Breakfast Tiffin at Saravanaa Bhavan and then some.

I landed in Chennai early morning and Prats whisked me off to Saravanaa Bhavan for breakfast. It was my request. I love idli, dosa, sambhar, the chutneys, idli podi and of course good South Indian filter coffee. And I want it traditional and I want it perfectly Tamilian. Chennai's varied cuisine is always beckoning me. My friend Prats happens to be a wonderful guide into the not so well known but spectacularly delicious places in the city.

Of course, Saravanaa Bhavan's reputation precedes itself. With over a 100 outlets world over it is probably the best known restaurant for good, fast cheap South Indian food. What I did not know was that my fondly called Idli- Dosa is actually called a tiffin. Hence we had tiffin for breakfast. Prats ordered an appam with sweetened coconut milk. My exposure to appam has been limited and mostly accompanied with a chicken or fish curry. She poured the coconut milk in the center of these bowl shaped pancakes made of fermented rice flour. The center is slightly thick like an idli. The coconut milk fills up all the pores and moistens the pancake. And with our hands we mixed and turned and tore and scooped at this absolutely delicious and simple tasting breakfast snack. I ordered a rawa masala dosa. It was good, crisp, hot with perfect filling of spicy potatoes called masala. The variety of chutneys- white coconut (not so spicy), green coconut (spicy), tomato (spicy and tangy and of course sambhar. My favourite always is the tomato chutney. The sambhar accompanying hit the spot. We got ourselves some good South Indian filter coffee that Prats poured back and forth in the little metal bowl accompanying the glass. She 'stretched' her coffee as it cooled down in the pouring. I followed suit and really enjoyed the experience. It seems like I always had my filter coffee the wrong way.  It was a rewarding breakfast after an early morning flight from Mumbai to Chennai. My favourite sort of breakfast.

Prats took me next door to the oldest Nalli's in Chennai. Housed in a quaint old bungalow this Nalli's has serviced women purchasing sarees for various occasions for almost 80 years. This place is historic and best known for its south Indian silks especially from Kanchipuram. Later I told my mom about going to Nalli's and she told me she had been to the exact same Nalli's several years ago when I was a little 3 year old girl. I bought my first Nalli's silk to make into a typical Tamil Nadu skirt. Ms. Prats is going to design that for me. Can't wait!

Germany India- Infinite Opportunities. A labour of love

I very rarely talk about work on my blog. Mostly because my blog is an escape from my work. But in true follow my recipe style I felt this project had a place on the blog for all its heart and warmth.
The Germany India- Infinite Opportunities is a two year long cultural program held in all major cities in India. Performances, music, dance, theater, photography and many such collaborations and cultural exchanges. The Urban Mela is a traveling festival across 5 major cities around India- Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi and Pune. Its consists of these beautiful jewel like pavilions designed by German artist Markus Heinsdorff. Each pavilion is given to a German partner company to showcase the idea of sustainable cities.

I designed the Deutsche Bank Pavilion along with my team at Ogilvy Action. The few of us involved in the project ideated, curated, wrote, designed and provided technical specifications for the exhibition for the Deutsche Bank Pavilion.  The idea was to curate a set of projects created by various innovators who are designing objects, systems, ideas that would make better living in the our crowded urban scenario. Windowfarms, Green Karbon- On urban biodiversity, $300 House contest winner, Solar Lantern, Solar Plane, Dream In, A sanitation project,  The waterfront reclamation project. The pavilion becomes a place to exchange ideas and thoughts on how to make better cities.
Many projects are brought alive through interesting interactive ways. Such as the Green Karbon project culminates in a photo contest challenging people to capture biodiversity in their cities. The window farms is currently growing eggplant and chilies and a dream tree that invites people to tie their dreams on a tag. Many projects were Deutsche Bank supported and some were just people that we believed in. Shagun Singh of Designwala helped us curate and reach out to the various innovators so that we could showcase their work.

In the process of design, I went through several layouts trying to create the best narrative possible. What works with what. Working with German organizers for the festival was also interesting as they had several processes in place such as understanding our electrical requirements etc. All in all it was a great learning experience.

On the opening day, when I walked into the Pavilion it was a moment of pride. People were walking through, looking, reading, understanding. Our super college kid promoters did an excellent job thoroughly explaining each project to the visitors. People looked engaged. I was amazed with the windowfarms. It was brilliant - it worked. There was also a baby eggplant growing. The dream in tree was filled with dreams. Though only 50 sq m this Pavilion was a labour of love. It had heart.

The Urban Mela is up till Sunday April 22nd at Cross Maidan at Churchgate. Do go see it. Its stunning- in the evening all the various pavilions light up. Some of the others were also interesting. There is a beer garden  serving Erdingers and bratwursts.

The painstaking process of construction of the pavilions and some initial design drawings. I was not involved in the final installation of the pavilion.

Do participate in the photography contest for Green Karbon.

Some acknowledgements are in order. My Ogilvy Action team - Nyka, Aarti, Khushboo, Shripad, Shrikant, Vipul and Rahul. Our various support people the photographers, website designers, AV makers. The organizers of the Urban Mela. Though there are many here to thank I especially want to thank Jenny and Henning. And of course our client at Deutsche Bank to give us this opportunity- Linus, Reshma, Ajay, Madhav and Mike.
Thank you for this opportunity.