25 yr olds…! Even at the end of night, when we bid adieu – I couldn’t help but sing with a little neck shake and the big eyes .. Tam ti tam ti tam.. !!!

Gorgeous Gold

Can't get enough of the color gold these days.

BVD - BRAVE VERSATILE DARLING

Photo : Diwali 2009, GOA


A Big shout out to my second dad Bhavesh Doshi.. He is undergoing a major heart surgery this morning 09/06/2011– I wish you a speedy recovery !! May god bless you. Our happiness is when we are all together chilling during Diwali vacations, enjoying family conversations and surrounded by good food… ! We are meant to be this way – and I wouldn’t want anything different in "the perfect picture" memory to change.. ! <3 you.


Photo : Diwali 2011, CYPRUS -- The game that will travel the rest of the world- CHAUPAT

Best Wishes Via Blog from All the 7 OVERSIZED DOSHI's, 1 - 1/2 MEHTA 1/2 DOSHI and 1 FULL MEHTA !!

Chick Alert @ Vero Moda Sale

When FASHION meets DISCOUNTS and the word SALE is attached to it – KHALLAS... You can expect there to be a CHICK-ALERT-A THON count downing to the day event. The Boxing Day Sale/ Labour Day Sale/ Christmas Sale day’s of around the world experience could be got in Amchi Mumbai for the Saturday Sale of Vero Moda/ Jack and Jones in their Khar – Linking Road outlet.

My friends and I like every other girl bundled up together – leaving all other important things called MONEY MAKING – to go and do some MONEY SPLURGING. I am not a big big fan of this place, but I don’t ever refrain from “checking out the scene”... And so we went. At first I couldn’t understand why the traffic was being held up by Santacruz Police station – just as your turn away from Juhu Tara Road extension. However – chattering about how we are going to go and raid the store kept us busy to not realise that it took over 20 mins to just travel less than a kilometre.

Much to our surprise, as we drove past Vero Moda – and saw the serpentine queue of GIRLS of all shapes and sizes chattering and almost littering the ever quite by-lanes of Khar/ Santacruz – you know that something’s up !!
It almost looked like the place was throwing free clothes. Women on the 3rs floor standing were seen next to the mannequin, searching high and low for that dress they have been eyeing for the last couple of months to go on SALE ! Guys lined up too – but were typically lesser in number.

We did not have the courage and the patience to join the queue – and so we drove past – all the way till Bandra and ended up eating a wholesome BRUNCH. Something which has become a bigger pass-time than any other activity for us girls.

Of course – it was only after a good brunch and a hard day at work, when we decided that we did not want to miss an experience ! So my sister and I decided to BRAVE the crowd and enter at 10 p.m. We were given an easy entry – presumably most people had finished shopping. Little did we know that they must have ravaged the entire space. The Place looked like it had just about managed to SURVIVE A WAR.

There were more clothes lying on the floor than they were on the racks. All the sizes were mixed up and people were treating items like a Rs 3295 jacket like a piece of RAG. Being a frequent visitor – since my friend AMI GATHANI and my sister DHWANI DOSHI are mad-shopped of Vero Moda – i knew some of the clothes i had never seen on the racks. Looked more like items shipped from Bangkok only to make a quick buck. And even if they were not – the way they were displayed made it feel like a garage sale.
The best items were already sold – i didn’t expect a miracle purchase anyway !! I had only gone to check the scene out. I did manage to find a nice top on the highest rack – having escaped the hands of a few 1000 girls who must have shopped there. But when I went to try it – the staff seemed overworked, hungry and exhausted and hence couldn’t care less to help me with my size or colour – not that I asked – i was just petrified at the woman who was screaming her lungs out “NO MORE THAN 3 ITEMS.” Of course it wasn’t her fault – it is something the management should have foreseen and planned in advance.

But it was an experience to see WOMEN still at it – buying clothes after clothes after clothes !!! We ended up buying lesser than we actually buy paying 100% MRP + TAX and minus the QUE... but as they say everything is an experience.