Saturday Pages: ARC Review of A Bollywood Bride by Sonali Dev!!!

Hey there guys!

Happy Saturday! I came back from spending a pair of days (mostly) unplugged at my parents' cottage, getting loads of puppy love, getting pampered by my mum and watching shooting stars at night with my mum and bro. And reading, loads of reading! Less ARCs than I should have, but I despite my best intentions, I'm always a mood reader at heart!

Still I managed to read a pair of ARCs and start another, and one of them is the one I'm reviewing today for this week's Saturday Pages, counting it towards my ARC August challenge and also since it is a diverse read, towards my 105 Challenge!

The Bollywood Bride by Sonali Dev

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I read and loved Sonali's debut last year so when I heard about her next book coming out this year I knew I had to read it! Of course I did a lil jig when I got approved for it on NetGalley by the publisher and after reading it I already have it preordered for myself and for my ex didi.

Ria's story is not an easy one, given what a traumatic past she had to deal with and what she fears will be the sure consequences to her future. She's carved herself a career on Bollywood and she keeps everyone away from her. But when her cousin calls her and begs her to attend her wedding, she feels like she needs to go and be there for the family that loves her, and after a potential scandal, leaving Mumbai for Chicago seems like the best option.

While I don't know all that much about the insides of the world of Bollywood, I have been treated as part of an Indian family both in India and in the US, and reading this book felt like being back there. The descriptions are effortless and vivid and the relationships between the characters always so well developed!

Ria is a very complex character with many different sides to her, and we can very well see them at play when she is just Ria with her family, to when we see her as Ria Parkar, the film star. She's both strong and enormously fragile, always battling with herself and trying to get through everything on her own. I wanted her to finally allow others to help her and seeing how hard her path was through it all really made my heart ache!

The romance here was particularly heartbreaking because of the history between Vikram and Ria and how meeting again after ten years there's a lot of pain and anger and suffering but still an undeniable chemistry and a knowing about each other that was painful to read about. I don't know if it'll be as painful for other people as it was for me, but the emotions jump out of the pages!

Mental health and the stigma still associated to mental health illnesses is also a big component of the book. Ria's life has been defined by that stigma and it's what continue to define how she sees herself and how she shapes her future.

A fantastic book with a wonderfully complex romance and a lot of depth. Bravo Sonali Dev! Very well deserved 5 stars!



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Celebrating Diversity with Liars INC by Paula Stokes! Parvati and sarees!

Hi there guys!

Welcome to another scheduled post while I'm on hiatus and actually driving one of my besties to the airport for her honeymoon and freaking out like there's no tomorrow about going to BEA since I'll be flying tomorrow!!

Today I am gonna do a lil bit of a random post that I was inspired for while reading Liars INC by Paula Stokes! Not only I loved the plot and the mystery but I also LOVED Parvati, the half-Indian third of the Liars! And once I read about her wearing a white saree at the funeral (nope, not telling you whose funeral) I knew I wanted to talk about about sarees and how to wear them on the blog!


Being with an Indian guy for 7 years means I've learn a thing or two about what to wear for a shaadi (Indian wedding) and a few ways of draping a saree (thank Youtube for tutorials!).

Sarees are traditional and have been worn for thousands of years, but they continue to be worn either for special occasions only or every day and for every occasion. Depending on the woman's preference or how traditional their upbringing and where they live is. Given that Parvati is half Indian and she wants to keep her heritage but not let it define who she is, I'm sure she'd love to wear sarees for special occasions, both joyful and sad.

There are two main colours that are very traditional in India, red (or reddish shades, even orange and pink can work) for a bride on her wedding (for the main ceremonial day with the actual marriage taking place) and then white for mourning and funerals. Black is not a colour to be worn at either occasion, but it's perfectly fine for receptions or other events! Wearing red to a wedding is a big NO-NO unless you are close family of the bride or groom.

For weddings and events, sarees ought to be silk, net or a similarly luxurious fabric and the more embroidery and bling, the better! For funerals and mourning sarees should be white, plain and without much embellishment if any.

And now I'll show you a few pics! Too much writing in this post so far!!

As you can see, there are many colours and fabrics when it comes to sarees and according to Wikipedia, about 80 ways recorded of draping them! Sarees can be more traditional or more sexy and once you get the hang of putting them on, they can be even more comfy to wear for events than usual western formal wear!

Now, some more pics, these will be sort of a tutorial on how to wear a saree! You'll see me putting the saree on one of my besties! ;)

First of all, you put on the blouse & petticoat (underskirt)

The petticoat needs to be tied tightly (my friend Esther was complaining about that) but you don't want the saree fabric to slip off because it's too lose and whoops, lost your saree!

You tuck in the saree fabric around so the border barely touches the ground (remember to wear the shoes)

You grab the loose fabric, pleat it and throw it over your shoulder, till it hits knee lenght, then grab the rest of the loose fabric in front.

 You pin the fabric and then do the pleating (that's always the hardest part to learn to do) and then tuck it in front and pin it again!

Then you grab the pallu and let it fall from the shoulder onto the arm, and pin it again on the back so it doesn't fall off!

And you're good to go!

Namaste!

I'll show you now a few video tutorials for how to wear a saree in a few different ways! They're fun and easy to follow! And explain it much better than I did with the photos, I'm sure!

Nivi Style - it's the more typical, traditional way to wear a saree, and you can never go wrong for wearing a saree this way for any and all events!



Hourglass/Mermaid style - this is a more modern way to wearing a saree is fantastic to wear a net saree and still hide the tummy a bit but go less traditional. It's also great to move around without worrying about the pallu of the saree!



Siren/Variation of Nivi style - Very similar to the Nivi style but again a lil more modern and comfy to dance and move around, a lil more revealing too. Perfect for receptions and parties!




And oh boy, I think that's all! This has ended up being a massively BIG post and if any of you guys have read till the end... THANK YOU!!

Liars INC by Paula Stokes

For fans of Gone Girl, I Hunt Killers, and TV's How to Get Away with Murder.

Max Cantrell has never been a big fan of the truth, so when the opportunity arises to sell forged permission slips and cover stories to his classmates, it sounds like a good way to make a little money and liven up a boring senior year. With the help of his friends Preston and Parvati, Max starts Liars, Inc. Suddenly everybody needs something and the cash starts pouring in. Who knew lying could be so lucrative?

When Preston wants his own cover story to go visit a girl he met online, Max doesn’t think twice about hooking him up. Until Preston never comes home. Then the evidence starts to pile up—terrifying clues that lead the cops to Preston’s body. Terrifying clues that point to Max as the murderer.

Can Max find the real killer before he goes to prison for a crime he didn’t commit? In a story that Kirkus Reviews called "Captivating to the very end," Paula Stokes starts with one single white lie and weaves a twisted tale that will have readers guessing until the explosive final chapters.

Wearing Handmade Wednesday: Cielo Design by Miriam Shimon!

Hello everyone!

I think  it's been quite a while since I'm done one of these, but despite the photographs not being up to par to what any amateur photographer worth their while should be using, I wanted to share something for Wearing Handmade Wednesday!

Okay, so today I was playing around with one of my sarees (I've decided that practice makes perfect, so I need to keep on practicing till I can wear a saree properly with my eyes closed!) and decided to get a pic taken wearing one of the most amazing finds and purchases as of late from Etsy. I bought two amazing southache pendants from Cielo Design by Miriam Shimon, and since you can't really see it too well in the above photo here's another one so you can go all "aaaah, oooohhh" on it!

Ain't it gorgeous? It's got the desi vibe, but not being your typical Indian thing, so wearing it with a saree gives the whole attire a very "me" feel!

Wearing Hanmade Wednesday: Toriska Bags!!





Well, now that was a longer break than I was even expecting! I haven't blogged since last year, and we're on February already!

 

 

I had to switch from Chrome to IE cause my Chrome has been superbly annoying and kept on freezing on me, and then I had another trip to Delhi, so it was clearly a lot of circumstance involved on how lazy I've been about the blog, but the motivation has been low too.

 

 

Now I'm back from my trip, and today has been recovery day and unpacking day, thankfully I decided to have a day off inbetween my landing and my first day back at work. Which was a great idea, cause I landed so tired! Going back to work today and hoping it won't be horribly busy!

 

 

I decided to go back to blogging today itself, and try this time to stay motivated and blog more often, and not disappear for months on end again! So here is this week's Wearing Handmade Wednesday!

 

 

I was looking for some nice clutches with an ethnic look that would match my Desi (hindi for Indian) clothes, both sarees and salwar kameez (also know as suits or kurta pajamas, aka tunic top and legging-like pants) and I stumbled into this amazing shop called Toriska Bags in Etsy!

 

 

I found the perfect red ethnic clutch I was looking for, and Tori, the owner of Toriska was very nice during the whole transaction, and once I took a good look at her shop, I knew I'd get more clutches from her, which was promptly reinforced as I got my clutch in the mail, really amazing! And so, my collection has grown, and I'm now the proud owner of three Toriska bags!



 

 

 

 

Here you can see me wearing a suit for the wedding of a neighbor of the society where G lives and you can see how amazing my Toriska bag looks with it!

And here you can see me wearing a saree for the wedding of one of G's cousins and with my gold & black matching & contrasting Toriska bag!

 



The Big Fat Indian Wedding.

But not mine!

During my latest trip to India I was told shortly upon arrival, that we were to attend an Indian wedding - "Whaaat?!"- was my instant reaction, thinking that I had no sort of wedding-like clothes in my suitcase, nor shoes, bag... nothing that could be taken to a wedding, even less an Indian wedding!

My sis-in-law was quite pleased at that, cause it meant taking me shopping for Indian garb, shoes and jewellry, and I can assure you that's something she DOES love!

After our trip to Goa, she decided to take us shopping to one of the malls with the biggest selection of Indian formal clothing shops. We agreed that a saree would not be the best idea, since we didn't have enough time to get it fitted or fixed if it was a ready-made one (which means it has hooks and buttons to help someone like me wear it, cause wearing a saree properly is quite an art in itself!) so we'd go for a suit (kurta & pajama pants). I must say I like shopping, but going from shop to shop, looking and trying stuff on... I have a limited amount of endurance for that, so after three shops I was ready to quit and run... I had liked a suit that had a vest alongside the kurta & pants for the Sangeet or wedding, but Dee decided that we need to look at another shop, where luckily I found a gorgeous black & golden suit that was ideal for the wedding! So after trying it on, I said enough - we'll buy this for the wedding, and the other for the Sangeet and please can we go home now?

And I still had to buy the jewellry and the shoes... which meant another trip to another mall, and visiting another bunch of shops till I could convince Dee that I liked that and that, and I was done! I don't have a problem with window shopping for a while, but when I've found something I like and which price isn't bad, I don't want to go on looking.

Since everything I got for the wedding was store-bought and not handmade, I at least managed to get handmade in there with my make up, from two brands I've found on Etsy: Glittersniffer Cosmetics and Pink Quartz Minerals.

On the day before the wedding there was this traditional celebration called the Sangeet, where the family of the bride or the groom get together, and there are stories and jokes, and dancing and food, and mendhi (henna tattoo) for the women that wants to get it. I was dressed quite formally (for my taste) and thankfully not only Dee was too, but when we arrived there, I most of the rest of the women were too. Gaurav got to dress in shirt and jeans (lucky bugger) and were playing un-official photographer all evening (I'm sure a lot of his shots were better than the ones taken by the "official" one).

I decided to get the mendhi done on my hands (making sure it wouldn't stick out of the area covered my the gloves at work) and wow, it takes some talent to be able to draw all those lovely shapes! The bigger part of the mendhi goes in the palms of the hands, and just a lil in the back. It's quite a laborious process in itself, and once it's applied you have to let it dry for an hour, then apply lemon juice and wait for another two hours before removing it (I ended up using a butter knife to scrap it off) and not wash it with water till the next morning so it'll have a pretty dark orange colour and will last longer. Letting it dry for two hours meant that I couldn't touch anything, so I got lucky and got Gaurav to feed me dinner! ;-)

The day of the wedding I went to the beauty parlour to get a manicure & pedicure and to get my hair straightned (a wedding seems an appropiate excuse to pamper oneself). One of the surprising things for me about India is the amount of people employed doing things, I'll illustrate my point with an example: not only I got one guy doing my pedicure and another doing the manicure at the same time, but there was a guy just to wash my hair, and another holding the hair-dryer while I was getting my hair straighted by the hairdresser, again a guy.

As with the Sangeet, I did my own make-up, and I must say I'm quite proud that I got the handle of the mineral make-up, and did quite a good job with my make up for both the wedding and the sangeet, using PQM foundation and translucent veil, and eye shadows, and Glittersniffer's eye shadows.

After all the make-up, dressing up, and mainly the straight hair, I was looking rather different to the way I usually do, so much that my bro-in-law did a pair of double-takes while we were still at the house! So yeah, different indeed! So much that we decided to play a lil trick on Gaurav's parents, and see if they recognized me!

When we arrived at the hotel the wedding was held at, we joined the Barat (which is some sort of a procession where the groom on a horse wearing a pink turban, is precedeed by a band and his family members dancing) since we were invited on the groom's side (which was the brother of the wife of the elder brother of Ravi, Gaurav's brother in law, confusing yet?).

After a bit of dancing, of me trying to avoid being in the thick of things, Gaurav taking pics all around, the Barat got to the entry of the place where the wedding was taking place, the males of both families interchanged gifts, they then let the groom enter and is welcomed by the family of the bride, and then the whole family enters the place.

Here things can be slighty different depending on the time of the day (or night) the actual ceremony is taking place, since astrologers after some sort of calculations decide which days and at which hours is lucky to get married, so if the lucky time is 1 am, you have the party, the picture taking and the dinner before the religious ceremony, and if it's like 5 pm, you first have the ceremony, and then the food, the pictures and the party...

Once the groom and the family is inside the place, there are aperitifs served, and drinks, and there's chatting till the bride enters the room (in this case escorted by the females in his family, Gaurav says that the most traditional way is having her under a parasol carried by 4 of her brothers (family or as close as brothers). The bride was covered head to toe in a gorgeous saree and loads of jewellry all over, so much it was difficult for her to walk, and I can't imagine how hard it must have been for her to actually dance and have dinner!

Once they're both together there comes the time of the picture taking and gift giving... and that MUST be soooo terribly tedious, since they take pictures with everyone that has come to the wedding, whether they know them or not, and in 300 people, you're bound to NOT know a bunch of people (do you think 300 people is a lot? well, I was told this was a very small event, Dee & Ravi's wedding had more than 700 people, yeah, right, that is so NOT for me!).

While they take pictures the rest of the people is either dancing or eating at the buffet, and we were keeping an eye for Gaurav's parents so we could play our lil trick on them, we'd pretend I was a friend of Ravi's niece, and it worked! Gaurav's mom did a double-take and was soooo surprised to see me so changed! And so was Gaurav's dad. Both agreed that I was looking gorgeous and very Indian!

After the photo taking, dinner-eating and dancing, came the time to attend the proper ceremony, but we didn't stay through it all, cause it was nearing 2 am, and the next day we were leaving for the Sariska preserve to see big kitties!

My opinion on Indian weddings? They're gorgeous to look at, just as long as it's not my own!