Author: Roots & Leisure

Shoe Designer – Kaka Sumi, Tells us the Story Behind his New Collection

Published by Roots & Leisure

The discovery of an artist is undeniably a fulfilling and enriching journey. Each artist possesses a unique and captivating story that adds depth and significance to their art. While the craft itself may not be entirely novel, it is the artist’s personal journey that imbues their work with distinctiveness. Therefore, it is always enthralling to delve into their world and share their narratives. Recently, we had the pleasure of meeting Kaka Sumi, an exceptional shoe designer hailing from Nagaland. Kaka has just unveiled his latest collection of men’s sandals, now available at Roots & Leisure Marketplace (see details below). During our conversation, we explored Kaka’s unwavering passion for shoes and delved into the inspirations behind his new collection. R&L: Hi Kaka! We love what you are wearing – especially your sandals! Tell us a little bit about yourself.  Kaka: Hey thank you! These are Kaka Sumi sandals 🙂 So glad to be having this conversation with the R&L team. Ok as an introduction, I am a 28-year-old shoe designer who has had a lifelong obsession …

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Meet Suki and Yim – The Two 11-Year-Olds Behind the Book ‘Suki’s Magic Box’

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  Don’t we all agree that technology has redefined the way children spend their time these days? Most of their free time is spent playing video games, surfing the internet, watching videos on their smart phones, iPads, or chatting with their friends on Whatsapp/social media. It is hard to even imagine kids doing anything ‘old fashioned’. So it was a pleasant surprise when we met two 11-year-old girls from Nagaland, who have recently launched a book called ‘Suki’s Magic Box’. The book serves as a graphic narrative inside a ten-year-old’s mind (that’s what they told us!). So let’s have a chat with these talented girls behind the book –  to understand what the book is all about, and more! Meet Sochumlo Suki Ezung, who is the author of the book ‘Suki’s Magic Box’. “I just turned 11, and I love writing; it has been my hobby since I was 7 years old. Suki’s Magic Box is not an ordinary book. It’s a book that talks about the fantasies that play out because of the imaginative power of …

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Explore the Himalayas with Ashish Juyal | Founder of Incredible Outdoors

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Thoreau once said, “Wealth is the ability to fully experience life.” What good is all the month-end rejoicing for a salary if you haven’t lived a little? Fortunately, there are some people among us who are living an adventurous life full of no regrets. They stand tall as inspirations. Roots & Leisure loves bringing to you their stories in the hope that they change your weekend plans for the better. So, say hi to Ashish Juyal, 28, who is a full-time traveler, trekker and biker, and permanently living in the Himalayas. Ashish is from a small town called Satpuli, in the state of Uttarakhand, but is currently living in Rishikesh, in the Himalayas. He loves traveling on his bike, trekking and meeting new people. He is into photography as well and loves capturing the beautiful landscapes and life of the people living in the Himalayas through his lens. He is also the founder of a travel and tour company called Incredible Outdoors that offers educational, camping, rafting and adventurous biking, motorcycle tours in the Himalayas, Rishikesh …

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Spilling Intricate Poetry on Paper : Tialila Kikon on her new release ‘Paper Cranes’.

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“There’s nothing more rare, more precious than a heart that can appreciate and uplift another” – Tialila Poetries are unstoppable gateways to innumerous human emotions and feelings that otherwise don’t find an outlet within us. These spontaneous creations go on to hold even more importance when they stand to represent a collective cause. One such important Indian contemporary poet, is Tialila Kikon. Kikon’s work picks up twigs of life, love, hope and humanity, and builds simple yet sanguine poetry with them. Her poems were published in ‘Feminist Voices Across Cultures: A Poetry Anthology‘ and some of her Tanka poems appeared in ‘Winter Writes: Poems, Stories & Sagas’. She also has a Kindle eBook published by the Whitesboro Group of Writers, New York. Her poems ‘Indeed’ and ‘Children of Conflict’ were selected among 300 other poems submitted by poets from around the world and displayed at the Moberly Arts and Cultural Centre, Vancouver, Canada on 12th March 2016 at the WIN-UNESCO World Poetry Month Celebration on the theme of Love and World Peace. In this short …

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Meet the Man behind the Hottest Food Venture in Nagaland | Fat Fryday and Fit Fryday

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  The food culture in Nagaland is becoming pretty progressive, as a growing tribe of young people are experimenting with various world cuisines and mixing it artfully with the local taste palate. The consumers are participating with equal zest by eating out more often; this is definitely a shift away from the earlier norm, where meals were generally had only at home or at a friend’s/relative’s place. As a result of all these, plenty of food ventures are sprouting in this part of the country with some really innovative themes. One such venture that we would like to talk about today is the one started by Pur Longkumer from Nagaland. It’s an interesting home based cloud kitchen serving two categories of food : Yummy comfort food under ‘Fat Fryday’ and yummy healthy food under ‘Fit Fryday.’ R&L caught up with Pur to learn more about them. Tell us a little bit about yourself. What was the first step you took to finally start this venture? I graduated in hospitality and tourism management from Queen Margaret University in Singapore …

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Baking Bread for the Soul | Meet the Lovely Duo Behind Flour Flour Bakery in Chiang Mai

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When we got introduced to Dontree Siribunjongsak, 27 and his girlfriend Namfon Udomlertlak, 29 through a friend, we were immediately drawn to their story about their obsession with baking – and their luscious breads. Less than a year ago, they started a bakery called ‘Flour Flour’ after calling it quits from their boring jobs; and by the looks of it, their passion venture has definitely taken wings in the right direction. Let’s meet the lovely duo behind ‘Flour Flour’ bakery in Chiang Mai, Thailand, who has turned baking bread into an experience of creating art – and now a dream venture. Hi Dontree, we are absolutely in love with your handmade bread! What’s so special about ‘Flour Flour’? Flour Flour is a bakery that attempts to create homely handmade bake stuff using local ingredients. Our aim is to make artisan bread [bread that is hand-crafted and not mass produced] of superior quality. We use natural fermentation technique to make our breads.What we make depends a lot on our mood or rather, what we want to eat on a …

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Celebrating Women Entrepreneurs | Temsusenla Kichu – Owner of Fusion Store Nagaland

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When was the last time you got inspired by a women entrepreneur? It is very likely that it wasn’t too long ago. Thanks to the growing number of women hustling to make a mark, and in the process inspiring more women folks to join the force. Today, we have one such woman whose life journey as a go-getter and a contributor to society, started while still in school. Say hi to Temsusenla Kichu from Nagaland – owner of Fusion store, which houses an eclectic range of homegrown brands. By giving the local brands a platform, it acts as a catalyst of empowerment for the creators of the society. Tell us a little bit about yourself I am from Dimapur Nagaland, and currently nurturing my latest venture ‘Fusion store’, which houses various original creations from homegrown designers and creators. I have always been involved in various society activities, as I love being engaged and helping out wherever I can. It’s my 20th year being a part of the Rotary Club in Dimapur. I joined in the year 1997 as an …

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Introducing ‘The Daughters’ : Affordable Fashion Brand from Nagaland

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Our discoveries of various creative minds from the state of Nagaland never cease to amaze us. Apart from being rich in culture, cuisine, heritage, folklore, and ethnicity, the Nagas have been taking the fashion industry by storm for quite some time now. Many young designers and fashion initiators are going official and showcasing their talent every year. Today, we introduce you to two young beautiful young women entrepreneurs – Ari and Vitsi – who began humbly and went on to establish a brand new fashion label ‘The Daughters’ last month. The duo has received plenty of appreciation and love post the launch. So, without further ado, let’s have a quick look at their brand-new fashion journey:   Introduction to the founders of ‘The Daughters’ ‘The Daughters’ was founded by two cousins – Arinaro Longkumer and Vitsino Peseyie. Vitsino did a course in Fashion Design and Merchandizing from International Polytechnic for Women, Delhi. She interned under star designer Atsu Sekhose at Delhi and is currently based in Dimapur. Arinaro completed her undergrad from Lady Shri Ram College, Delhi. She …

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Meet the Roots and Leisure Team

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Roots & Leisure was founded by Tiarenla, Sungdi and Amenla from Nagaland, located in the North East of India. HOW IT ALL BEGAN . . . Roots and Leisure was founded by three of us (Tiarenla, Amenla and Sungdi) from Nagaland, which is located in the North East region of India. Our story dates back to 1994 – the year Tiaren and Sungdi met at boarding school in Darjeeling and became good friends. Fast forward 10 years, Sungdi meets Amen in Ahmedabad, while attending engineering college, and they become inseparable – almost like family. Another 10 years later, when Amen moved to Bangalore (in 2014),  she finally got to meet Tiaren, after hearing so much about her from Sungdi. Over coffee, we discussed starting a passion project to try and help promote our Northeastern roots through stories of our local friends from the region. So (finally) in 2016, we decided to give it a shot, and start the project as a weekend activity. One fine Sunday, we pulled an all-nighter and launched a blog in less …