From designer Pallavi Foley's scintillating stories to Zuni Chopra's way with words - your weekend fix

Sunday September 02, 2018 , 4 min Read

Pallavi Foley is the director and lead designer of her eponymous label, Pallavi Foley Boutique Jewels, which she founded in 2011 in Bengaluru. Pallavi tells stories that she has accumulated from her various travels through her jewellery pieces. An avid traveller, Pallavi travels to learn, explore and absorb, but to also find inspiration for her designs. “Travelling to study, travelling for work, travelling with my family on holidays -- all this has satiated my soul in some way or the other and has helped me become who I am today,” says Pallavi.

Pallavi Foley - director and lead designer of Pallavi Foley Boutique

‍Like her books, Zuni Chopra's mind seems to be full of words, fantasies and fictional characters, like talking otters, and houses that speak - yet the clarity in her thought is inspiring. Her last book, written at the age of 14, was “A House that Spoke.” She was the youngest speaker at Jaipur Literary Festival and is the daughter of well-known film critic Anupama Chopra and filmmaker Vidhu Vinod Chopra. We spoke to Zuni Chopra about her new book of poetry and fiction - ‘The Island of the Day Before’ and what goes on in her highly imaginative mind.

Bala Sarda, Founder and CEO, Vahdam Teas, comes with lineage of over 80 years in the tea industry. It was when he was working in the bulk export business of his family that he noticed the huge gaps in the $90 billion tea market. He started VahdamTeas in early 2015 to address these problems and make garden fresh teas available to consumers across the world, direct from source, under a home-grown tea brand by leveraging technology. A tea enthusiast, he dreams of putting an Indian tea brand on the global stage.

Who wouldn’t like to read about food? Especially, if it’s a fun, feisty journey of a working woman who spends all day – and sometimes, most of the night – juggling family, friends, phone calls and food. This chaotic but immensely pleasurable food story is packed with many defining moments, and also questions. How do you convert a carnivore into a lover of greens? How do you keep your family “food happy” without going out of your mind? All this and more, along with recipes to suit every taste and occasion form the premise of Mita Kapur’s The F-Word. An interview with the author.

Everyone must strive for purpose in their lives. This will help them stay focused on the larger picture even as they traipse through the machinations of day-to-day existence. Some people arrive in this world with a clear sense of purpose while others spend numerous hours searching, looking, and contemplating. But purpose doesn’t always have to be cause-based, it can also be something you simply can’t resist doing. A way to find purpose is to tell your own life story with your strengths and weaknesses, values and passions, or, for instance, things you could endlessly do as a child.

Pratima Pandey believes India is a textile country than a fashion-oriented one. This NIFT alumnus and winner of Grazia Young Awards in 2011 in the eco-friendly fashion category loves natural fabrics and indigenous embroidery techniques. The young designer, who just launched her new collection called Leela in Bengaluru, took some time off to chat with YS Weekender. The Delhi-based designer says that it is difficult to distinguish between mail-made fabric and a woven one, but there is a world of difference between them. “We have to know our roots,” she says, by way of explanation. “When you wear a hand-crafted fabric, you will discover that each thread of the garment you are wearing was monitored by the weaver. It is a very humbling experience. These textiles will never lose their charm with time. We, as designers, are trying to educate women about the importance of encouraging the use of handlooms.”