Dialogue with Wood

Vincent Roy creates conversation starters influenced by Scandinavian design.

Designer Vincent Roy from Paris has a new initiative that will make you want to splurge a bit. Wood’n Design along with partner Bidisha Samantaray, a designer herself who also runs her own line of clothing at LivingArt Lifestyles, features furniture made from recycled wood. The chairs and coffee tables draws inspiration from the 50s and 60s and from Scandinavian designs.

Roy learnt his craft in Paris from CFA De la Bonne Graine, and specialized in interior furnishing and decor. He came to India in 2008 to work with Patrick Laffourcade, a famous Cabinet Maker who restored the church Notre- Dame des Anges in Pondicherry. Later, in Australia he specialized in chair design, before spending six months in Cambodia, training a local team in interior furnishing. Now with Wood’n Design Roy hopes to bring all that he has learnt to the south. “East Asian, Indian and European cultures inspire me. And Scandinavian architecture is very light and minimal,” explains the designer who hopes to revive the Scandinavian influence on Indian furniture. “I use old beams from Tamil houses. The wood is almost 80 to 200 years old most of the time. It is dry and stable and very good for furniture and for exports,” he adds.

Taking into account the needs and requirements of the clients before creating contemporary furniture, Roy says one of his first project was furnishing Café des Artistes in Pondicherry. While the workshop is located by the Bodhi beach on Old Pattinam Road, all his products can be found in the LivingArt store in Pondicherry.

Coffee tables are priced from Rs 5,000 onwards. Details: vincent@woodndesign.in +919600820715

15 and Counting..

Pondicherry has added yet another Kashmiri store to its map, and here’s why you might want to pay a visit

Pondicherry has always been home to artists, designers and those with an aesthetic and utilitarian perspective. Their stores are unusual as are their products. So what does a Kashmiri store have to add to this cultural cauldron? With the French quarter already featuring more than 15 Kashmiri stores, Elegance on Labourdonnais Street is the latest, having launched last October. Featuring handicrafts, antiques, paper products, artwork and jewellery sourced from Kashmir to Uttar Pradesh and other states in the North, the store has been set up by Nawaz Khan and Gr Wali.

“We also retail and export hand-knotted carpets and shawls made of pashmina and silk.” The sherwani collection, made from raw silk, has Kashmiri embroidery, zari and silk thread, and there is a striking jewellery line in silver and gold. The idea is to promote handmade products and craftsmen across the country. Details: elegancepondy@aol.com

The Others

Kashmir Crafts, Ambour Salai, specializes in pashmina shawls. There are also pure wool shawl or raffal, with different counts of yarn – 40, 60, 80 etc. Woolen shawls mixed with pashmina are available for Rs.800 and are popular. Details: 04132338443

Ali Baba, another Kashmiri store, is known for silver jewellery, gems, shawls, pashmina, bed covers, and bronze statues. Pricing from Rs.500. Details: 9500319876

Other popular Kashmiri shops include Boutique de Kashmir and Indian Boutique, both famous with tourists and for their ethnic statues and silver jewellery.

 

The Design Company

Impprintz, a graphic design studio in Pondicherry, believes in building brands and promoting locals..

For a lot of locals in Pondicherry, Impprintz is the place to head to for creative solutions. The studio is set up on Compagnie Street by Rahul Sureka, The graphic design company believes in being ethical, aesthetic and relevant about their approach.

Impprintz works with young enthusiastic entrepreneurs and budding creative projects. You can see the stamp of Impprintz everywhere, from the CITYDIRECT Magazine to café signboards. Rahul has taken a unique journey before establishing Impprintz – he graduated from Symbiosis Institute of Design,Pune, and worked in collaboration with various setups in Mumbai. As for choosing Pondicherry as his base, he says, “First of all, Pondicherry is home and wherever I have travelled, I have always been treated in a special and unique way because I am from here. So I thought to myself that there surely is something special about this place.” Insisting that Pondicherry has so much potential despite its size, the small studio specializes in print design. As the name suggests, they like to ”keep projects innovative right from conception to production.”

From T-shirts to interiors

Impprintz caters to the requirements of boutiques like LivingArt Lifestyles, Flavors in Colors , hotels like The Richmond, Qualithé , cafés like Choco-là, Bonbakes, Krazy Kanto’s, products like Neelamayil publications, NGOs like LFA, Pathway to Potential, Atma Vichara, E4A and corporate firms like Krishna Enterprises. Their first clients were Choco-Là, the chocolate shop in Pondicherry; LivingArt, an ethnic, bohemian lifestyle brand and CityDirect, a monthly digest guide to Pondicherry. They have designed T-shirts for Fat Fakir (Chandigarh) and CD cover-art for Paper Plane by Prosody (Pune), a blues rock band. An in-house creative outburst, Impprintz has Flints, featuring funky graphic and hand made products. Their line of paper stationery includes ‘Digitalkong’ an urban monkey, and there’s more coming up. Rahul believes that a lot of talented artists and designers who visit or live in Pondicherry go unnoticed. He anticipates to partner with these artists and thus Voilà was initiated by the studio, Pondicherry’s art initiative, where all artists are welcome to integrate and share their unique expressions.

Making of a Brand

With a strong belief in collaborative, and co-creative works, the team at Impprintz builds up based on project requirements. From illustrations, graphics, space to video and sound there are floating specialists that plug in on a project basis. The team’s dream is to help a company start from scratch and look into branding, press release, brochures, stationary and advertisement. They are already working on such a project – the Conscious Living Store in Mysore.

Details: mail@impprintz.in 9323880989

The Tribal Beat

Intr­­­­oducing Habitart, a new concept Boutique on SV Patel Street with objets d’art handicrafts and jewellery.

Aiming to inspire creativity among individuals, Habitart, a boutique for art and handicrafts on SV Patel Street, was conceived by a senior IT professional Rupa last month. She envisioned Habitart as a place where individuals can connect with the inner creative self. The idea slowly grew into a compelling passion and with support from close friends and relatives, she was ready to realise the vision for Habitart.

Take India home

Each piece here has been hand-picked to create an ensemble of ethnic, tribal and contemporary offerings. “The main contributors to Habitart are from remote Indian villages in West Bengal and Orissa,” explains Rupa. Habitart also stocks selected products from Auroville brands like Rangoli, Merveille, Imagination and Miniature. Thus one can find traditional art forms in the hand carved stone sculptures, distinctive dokhra crafts, folk paintings, tribal jewellery, silver filigree, hand embroidered rugs and stoles, cane and bamboo crafts, along with contemporary wood carvings, abstract statuettes made from stone plaster, silk and cotton bags, modern lampshades and an elegant line of apparel and accessories for women. The boutique also has an exclusive collection of tribal jewellery, silk and embroidered bags, “currently, we have a small section of garments for women,” states Rupa and adds that they will be expanding to cater to men and kids. It will be a fusion of ethnic and contemporary trends keeping in line the character of Habitart.

Body and Soul

Habitart is a place to appreciate objects d’art with a cup of green tea and healthy hors d’ouvres. To provide an atmosphere of serenity for the artistically-inclined, there is a Tea Bar called Food Habit with a variety of snacks and beverages. These include freshly made sandwiches (with Pineapple Feta and a vegetarian yogurt sandwich) and interesting fruit-based mocktails. “We also retail exclusive variants of green tea and white tea – the flavours including raspberry, jasmine, chamomile, apricot calendula and strawberry among others,” she adds. The mocktails here are a must: the green temptation is mix of green apple and mint while sizzling ice is a coconut and chilly fusion. My pick? The fresh orange juice mixed with honey- it was perfectly rejuvenating on the hot summer afternoon.

Habitart although only a month old, has already achieved admirers from abroad and other parts of India, besides the local who have a taste for art and health food habits.

Snacks for two priced at Rs. 250, Handicrafts start from Rs. 50. Details: 0413-2220519

Into the Deep

With the diving season kicking off this month, Temple Adventures Scuba Diving in Pondicherry offers lessons and a fantastic view of underwater marine life

You needn’t head to exotic locales as far as The Great Barrier Reef or even closer home, like Goa and Andaman, for a spot of sea diving. If you’re a fan of breathtaking sea creatures, that’s even better, because Temple Adventures, India’s only diving centre on the East Coast, offers an unusual experience. From traditional man-made “reefs” and untouched coral reefs, apart from a host of interesting marine life (think moray eels, manta rays, groupers, barracuda, batfish, bannerfish, sea snakes and crustaceans), the outfit promise to take you through amazing diving sites in the area.

In the beginning

Started in 2007, the outfit was one of a kind as it is the only outfit which promotes these activities. Temple Adventures is associated with The Professional Association of Diving Instructors(PADI), the world’s largest recreational diving membership and diver training organisation. It was founded in 1966 in California and now they have more than 5000 dive centers and resorts in more than 180 countries and territories.We met up with Rob Patridge, one of the partners of Temple Adventures who explained the initiative behind the school. Rob grew up in Australia, where he learnt diving and surfing with his father in Sydney Harbour and so the interest grew in him. On asking him why he has chosen India and Pondicherry as the place to set up operations, Rob explains, “I wanted to offer something to a coastline that has never been done before. To make available some fantastic experiences for the Indian population. Why dive where everything is already discovered, and many, many dive centres are already established? In Pondicherry everyday is a new experience, adventure and offers new, never before seen, amazing scuba diving sites to explore.” He rates Pondicherry as one of the top diving sites in India.

Rob’s dream

Rob is trying to promote diving in India, because he believes that the Indians have a traditional notion that the sea is bad and evil, which is something he wishes to change. He points out that this notion is changing and people are beginning to think and beout of the box and taking the first step of diving for a day (where one goes scuba diving underwater with an instructor, looks at some fish, clicks a few photos and comes up).

What you get

Diving sites include 4 corners, Groupers Gorge, Ravines, Shark Reef, The Hole and Aravind’s Wall, where divers get to see a variety of marine life. In 4 corners, you can find dolphins in groups of three to 50, while Grouper’s Gorge is a great place to seebarracudas, batfish and Eagle rays. Rob says that March – April and October – November, are the best months to scuba dive. “It is a very safe sport,” states Partridge. It is proven that scuba diving is about 1000 times safer than driving a car. Rob imports internationally branded good quality dive equipments, “as none of the equipment (surfboards, diving masks, regulators, etc…) has been made in India… everything is imported. Maybe in some years, it will be possible to find equipment here, with the opening of more centres and with the rise in ocean awareness.” And awareness is rising. Rob says that every year about 3 times as many people try diving with him as the past year. “We have a great local club that dives regualrly, but most clients are from cities like Bangalore, Chennai, Coimbatore, Hyderabad, and even as far as Mumbai and Delhi. People travel to dive!” Partridge states. “It is so much fun, and new to this area that everyone wants to try!” 

For beginners

Temple Adventures currently host an introduction to diving, swimming and snorkeling at several resorts, so if you are staying at one, they are happy to come to you for a training session. Apart from taking qualified divers for an underwater tour of sea scapes, they also offer a range of PADI diving courses for beginners to experts.

What next?

“The Pondicherry government has been encouraging us and giving support all through the years”, offers Partridge, adding that he wants the government to start taking more and more of initiatives and want them to create artificial reef which will help the environment, fishing stocks and revenue, and can also be converted to a marine park to help our future generations.

On the side & Scuba Gear

Temple Adventures also organise boat trips for family or friends. Other activities which can be arranged include wakeboarding, hand boarding, body surfing, frisbee flying disk, Djembe lessons, fishing, motorbike tours, hacky sack, beach cricket, beach tennis, touch footy, camp outs and more. On offer are the latest Scuba diving equipment including masks, snorkels, wetsuits, fins, boots, regulators, bcds and more. A mask is 3300, while a snorkel is 1450. Also available are a range of other water sports equipments like surfboards, bodyboards, lifejackets, and more. A profile short wetsuit will cost you about Rs 5,400, while jet fins are at Rs 7,300

Details: templeadventures.com +91 9940219449

Do the Watsu

Based on the principles of Zen Shiatsu, teaching workshops and courses in Auroville celebrate the life aquatic

If you take like fish to water, how about considering an alternative career, which involves spending all your time in a pool? We’re talking about Watsu, a form of aquatic bodywork that is offered in many health centres, wellness spas, and aquatic physiotherapy programs around the world. Luckily, you needn’t go very far if you wish to learn the therapy. Auroville plays host to one of the only centre in the country (apart from Goa), where you can learn to practise the technique and specialise in it.

The bigger picture

The Watsu India, Institute for Aquatic Bodywork, an association of internationally recognised teachers and certified practitioners, was launched over a decade ago in the French quarter. In collaboration with the Worldwide Aquatic Bodywork Association (WABA), Watsu India offers a complete professional training program, recognised by WABA. It aims at training students to create professional therapists/practitioners and spread the benefits of aquatic bodywork in India.

In principle

I caught up with Guy Ryckaert, a practitioner who explains the history behind the therapy. “It began in northern California in the 1980s, Harold Dull, Shiatsu instructor helped people float and applied the stretches and principles of the Zen Shiatsu he had studied in Japan,” he tells me. Performed in warm water (around 35°C), this exercise combines physical benefits of massage, joint mobilisation, muscle stretching, and energy. “Also, you gain the emotional benefits derived from being held, cradled, rocked, supported while floating, and gently stretched. Warm water is profoundly relaxing for clients, making them particularly receptive to healing on multiple levels,” he says.

Designed for mums

Watsu is increasingly recommended to aid recovery from injury, relieve muscular or joint pain, encourage movement and flexibility, treat a variety of illnesses, curb depression, and provide deep relaxation. While it works for clients of all age groups, backgrounds and fitness levels, Ryckaert says it especially helps new and expecting mothers, infants, toddlers, the elderly, physically disabled or chronically ill.

Join the club

Watsu India provides a professional learning programme with qualified teachers from India and abroad. Courses and workshops are organised each year at the Quiet Healing Center (www.quiethealingcenter.info), Auroville, and, more recently, at Magic Water in Dune Eco-Village (www.thedunehotel.com). Indian and foreign students, mainly from Europe, attend the courses as well as a number of Auroville residents, aged from 20 to 70 years.

Soul benefits

“Aquatic bodywork frees the body, heart, mind, and soul in ways not possible on land”, says Ryckaert. Besides relaxing the muscles, the warm water supports the spine, allowing it to be manipulated in an unprecedented way. Instead of depending on a table or other physical tools, water frees the body to work out restrictions by cycling between moments of stillness and rhythmic flowing. The way the practitioner holds the recipient—level to the heart, rising and sinking to the same breath—brings a new level of connection and trust.

Details: http://www.watsu.in

Suite deal at Shanti

From luxury suites to a new garden restaurant, at the French colonial hotel on Suffren Street

When I first featured Villa Shanti on Suffren Street, I was charmed by the delightful mix of colonial trappings and South Indian feel. Now the four-month-old 19th century house turned hotel, is in the spotlight again for they have just launched three luxury rooms, and a garden restaurant.

General Manager Joy Mallya Gupta tells me that the rooms have been designed by Tina Trigala, a French architect. French windows and doors with decorative motifs depict traditional South Indian scenes, a treat to the senses. How would it look if a typical colonial French house had graffiti on the wall, saying “Vannkkam” (welcome, in Tamil) Well, this is exactly what the heritage hotel offers in the rooms which are simple, yet elegant. Some of the furniture, like starting from the bed to the armchair and study table are colonial French pieces which have been restored. 

But the building also reflects a Karaikudi architecture, which manages to blend in with the rooms. Joy Gupta has added handmade tiles to the walls, but the unique windows and architectural detail give each suite individuality. The rooms come with complimenatary WiFi and DVD.

As for the garden restaurant, it’s an ideal setting for an afternoon rendezvous and serves Continental and Indian dishes along with a selection of wine. My pick? The tuna tartare or the grilled barracuda. The wine list features New World offerings from New Zealand and Lebanon and French wines like Best Bordeaux and Loir Valley

Rooms starting at `7,000. Average meal for two at the garden restaurant is `800 without beverages. Details: frontoffice@lavillashanti.com

Marc’s Magic Beans

From experimenting with blends to offering a customised cuppa, Auroville-based Marc Tormo sure knows his coffee

For Marc Tormo, coffee is more than a passing fancy or a morning ritual. For over two decades, the 40 year old from Valencia, Spain has been working on and studying the bean. His passion for coffee began in Barcelona where he had his own coffee shop. He moved to Auroville in 1997 with his wife and a decade later, in August 2008, Marc’s Coffee Brand was launched with the idea of bringing high quality coffee to the table. “There is a coffee for every moment, crafted for each palate,” states Tormo, who believes that the best coffee in the world is the one that appeals to you the most. Thus every brand must ideally dedicate themselves to find an ideal brew for every customer, he says.

Since he moved to Pondicherry, Tormo has been a consultant at hotels, a coffee entrepreneur. He has been a consultant at popular restaurants like Amethyst in Chennai and Le Café in Pondy. He also owns Coffee Ideas, a consulting and coffee roasting unit in Auroville.

4 flavours to go

Tormo has four unique flavours of coffee. The Buma Devi, for instance, which is shade-grown in Coorg, combines the richness and strength of cherry robusta and fragrant arabica, making this blend a unique experience for the Indian palate. “The flavours of our coffees are directly connected with the natural environment where they grow,” he offers, adding that they come from select estates in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. The Kaveri Blend (dedicated to the Goddess Kavery, who manifests in the form of the eponymous river) is made of arabica and robusta beans, while Julien Peak (with a delicate aroma, mild body and fine acidity) is roasted at medium to enhance the fragrance and subtle notes. The fourth is the Malabar Coffee, stored all through the monsoon to give the beans a golden glow.

Fired by a dream

”One day I will roast coffee!” is what Tormo had told himself 15 years ago, and this is what inspired him to study coffee in detail, from the seed to the cup. The Spaniard is also working hard to promote Indian coffee, because he believes that it has lots of unique flavours to offer the world and specially the European countries who get their coffee from either South America or Africa. Tormo himself visits each of these coffee plantations across South India and chooses the coffee carefully, which he later turns into his own blends.

Roasting, an art

According to Tormo, “Roasting is a creative moment. I stand next to my machine and feel the pulse of the drum, the music of the beans rolling, the aromas of baked bread and caramel, the first crack, the second crack and the moment of truth, when I open the door to the cooling plate. Then a silence comes and the creation is made – Marc’s Coffee.” He stresses on the importance of understanding the essence of roasting and compares it to cooking.

Where to buy

Tormo has a small coffee shop in Auroville, which he prefers to call a ‘rural café’ because of the setting. Apart from offering coffee, cookies and cupcakes, he sells coffee powder and beans here. He also does his roasting here so customers can see it for themselves and purchase their choice of blend. The brand is distributed to top hotels in Pondicherry like Promenade, Le Dupleix and Villa Shanti. He also blends a special coffee exclusively for the Neemrana group, and retails via auroville.com

Coffee trail

Torno conducts coffee visits to lesser known plantations in Coorg and Mysore to learn about coffee, with experienced guides. “Coffee Pathways was born out of the need to share our coffee story. While coffee is the theme of the trip, ecology and spirituality are closely connected,” he offers. The package includes coordination and trip management, local guide and driver, breakfast, lunch and dinner and transport.

Buma Devi is priced at `74, Kaveri Blend at `91, Julien Peak at `105. Details: auroville.coffeeideas.in

Soul Benefits

Let Hang Wang from Auroville help you find harmony with the ancient Chinese technique of Chi Kung

There are endless ways to find inner peace in Auroville, what with expats combining both eastern and western techniques at workshops and retreats to arrive at the perfect route map. One person who is said to help you find harmony and well being is Hang Wang, who specialises in Chi Kung. Born in Vietnam, Wang moved to the US in 1980, where he started learning healing at Shiatsu School of California. “There were many personal changes in my life and I did a lot of bodywork and energy healing, along with intense cleansing, fasting, acupuncture, changes in diet and yoga,” he reminisces, adding that it was here that he first became acquainted with Chi Kung, an ancient method of healing. “Life experiences shape our body. And practise of Chi Kung can help improve our health in relieving tension, pain and weakness,” says Wang, adding that healing itself is a spiritual process.

The green signal

Greatly influenced by Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, Wang visited India in 2001 where a spiritual experience reaffirmed that Chi Kung was his calling. It is all about aligning exercise and meditation to with breath and movement. Drawing from Chinese martial arts and philosophy, Wang explains that the essence of the method is Chi. “Chi is the life force which permeates the universe and our being. The essence of practice it to connect with Chi, have a relationship with it and allow it to transform from within,” he says. “Training is a tool for disciplining the mind and focusing our chi,” he adds. He continues that practising Chi Kung helps one strengthen the chakras and evoke Shakti within themselves.

Workshops all year

Calling Auroville his spiritual home, Wang has been travelling across India, conducting workshops, since 2011. In addition to expats, he attracts people from varied professions – musicians, students, entrepreneurs and even retired folk. He has plans to conduct summer workshops in Egypt and Europe. Wang also takes classes in Auroville, in communities like Vérité  and in Swaram. The classe for locals is free and is priced at `200 for the others, per session. Each workshop is priced at `2,100 and the schedule is available at hang-wang.com . Wang also hopes to launch a meditation centre where people can drop in to practise healing and meditation, and is currently looking for sponsors to help him realise this. Details:  7639432970

Let the Waves Roll

The Bay of Life surfing school on East Coast Road promises a summer of easy lessons on surfing and stand up paddling 
With summer just a couple of months away, any activity that involves the sun, sea and fun is always welcome. Which is why Bay of Life surfing school is likely to get more registrations than they can handle. Operating in Muttukadu and Kovalam on the East Coast Road, the school was started in August last year and is the brain child of Madhumathi Ravi, who has an advertising and communications background. Also on the team are Showkath Jamal, an adventure lover and wildlife enthusiast and Krishna Chidambaresh,an engineer and entrepreneur, who have been childhood friends and business partners (they have been running a call center together) for about eight years.

How it began
“It all started when the tsunami struck the coast in 2004 and we got close to the fishermen in Kovalam,” explains Jamal, recalling their rehabilitation efforts. “Later, foreigners came to the area with their surf boards and the sport was picked up by the locals and fishermen. In no time, they became skilled surfers as well. That’s how the sport spread,” he continues. The team then came up with the idea of starting a social enterprise that would also benefit the local communities. The school was started with three skilled trainers Appu, Vicky and Venkat, along with Jamal – surf class inductor and paramedic. Jamal explains that Bay of Life is the first and only surf school in Tamil Nadu to be accredited by the Surfing Federation of India.

When to begin
Bay of Life currently offers surfing and stand up paddling lessons. According to Jamal, beginners can start any time of the year, though the best season for the pros is from February to November. The pro seasons start from the month of March onwards. And for stand up paddling, the going is good all year. “Stand up paddling is one of the fastest growing water sports in the world. It can be  practiced on ocean waves, flat water, rivers, lakes, back waters and even whitewater. It’s a great way to explore water ways. It’s like a big surf board with a paddle to paddle on!” explains Jamal, who took to the sport in 2009. The course modules cover all the elements of surfing and stand up paddling, including classes on ocean safety, reading the currents and and swimming in the ocean. Students are also taught about marine ecology and beach life.

No age bar
Bay of Life provides world class equipment, prescribed by international governing bodies. After a couple of classes, if you want to take your sport to the next level, you are welcome to invest in a a surf board. “Age is not a factor when it comes to learning to surf. We get a lot of people from schools and colleges, as well as corporates who are looking for a healthier, sportier lifestyle,” shares Jamal, adding that he has students from six years to 56.

Mind the course
“Our trainers are currently India’s No 1 and 2 champions at the India Surf Festival 2012- Odisha,” says Jamal. The standard structured lesson is for three hours a day, and they have packages with four and eight lessons. These lessons can be spread across a month or two, or can be taken back to back, depending on the student’s work or academic schedule and interest. They are open to customisation for couples, groups and corporates. Also, Bay of Life is open to sponsoring your training sessions if you are are competing at any SWAT, SFI or ISA level events. Course fees start from `1,500 for an hour-long introduction session (Discover Surf). The First Wave Structured Lesson is `2,500 (3 hours) and the packages range from `7,000 a month.
Details: bayoflife.com