Passage to India Article

My name made it in print again. This time in the American Airlines in flight magazine, American Way. Check it out! It's a very good article on the life of American expats in Bangalore! :) Passage to India

Royal House of Mysore Fashion Show

Palace Bangalore

Last Thursday I attended the Royal House of Mysore Fashion Show at the Palace Bangalore hosted by the Maharaja & Queen of Mysore. There were approximately 800 guests. I was invited through the Overseas Women’s Club. I knew that $20 membership would eventual pay off!!!! It sure was fun hanging out with Bangalore’s cream of the crop. It was a very good mix of foreigners and Bangaloreans. It was pure eye candy; my friend and I enjoyed people watching! I got to wear my sari again!! But it was the same sari that I had worn at another event. I need to expand my collection. A girl can’t wear the same sari twice!!!

Between each collection they had fusion dance and traditional South Indian dance called Bharatanatyam. I enjoyed watching the dance troupe.
My favorite collection was the Royal Mysore collection of sarees, which were extremely beautiful and looked like they cost a fortune.

King Datta Wadiyar and models
The King reminded me of Don King, he had very wild chia pet like hair. Of course he was a typical King, where he didn’t really show any true interest in his guests. He was very aloof but posed in pictures with many of his guests. I even got a picture with him. But as you can see he wasn’t even paying attention to the camera. After the fashion show there was an Indian buffet dinner, which was yummy. It was a great evening.

A little bit of Mysore history: Mysore city was the capital of the old royal Mysore province and was ruled by the Wadiyar Dynasty from 1399AD to 1948AD. During the 1700s Mysore was captured briefly by Tipu Sultan but the kingdowm was returned to the Wadiyars in 1799 by the British. Today Mysore is famous for its silks, sandalwood, the Mysore Royal Palace, Chamundi Hill.

My dream car!!!

Epitome of Love!

Before coming to India, I never thought of visiting the Taj Mahal. It was just one of those things that I've only seen in pictures and read about in world history books. To see the Taj Mahal in person is quite remarkable and hypnotizing. To understand the true beauty, the intricacies of the design and love of the Taj, only one must see it in person. The main entrance of the Taj is approximately 900 ft. away from the monument. As you walk towards the entrance, you can see the white marble structure slowly come into view as you get closer to the main gate. It's an amazing presentation of the marbled beauty and after you enter the gate you can't help but lose your breath at the sight in front of you. I was mesmerized for a while. We just sat there for minutes to take in the scenery. I was actually seeing the Taj in person.

The Taj Mahal was inspired by Mumtaz Mahal the wife of Shah Jahan, King of the Mughal Empire. Mumtaz died during her 14th childbirth and it was then the King decided to build the monument in her honor. It took 20 years and 20,000 workers to build the Taj Mahal. Architects from all over India, Persia and Turkey all came to help build the mausoleum. Both the King and Queen are buried below within the mausoleum. It is located in Agra, Uttar Pradesh and it over looks the Yemuna River.

We walked slowly towards the monument just enjoying it's beauty drawing larger as we come near. This is not a small structure. It is a huge monument that stands 200 ft tall and 150 ft wide. The mausoleum is made out of marble and it sits on a red sandstone platform. The marble walls are carved with floral arabessques and decorated with gemstones and gold inlay. It's near perfect and amazing. I was overcome with feelings deep love and sadness. I felt like I could almost feel the love between the king and queen as I walked around the marbled plinth and investigated the minarets and the scenery around. You are not allowed to wear shoes on the platform. I walked barefoot on the marble and enjoyed the coolness of it under my feet. It was a beautiful day! Very bright and sunny. There wasn't a cloud in the blue sky. It was the perfect day to see the Taj.

Visiting Taj Mahal for the first time in Agra. What a BEAUTIFUL structure!