All posts filed under: FEATURED

Meet These Self-Taught Jewelry Makers from Nagaland

Published by Tiarenla

Remember Aben of “Aben Jewellery” – one of our first guests on Roots and Leisure? Thanks to people like her who has inspired many to follow her footstep and take up jewelry-making as a serious hobby and eventually turning it into a full blown venture from home. Over the last 2 years, we have seen hundreds of people joining this creative force to produce new forms of art in the form of handmade jewellery. Today our contributor Tiaren profiles some of them to understand the motivation behind their creative journey – and to take a peek into their collection. “After talking to some of my friends who have taken up jewellery-making as a hobby, I realize that one of the main motivations is to turn their innate talent and interest in creative art, from a hobby to now a means of financial security. It’s super inspiring to see how these talented determined individuals are taking their passion to the world by nurturing their love of all things local – especially their aesthetics taste, which can range from eccentric to minimalistic to over the top! …

Artist Who Etches Memories on Canvas and Plates | Dina Hazarika Chowdhury

Published by Pooja Ghose

Have you ever felt envious of individuals who can capture stunning moments and sights in a tangible way, allowing them to preserve and share them with others? We certainly have. That’s why we love to showcase the work of talented artists like Dina Hazarika Chowdhury, a fine artist from Assam who creates beautiful paintings on canvas and ceramic plates. Dina hails from the cultural hub of Assam, Tezpur. She grew up in a small family but was deeply influenced by the traditions of a large, extended family. Dina fondly recalls attending family gatherings at her father’s ancestral home in Sibsagar. Currently, she resides in Gurgaon after marrying two years ago. Dina Hazarika Chowdhury specializes in taking nostalgic memory snapshots of cities and rural landscapes and transforming them into beautiful artwork. Tell us how you arrived at this point – as an artist who is happily running her own venture from home. Well, I explored many (career) paths before settling on this one – into the world of fine art. At one point, I wanted to …

Meet the Roots and Leisure Team

Published by Roots & Leisure

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 …

Roots & Leisure Marketplace is Live!

Published by David Sangma

We are super excited about this next step in the Roots & Leisure journey : A Buying and Selling Platform! Today we launch R&L Shop – an online marketplace, where our readers can now buy and sell anything handmade. It all started with a cup of tea with some good ‘ol friends, and it has come to a point where we have a whole community driving the initiative. Ever since the launch of the blog [in the month of March 2016], many stories about entrepreneurs, local artists and people have donned the face of the blog – in addition to stories about various nuggets of culture like food, travel, local art etc. We now bring to you an online marketplace, from where our readers can start buying from artists/entrepreneurs that we have written about. Most importantly, we want this marketplace to act as a source of inspiration for each one of our readers, so that they can also start a hobby soon – and start selling! What to expect from the shop We currently have some really cool …

Meet Ankita from Unees Bees | Textile Artist from Gujarat

Published by Roots & Leisure

We are super delighted to feature Ankita from Unees Bees – as our first artist from Gujarat. Unees Bees is an independent clothing label from Vadodara. They make beautiful handcrafted sarees, stoles and clothing using traditional methods like block printing and tie and dye, and combining them with contemporary prints. Here we chat up with the lovely lady to know more about Unees Bees. Hi Ankita! Super delighted to have you here as the first Gujarati artist on R&L. So tell us something about yourself. What was the inspiration behind the launch of the brand ‘Unees Bees’? I was brought up in Vadodara (in Gujarat) and had always been more creatively inclined than Academic. Plus, growing up, my mother would always take me along to fabric shops around the city as she had an appreciation for textiles and garments – and that I picked up my my interest in garment making . When the time came to choose a career, clothing design was a clear choice. So I did my Bachelors in Fashion Design from M.S. University Vadodara, which …

New Music Video by our Favorite Naga Artist Virie

Published by Roots & Leisure

Folks – the gorgeous and talented singer and songwriter Virie just released her latest single “My Summer” on YouTube. The video is as dreamy and magical as her voice – shot in the beautiful Dzulake Valley in Nagaland. And as though the song wasn’t enough to enchant the listeners, the beautiful backdrop takes the viewer to a fairytale land – where summer and winter come together in perfect harmony . . ♫ How, how long will I walk alone Thousand miles on my own Miles to go before I sleep Those summer days is all I dream ♪ Will I ever see you on the other side? Will you ever sing to me and make my night? ♪ This video was shot on a winter afternoon (2015 winters, according to Virie). But by the looks of it, it appears that Virie was indeed able to summon the summers after all. Check out the beautiful sun rays blending in perfectly with the color of winter. Watch the official music video ‘My Summer’ by Virie Song written and composed by Virie …

Meet The Man from Nagaland Travelling the World on a Bamboo Bike

Published by David Sangma

If an analogy of taking your roots around the world would have to be written, we can simply write about Yakuza’s story and be done with it. Kudos to this trailblazer for setting the stage – hopefully, we will have many more such stories to share. Say hi to Yakuza Solo (Sievituo Chevy) from Nagaland, who’s going around the world on a bicycle made out of bamboo! His mission is to tell the world about the Nagas and Nagaland. In Nagaland, bamboo plays a huge part in the lives of the people – from being consumed as a food item to a spice, and a material used for building furniture and lovely houses. It is, therefore, very fitting that Yakuza chose to ride a bamboo bicycle to embark on his adventure, and to tell the world about the rich cultural land of the Nagas. Yakuza will be travelling to Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, Czech, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, Sweden and the United States of America. Here …

Meet a young Entrepreneur from Thailand | Tanyapat

Published by Roots & Leisure

Meet Tanyapat Witayapreechasilp. You can call her TK 🙂 She is our first international guest and we are extremely excited to feature her on R&L! So say hi to this 27 year old passionate entrepreneur based out of Chiang Mai, Thailand. Speaking to her, we could feel the connection that she shares with the 700 years old city Chiang Mai city even though her family is not originally from there. The city has hosted 20 different tribes over the centuries and has culminated into a hub of inspiration and creativity for not only people from Thailand but across the world. Drawing inspiration from the city, its culture and people TK now owns a business named “FIFTEEN” which is an online fashion brand and hopes to expand globally soon. “Hi! I live in one of the most charming city in Asia Pacific. I am in love with Chiang Mai. After I graduated in Creative Arts from Chulalongkorn university, I joined my family business [an architecture firm]. While at home, I used to travel to the mountain villages …

I make Handcrafted Jewellery – Abenla

Published by Roots & Leisure

Say hello to Abenla – A beautiful talented artist from Nagaland, who makes the most exotic handmade jewelry. In addition to running her jewellery business, she also works with an NGO in the development sector (Fida International), serves as a part of an eldership team with her husband at a local church in Mumbai, and above all manages a home – just being the wife on the other side. Her handmade jewellery are characterized by unique craftsmanship and are replete with a mix of tribal and modern techniques – that are so distinct to her brand. To find such a distinctive voice, there has to be a fascinating story – which we were hoping to find out when we reached out to the designer herself. How did you get started? Did you get any formal training in jewelry design? Not really. I learnt most of the skills online. In fact this whole thing started when I was in college, when a friend of mine – Ran introduced me to jewellery making. I used to enjoy breaking things apart and making new stuff out of …

I am a Designer and a Textile Artist – Shenali Sema

Published by Roots & Leisure

Today at R & L, it is our absolute pleasure to introduce you to a new class of leading women. Say hello to Shenali Sema – a creative genius, an artist and now an entrepreneur. Born in Nagaland, graduate in Textile Design from National Institute of Design (NID) Ahmedabad, and having studied fashion from the prestigious Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design (CSM) in London – she is every bit an artist. She now lives in Noida. Her work has been featured in Vogue, Elle, Grazia, Harpers in India and has been featured globally in Surface Asia Magazine and Business of Fashion – as one of the rising talents in Asia. She was also written about by Susanna Lau of Style Bubble – one of the most influential fashion blogs in the world. She was also the creative director of the fashion house – Morphe India, before starting her new venture UNTITLED Co. REPOST | #repost #regram @tracyjoyphillips wearing #morphe at #singapore #audi #fashionweek #design #designer #india #art #springsummer14 | MORPHE A photo posted by …