I had always been fascinated with a fireplace, since childhood. Maybe reading too much English classics does that to you. Fire crackling on a dreary day, book in one hand and hot chocolate in another, cooped up in a chalet....I hope you get my point. I used to visualise myself in that scenario. Growing up, I always dreamt of having a fireplace at home. While I have experienced several working ones while vacationing in the Himalayas and then in European towns later on, it's not feasible in normal homes, unless you build one yourself, with a chimney.

Long story short, I decided to build a faux mantle once we bought our apartment, 8 years back. It was a big hassle back then, with the husband and my parents discouraging me, but it has been our best decor investment. 

Over the years, there have been a lot of permutations and combinations in decorating it. I would love to dig up some old photos to show how different it was back then, with a patterned brick wall behind it, but I got the bricks painted white back in 2022, when we did our marathon home renovation. I like it this way more, because it provides a clean backdrop and the rest items can stand out.

Our mantle serves as a decor backdrop for every celebration..I love setting up the Christmas Tree beside it, and hang stockings on the mantle. Last year, I fell for the viral bow garland trend. It might look over cluttered for many, but it felt very festive to me.

I love to decorate it all over during birthday parties. Be it balloons or ornaments or banners, it surely does the job. Our faux mantle is the first talking point of every guest who walks into our home.

It was one of my creative goals of 2025 to give it a facelift. While I am far from it, I have managed to make it to my liking on my budget.

If money wasn't a factor, I would love to get a real LED fireplace to fit here. The dimensions we require goes for 50 k INR plus  and I am not in a place to spend that much right now. So I settled for a big picture of fire. I am unsure how I am going to look at it during Delhi summers. So far, it's been cozy!

I also learnt that proportions are everything. I have been looking for a huge branch that would sit perfectly on the mantle piece. Till then, my plants are doing the job.

Earlier we had a big mirror, but then I swapped it with our family picture. Again, I tried playing with proportions.

I love plants and I guess that's very apparent. I adore how much warmth they infuse to a place. And of course lamps. Tonnes and tonnes of them. My husband gets irritated by the number of bulbs he has to swap on a regular basis. Anyways, plants, lamps and rugs bring a place together according to me. 

Home decor is purely a personal choice. You need to feel content in the place you live. It can be a pristine minimalistic area or a cluttered maximalist home, choose whatever makes you happy.

Decorating my home is one of my greatest passions. Are you a decor person? Are you a minimalist or a maximalist?

Do you love Holi? Well I definitely do; but with T n Cs of course! I can't declare hands down that I can/want to play Holi anywhere! As much as I love it, I am sort of scared too. I can play only with my small bubble of known people, even that doesn't guarantee that I will leave the grounds with a smiling face. Having spent my early childhood in Mathura, the birthplace of Lord Krishna and hence the hub of Holi, I have heard of really scary things. The Holi of Barsana (Mathura district) is something that is on every adventure junkie's list but has eluded my checklist forever. 

Holi is such an awaited fun festival. Although every year it gets me thinking about the same thing: is it a boon or bane? "Bura na Mano Holi Hai" is exploited in a very weird manner. Someone rubbing colours badly in the face (eventually getting into the eyes) : Bura na Mano Holi hai. Someone dashing into a neighbour's house early in the morning, ambushing with colours, eventually destroying the house, Bura na Mano Holi hai. Molesting someone in the name of Holi is so common amongst youngsters. This year, I particularly witnessed multiple incidents while on my regular walk in the park. I usually take a stroll in the green belt near my society, which is (not unexpectedly) a lover's paradise. To make things clear, I have never made out with my boyfriend in any park for that matter 😂😂😂 (maybe because my boyfriend married me too quickly?) but I can definitely relate with youngsters and their raging hormones, and the desire to whisper sweet nothings in a seemingly secluded place.

 The way the boys were smearing colours on the girls' faces and necks (and upper part of chest) made me shudder with fear. On the contrary, those young females seemed to be enjoying. Maybe I overthink because I am too old. But the girl mom in me can't unsee this kind of behaviour. My daughters would be in such kind of environment after a few years and this would be the last thing that I would want for them.

Holi is often notorious for being an ocassion for eve teasing and for drunken driving and vandalism too. My husband gets a ton of fracture cases during festivals, and the highest number seems to be on Holi. It's a straight statistic. 

My kids loveee Holi. It has become an annual ritual with their grandpa, going to buy the latest type of pichkari with colours and accessories of their choice. Of course they are in this tiny privileged bubble, where Holi means throwing colours at their society friends, while munching on piping pakodas, followed by a delicious comfort lunch with the community. Or attending our Holi parties thrown by the medical fraternity. Their bubble will soon burst, as soon as they leave their nests and realise that this festival of colours can turn really ugly.

What I absolutely adore about this festival is the exchange of gujiyas and colours and meeting old friends after a long time. However this spring celebration, which started with a noble intention has transformed into a commercial bonanza as well as a health hazard (both mental and physical).

I am a very optimistic person but a realist. So I am often brooding on these things. Hopefully, our kids (the privileged ones as well as the not so privileged ones) never have to see the ugly side of this festival. Let this remain their favourite celebration (as they say now) forever, without any TnCs. And even if something minor happens, let them have the courage to go past it because Bura na Mano, Holi hai!!

Do you love Holi? Or do you have any clauses attached?

As promised in my previous post, here is a list of handpicked movies that I really loved, which I had gotten through in the previous two months. I have watched more, but they were insignificant. 

1. Where the crawdads sing:

This movie is based on a best selling novel by the same name. This is a very different kind of a murder mystery ; although it has all the elements of a masala movie: suspense, romance and drama. An abandoned girl in North Carolina, who's had been thriving by herself throughout 2 decades and is truly a marsh girl is charged with the murder of a popular guy of the town. The way the story unfolds is truly fascinating and the movie is beautifully made. Released in 2022, right now it's streaming in Netflix. I love movies that forces me to ponder for days after watching.

2. Frida

What a mind boggling movie! If you haven't watched it yet, you need to, even real life/dark dramas are your jam. This movie came out in 2002, and received 6 Academy Award nominations, including Best Actress for Salma Hayek. 

This is based on the real life of the famous controversial Mexican artist Frida Kahlo', who had a short (47 years) but an incredibly eventful life. Her life (and the movie) belongs to the Communist era and I went down the rabbit hole of her life, after watching the movie. I watched it in various parts, when my kids were not around, as there are graphic s*x, n*dity and gore scenes. This movie has got everything, and you won't be able to brood over it, after it gets over.

3. It ends with us:

Of course this movie doesn't need an introduction. Based on the international bestseller by the same name by Coleen Hoover, this is a fantastic adaptation, although true bibliophiles would stay loyal to the book.

This movie has been fantastically made (of course, strong storyline) and Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni are on fire; in literal sense! In case you missed it, Blake had sued her co star and director of this film, Justin, for a myriads of reasons. The only cause why we should be bothered about this is that there won't be a scope of sequel (It starts with us) or at least not with the same cast. It's a pure masala movie yet it's deeply emotional and deals with domestic violence. This came out in the later half of 2024, I got to watch it in January.

4. Find me falling

This might be a cookie cutter movie for some, but I liked it. Exotic locations fascinate me and I am all for movies that revolve around middle or slightly elderly age. Because unlike Bollywood, romance is not just restricted to the salad days.

A famous rockstar from US relocates to Cyprus because he's fleeting from real life and wants a new start. What happens on that tiny Cypriot island is really sweet and lovely. You can watch it on Netflix.

5. Book Club: The next chapter

This is the sequel to the 2018 movie Book Club. The star cast is to die for; with all the elegant veterans thrown together. Read Diane Keaton, Jane Fonda, Candice Bergen and Mary Steenburgen. The men aren't too bad either 😂 These 4 "girls" go on a bachelorette trip to Italy and have one hell of a ride. It's a fun movie with undertones of how precious life is and that we should cherish every moment. And I never complained about the backdrop of various cities of Italia!

What all movies (old and new) have you watched that are available on OTT? Recommendations are welcome whole heartedly!