A haunted house so legit it's scary

Ok ok. I actually don't think it's haunted, though you can't help but work yourself up a bit when you enter a house that was vacated because of a murder of it's elderly resident, Dolce Vas, ten years ago. Her sister Vera Vas (Ok, love those names!) was advised to move out after the incident. Contentious litigation followed, and the community wonders if she was asked to leave for her own wellbeing, or because someone had an eye on the property. 

 The view from the street is intriguing, as this home lies in ruins between trendy cafes and new construction. We often enjoy Sunday brunch after church at any number of spots along St. Marks Road, but today, feeling brave with my roommate's Mom in tow (you always feel safer with a mother around!) Kristen and I decided to investigate the familiar facade.And it shares the same street address as that beacon of modernity: Hard Rock Cafe!

Decaying under the carpark: what used to be a Hillman Minx! (Correct me if you know more about vintage cars.) 

"Did you hear something?"

Our first view inside.

It is a bit creepy, mostly because I expect to see the owner of umpteen empty liquor bottles stagger out from a cupboard or behind the piano. 

Local teens say they still hear piano music coming from the house at night.  (I tried playing it, not a sound!)

 This might be the bed on which Dolce Vas was murdered. The original press release here

Water damage has stripped the walls of everything except this darkened painting of Jesus. 

Must have had messy houeguests recently.

I don't remember what I was saying in this shot. Must have been fascinating though! 

This home had three kitchens! Ghost or no ghost I wouldn't want to leave!

I think the bet part of our tour was how it reminded me of the adventures of my childhood heroine, Ariel the little mermaid. As if I was exploring a deserted shipwreck trying to figure out what Dolce and Vera's world was like.

So we might have crashed a fashion show - Part II

A fashion show that's touted in the business news...

Perfect. 

 Rajesh Pratap Singh is the Victor & Rolf, or perhaps the Jean Paul Gautier of India--upscale and edgey. (Pratap has a thing for sculls and crossbones). But his established reputation earned him the honour of designing an exclusive line to show off a newly developed extra-soft denim at this show in Bangalore. 

What follows is a short chronicle of the day leading up to his show at the Bangalore Palace, and my first time walking the ramp. 

Setup was already well underway when the models arrived around noon. We practiced walking the ramp and sorted out who would wear what and the sequence. The scene reminded me of cheerleading competitions from high school:  lots of pretty girls and ripped boys, blaring music and the perfectly uniform hair and makeup so we'd look like little carbon prints of each other. Well, almost. I was the only blond.

The look for our hair was straight and slicked back...even for me. A few minutes into the straightening process I had to confess to cutting my own hair as the stylist unwound the curls to reveal a choppy, jagged edged cut underneath. It took them an HOUR to finish the job. The model waiting behind me is a professional pole vaulter--and Natalie Portman's doppleganger. 

Then came makeup. A view backstage. Most of the day is spent waiting around, which afforded opportunities to talk with the other girls. One was a former investment banker with Reuters. Another studied dance at the Boston Conservatory, and invited me to her solo performance of "The Lady of Burma" about the Burmese democrat, Aung San Suu Kyi, the following night. (I went. She was amazing.) Style, and substance!

Presto, change-o...

Ack! Who's that?

Friends came out to crash...errr support. My alter ego, Tour Guide Barbie, showed them around. 

When I  first moved to New York without a job in 2008, my roommate and I were on the poor girl's CPD diet (Calories Per Dollar). Three years later--freelance model or not--I'm still a scrappy NGO worker in a developing country who can't say no to a free meal!  My outfit had tons of ruffles down the front...perfect for concealing a food baby...

Time to change for the show. Brogues! Love them in concept, but they don't do a girl's legs any favours.

The runway was exceptionally long and covered in leaves. Oh good, more opportunities to trip. 

Seriously, it's harder than you'd think! The lighting makes it nigh impossible to see. Imagine staring into the sun as you strut in front of 200+ people. 

Home stretch!

See? What'd I say about the brogues?

This girl was legit.

Pashmeena on the left gave me a lesson on walking. She should have taught me how to look pissed too. That expression didn't come naturally. Must. Practice. :-)

Remember this picture? Even though I was the only non-Indian on the ramp, I think (I hope!) I was able to blend in more.   

After the show they served dinner (It was 10PM, no problem!) And we snuck back to the runway to take some pictures and play in the leaves. 

Pin the Tail on the Sacred Cow - A Tale of Cultural Fusion

Before coming to India, I was told everyone experiences a certain amount of culture shock, so I should be prepared. Apparently, there are 6 stages to the process: 1. Honeymoon, 2. Disillusionment, 3. Crisis, 4. Adjustment, 5. Accomodation, and 6. Productive. 

Accommodation (Stage 5) is characterized by "accepting yourself and your own culture as you can equally accept  your hosts and their culture." The following chronicles our prep and partying, in celebration of my roommate's birthday which was officially March 5th.  Please use the vignette below to analyse which stage of cultural adjustment the residents of 106 seem to be at (and pardon the dangling participle).

 

Dear Friends of Kristen,

If there’s one thing I’ve learned while in India, it’s that anything worth celebrating…is worth celebrating for a minimum of 7 days. (Indians…also…love…ellipsis…and exclamation points!!! :-) So, in true Indian fashion,  I hereby declare this auspicious occasion…

“Kristin’s BirthWeek BreakFeastival!!!”

which will culminate in a party at 7PM on Friday, 11 March.  

It is a little known fact at IJM Bangalore that Americans do breakfast better than Indians (::gasp::) and Kristen, being the bleeding-heart-social-justice-benefactor-philanthropist that she is, selflessly  wanted to dedicate her birthday to raising awareness about this issue. To this end, we will be serving a proper American breakfast--for dinner. Complete with scrambled eggs,  chocolate chip pancakes,  fruit salad and the choicest meats (when I say that, it that always means bacon!) We also may play some classic—albeit inane—American birthday games.

Please do let us know if you’re able to come experience the best of both worlds this Friday night. You just might go home convinced it’s best to start your day…the American way ;-)

Peace, love and maple syrup,

106

Kristen at the helm in her party dress by Calcutta desinger Ritu Kumar! There are 36 eggs between those two pans!

 Giant white walls call for my signature clothesline decorating trick! 

American breakfast--for dinner! An absurd amount of food.

 We promised  inane American birthday games in the invitation, so I stayed up the night prior creating a culturally relevant version of "Pin the tail on the donkey"or rather, "Pin the tail on the sacred cow". (So close!)

You don't get no respect here without a moush, so Troy decided he'd blend in better by concealing his upperlip beneath that critter.  

Not quite Troy.

The result? It looked like my sacred cow was being attacked by sperm! We had this up as-is for about a day, then I had to take it down because I couldn't get this song out of my head. 

It may seem like all we do is throw parties and chase wild elephants and hang out with fashion designers, but sometimes you find your self sitting staring at your dinning room wall for 45 minutes figuring out all the things you can spell with the letters in "Happy Birth Week" (perhaps while authoring a blogpost). My favourite above. 

Keep it clean please. There are children around!

Today is World Water Day!

A few facts courtesy of  The Adventure Project :

• 1 in 8 people don't have access to clean water
• 4,000 children die every day from lack of clean drinking water
• Tragically, 1/3 of all wells drilled in the last 20 years are now broken

Our well is no exception.

We aren't a development organization, we're a human rights agency, but this tank was built to provide clean, safe water to a village that is home to over 80 of our clients. The project was funded by a grant from Intel in cooperation with The Remnant Enviro Engineers (TREE), a local NGO. The tank was only filled once, by running an electric pump which drew water from the well we built 300 meters down the hill.   Since that day it has remained completely dry because there is not enough electricity to power the pump.

So villager women have to walk 1.5 km every day to fetch water, even though they technically have a well, a pump and a tank.

We go off in search of the well. Neenu leading the way.  

We happened upon this stream about 200 meters from the village, but the water is contaminated and villagers have to walk upstream much futher before the water is safe. (And still only safe after they boil it.)

The well! Just kidding. This hole houses something other than water, and I don't want to meet it's inhabitant.

This is the well. No, really, it's there...and completely overgrown. ::blush::

The aforementioned DFO (See: "One Aftercare Safari") sent two of his officers with us to decide how their department can help.  Here one officer discusses the exposed piping and seemed very motivated, saying: "If she came all the way from the US to  help these people, we can certainly do this small thing for them." Wow!

An enterprising villager had cut and sold a vital electrical wire, rendering the electical box above a mere sculpture. So what can be done? After the site visit, we made a stop at the electricity office. We had filed a petition seven months back and hadn't heard an update since. Now, with the support of the DFO, they promised to supply sufficient power for the project within 30 days. That was yesterday. Today they called saying they would raise the voltage by next week! (Double wow!)

The villagers are skilled rock breakers (some of their handiwork above), and we will be able to employ them to deepen and widen the well so it can supply enough water to irrigate their land for farming. We also plan to train villagers to maintain the equipment and the value of guarding against theft.

Our little well is on it's way to a second life, but may wells around India lie broken, without skilled mechanics to repair them.

The Adventure Project: has vowed to address this issue. Instead of drilling more wells, they’re using  charitable gifts for something revolutionary – to train and employ handpump mechanics. The mechanics earn an income, bringing themselves out of poverty, and they save lives – turning clean water back on for thousands of people each year.

Their goal is to raise $10,000 in one day: World Water Day. Please consider donating $20 to The Adventure Project to help restore clean and safe sources of water for the people of India. You can do so HERE.

 

Coming next: The latest trend in local fashion: accessorizing your sari with a hard hat. So hot.

"Now Stacie, I want to see your best corpse impression..."

India has been one unique experience after another. One of my favourites so far? Modeling my friend  Julie's Indo-western summer line. Given this project's all white colour story, it's not surprising she needed to find... someone like me!  Though I've lived in constant 75 degree weather for the past 9 months I still look like I spent a winter in London. Shockingly, I wasn't fair enough and Julie kept covering me in chalk powder.  Sometimes, it's  OK if you pale in comparison.

To get this last expression, Ronny the photographer smeared my face with chalk and told me: "Now Stacie, I want to see your best corpse impression..." How'd I do? 

On a separate note: India has so much to contribute to the design world. New York friends, don't you think Anthropologie would just love to get a hold of her stuff?