Girl meets Miami! Megha Grover en route to Miami

It took me quite a while to sit down and write this post. Not cause I was lazy or didnt know what I wanted to say. But because I was immersed in the preparation in a milestone for my best friend.
Now that the preparation is over and the euphoric feeling has given me goose bumps I now feel its a perfect time to write this post.

I remember in 2008 sitting at my desk with my best friend Namrata behind me and another BFF Ian sitting by my side. We were all intensely looking at our computer screens and typing profusely in unison.
The 1/4 of our little world walked in, looking confused and all typing stopped. I know nowthat, that conversation changed our lives for the better. We said echoing each others thoughts " Don't think about it too much, now that you have realised your dreams and worked hard towards it, quit! We are there to support you." We said that scared ourselves wondering if this was the right advice. It was! She ofcourse spoke to other people and the passion in her eyes made everyone say the same thing. Go after your dreams.

Megha Grover our BFF is on her way to take part in The International Miami Beach Fashion Week. The only woman designer to do so in history. It may have taken some time, it definitely took a lot of hardwork, stress and sweat on Megha's part but she has taken herself to such heights and I can't wait for her to get the success she deserves.

Megha's clothing line for the Miami Beach Fashion Week is amazing. I dont say this because she is my best friend, however i remember thinking when I saw the garments during her catalog photoshoot OH MY GOD! she is soooo talented. I will share the pictures of the clothing line once her shwocase in Miami is over. Which is on the 22nd of March, at the South Beach convention Center at 21:30 Miami time.

I dont want to get into what all she has had to go through to get where she is and how much harder she might have to work to get where she wants to be. I want to savor her success. I want to constantly recall the shrieks of joy i heard when she got her visa.

I write here on behalf of all the people who love her. To tell her we're behind you. We love you! And you have always made us proud. And now its tiem for the rest of the world to know what we already did.
To get updates from Megha, join her FB page
 https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.141948124482.107601.514484482&type=3#!/groups/MGmembers/

Some great memories!

Holy Beef batman!!!!

5th of July 2011 I got a call from one of best friends in the world Megha Grover. Excitedly she let me know she is a part of the Kochi International Fashion Week. I was so excited for her, what an opportunity!! Then in typical Megha Grover style she told me with the sweetest, sadest puppy dog tone that for her previous fashion shows were attended by people who she barely spent time with and that her best friends in the world have never seen her showcasing her clothing line......

Soooooo with guilt that only a catholic nun should be able to inflict on me, I booked my husband gabriel's and my ticket to Kochi. I was soooooooooo excited to be a part of Megha's crew, helping her with the prep work and also getting to see Kochi, God's own country. My other best friend Namrata too had the same conversation with Megha and immeedaitely booked herself on the same flight as us.

So then came 5th of Aug, my flight was for 4:30pm, which i thought would give me time to put on my makeup and record a tutorial as well....in the mean time my Gabriel had other plans...he had to help his employee with medical assistance and also get his hair coloured a bright red, which put all the packing, closing up the house and informing all the people who had to be informed abt the trip on me, so i ended looking like i had a serious anemic condition with a husband with flaming red hair...atleast it was stylish. And i did let him know , not so gently i might add about it.

So Namrata, Gabriel and I reach Kochi by 6;30pm. We drink awful airport coffee (which was surprising, since we were in south India which is known for filter coffee) and waited for our pre paid taxi. Our Taxi driver who knew a little bit of English very sweetly gave us a heads up on South Indian celebrity hang outs and houses and all the famous malls and markets... Luckily Namrata knew Tamil which is a little similar to Malyalam and we were able to communicate efficiently...though there were quite a few times Namrata ignored what the cabbie said cuz she had no clue what it ment.....

Kochi greeted us with A LOT of rain...and our taxi driver didnt seem to be fazed by it and drove like a bat outta hell. Gabriel who was sitting in the front seat was quite (which is unlike him) waiting what he thought was eventual dooooommmmm. We reached the lovely Casino hotel and were greeted by a crowd of Kochi's elite , posers and everyone in between waiting for the next designers showing.

Megha met us and we rushed to freshen up in her room and go see Harianand and Archana Kocchhars shows.
The clothes were alright and post which we went to the Kingfisher lounge for a beer and an impromptu photo shoot.

After the Kingfisher lounge we went to have dinner at the hotels cafeteria and i must say the food was delicious, i was surprised the amount of beef dishes expected more sea food which was also available..incredible food though, after wards we went to the after party. And i have not seen these many talllll people gathered in one place ever...All the models were partying their head off  and i must say for an overweight , 5' 2" girl it was initially intimidating, however, it eventually sunk in that im here to have FUN!

Day 2 at Kochi International Fashion Week went pretty chill... Got to do a little of sight seeing which i will write about separately and then got back showered and went to party like rockstar with Gabby, MG, Namrata and MG's mom ..... We attended the after party and i got to wear my JLO earring eventually...Ended up doing Namrata's makeup which is loved (HURRAY!) Megha seemed pretty chill though post the party she eventually started showing some cracks in that calm exterior and you could see the nerves for her first Kochi International Fashion Week showing.

My lovely makeup sported by Namrata the hottie! and thats her stylish friend Ami.

The entire day 3 went in a fog of clothing, steaming, makeup, hair and STRESS! It can't compare to the stress Megha went through , however, at the end of the night i thought i was going to have a heart attack or my tired legs will just fall off.  Altering the clothes went well , the final fitting was fabulous, the makeup at the end looked amazing and the hair was exactly what megha wanted. Megha was a tiny blur of beauty through out the day, running from room to room getting her music, choreography, fitting makeup and hair finalised. Just writing all that has gotten be tired, she was just running on pure adrenalin. Namrata and I in our own novice ways did whatever we could. The final show as you have seen in my earlier blog was fabulous...after packing up and getting the clothes to Megha's room , gabriel and me crashed...literally! crashed on our bed and woke up the next morning at 9 for our flights.



I gotcha back!

Now that the glitter has settled post Kochi International Fashion Week (KIFW), there is another phenomena I wanted to blog about. Something that struck me during the event and became an after thought and i'm still thinking about it....hence i feel its worth writing about.

On day 2 of KIFW, Sanjana Jon designer (and i use that word loosely) came in like a storm and probably disrupted every person involved with the event. now her questionable talent is not what i want to write about, its her relentless dedication to getting her brother Anand Jon a fair trial.

Now for those of you who need your memories jogged, Anand Jon is a Indian born American designer who became very successful in the early 2000 having names like Janet Jackson Paris Hilton etc on his repetoire. In 2008 he was convicted in 30 odd counts of rape , molestation of upcoming models from
the ages of 14 to 21, he was given 59 years to life for his crimes.

Now, I would like to make it clear i do not know the details of the case and i am not promoting Anand Jons innocence or condeming him to lifelong imprisonment (thats been already done). 

At the fashion week i saw fliers , assistants in t-shirts which said "Free Anand Jon", and this reminded me of the Jessica Lall Case as well , where her sister Sabrina Lall was relentless in getting her sister's muderers in jail. I do know the cases are as different as night and day but what makes them similar is a sibling ready to fight for them, regardless of the odds.

I may not like Sanjana Jon's clothes, but i have to say she is a great asset to have on your side. It's been 2-3 years sicne Anand Jon's sentencing and yet she still fights at every platform for her brother.
Her tears , her words and her passion to prove her brothers innocence is commendable.

Again, let me make it clear, i am not condoning any criminal act and i do believe anyone who can do any heinous crimes shoudl be punished. I am also not promoting what Sanjana Jon is saying is the truth (cuz, frankly it seems like a weak defence.) However, whether it is Sanjana or Sabrina, their loyalty for their siblings are note worthy.

And, i hope i show this same loyalty to my friends and family when need be.

Kochi International Fashion Week - Megha Grover's Look Book Runway Style!!!

The first of many Kochi International Fashion week ended on day 3 with a bang!!!
Megha Grover showcased her specially created line for the beautiful women of Kerala.
The clothing line passed my 3 tear test .... cut , color. and fabric..... ALL were amazing....
The true test of a designer is when their line surpasses season and size. Megha Grovers collection did alllllll that and much more......
The collection started with 6 models walking out with diya's in their hands....it looked ethereal. ....the spot lights then switch on and you can now see how vibrant the colors of the MG collection are.....Each model walked down the runway with this flirtatious confidence twirling their dupattas in their very delicate hands and you know that the clothing line has everything to do with it.