SALLU VS SRK

Brooklyn, USA

I simply cannot get enough of these men.

Dabangg star Salmaan Khan & MNIK's Shah Rukh Khan continue to bicker like bitches: http://bollywood.celebden.com/2011/01/will-salman-khan-forgive-shahrukh-khan/

Literature and lingerie

New York, USA

Jane Birkin: When you've got nothing left, all you can do is get into silk underwear and start reading Proust.

Luxe Vagabondery

New York, USA

Tough, luxe travel gear cannot be underrated. For those who equate long-term travel with polyester quick-dry trousers or torn backpacker wear, I beg you expand your vision to include the (slightly) luxe vagabond. Several brilliant travel bloggers, like Matt Kepnes and Tim Patterson, have offered backpack essentials on other sites - however, I've yet to see a list a) written by a woman, or b) written by a woman who finds it interesting to look chic with 11 kilos on her back.

Inspired by my empty backpack, whose yellow straps sprawl from beneath my bed and beckon me home, I once again begin to pack - virtually, mentally. I offer this list of essentials to remind the universe that one does not have to dress like a backpacker to be a traveler. More so, one can look beautiful with a smallish and vague amount of effort, considering everything one needs fits into a small pack. The life of the effortlessly luxe vagabond starts here.

50 L / 3100 CC PACK A small pack is completely sexy, and the most important building block of travel gear that won't make you swear. I've cursed larger packs in too many circumstances to not warrant a downsize - running for a train in Paris; being turned down while hitching the Atlas Mountains because of two big packs; balancing on the back of a motorcycle in Benares; searching for a public toilet in Elat; wandering the streets for an inexpensive hostel in San Cristobal de las Casas. Packs come in hip colors now, but darker colors don't show the dirt as much (or whatever else was oozing on the floor under that bus). Using a smaller pack simplifies one's travel gear - only the essential makes it into your tiny, sexy pack. Simplification is key. A smaller pack means one can function as independently as possible, unassisted and unburdened. Forty five liters is my ultimate goal, but shoes ruin me every time, as I always bring more than I need.

FABULOUS SHOES This is really, really difficult: choose wisely. Two pairs will suffice. Something smart and urban that won't give you blisters; and something else a little rough to climbs sequoias, hike to Andalusia, etc. Also consider investing in make-for-elderly-people gel insoles at your local pharmacy - no one can see them, and they make your smart kicks as city-friendly as possible. A pair of rubber thongs cost and weigh next to nothing - toss them in as well.

DR BRONNER'S CASTILLE SOAP The flower child speaks: take advantage of anything that works double-time for you. Dr Bronner was a loon, but he was clever. This liquid soap can also be used as shampoo, laundry detergent, dish soap (and contraceptive, says Dr Bronner, but I wouldn't trust him on that one). Dr Bronner lists a hundred and one uses for castille soap on the packaging - it's fair-trade, organic, comes in clean scents like citrus, lavender, rose and peppermint, and the bottles are refillable in some health food shops. Bring along a length of string and a few plastic clothespins in your everything kit (see below) for citrus-scented laundry service.

SARONGS & SHAWLS I travel with three or four sarongs, minimum, and use them for absolutely everything - on the beach; as a skirt, towel, scarf or wrap; on plane, train or bus journeys as a sheet or blanket; as a pillow cover in questionable guesthouses. An artfully draped shawl changes an outfit, and can help you forget that you've worn the same dress for four months. Pack a mix of sarongs in different fabrics and textures for variety and color - cashmere, cotton, jersey, silk.

AN EVERYTHING KIT Mine fits in a leather pencil case, and includes a tiny sewing kit (with embroidery floss, fishing line and large needles); a universal plug adaptor; safety pins; a glue stick (for pasting mementos into my journal); a lighter; my Swiss Army knife; string; a few clothespins; a 2G flash drive; two Pilot ballpoint pens and a permanent marker.

SILK SLEEP SAC Silk is a beautiful insulator, feels lovely whilst naked inside of it, and gets softer each time it's washed. A silk sac can be used inside of a sleeping bag as an additional layer, or on its own wherever and whenever, to customize your stranger's bed (because who knows what has happened on those sheets, really?) I always use my own sleep sac, and cover my pillows with a clean sarong.

LAPTOP Get real. How can one write/watch Fellini in bed/video chat without one?

PLACE-SPECIFIC READING I gave this advice recently to a friend of mine, and she asked: "But what do you read in India when you want to escape India?" I think that's a rubbish sentiment. I don't want to escape anything. Quite the opposite. I want to live, and fully. Deliberately.

Santorini: The Magus. Delhi: White Tiger, or City of Djinns. Tel Aviv: A Tale of Love and Darkness. Greece: Colossus of Maroussi. Paris: Afternoons in Clichy. Read it, then trade it for another.

PERFUME It changes the way one carries oneself, and there is something delicious about a signature scent. But, since space in your pack is very tight - bring the body milk version of your perfume. Double-duty, kid.

SOMETHING YOU CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT This is highly personal, and will be different for every traveler. After a third of my life on the road, I've come to accept that I need to make room for something fabulous - no matter how much room it takes up, and no matter how impractical it is. My dream pack would include a pair of bespoke Puma hightops. In gold and silver. Puma's new custom line, Mongolian Barbeque, lets you to create your own kicks from the bottom up, and sends them to you in two months. They would look brilliant with a silk tank dress and striped scarf, or on top of a mountain in long underwear. If only I had an address.

FIVE DESTINATIONS

New York, USA

On or off the road, I am always dreaming of my next adventure. My current five obsessions, in no particular order.

BERLIN Road Junky Travel Film Festival, 28-30 May 2010. A weekend of travel writing, storytelling; photography and videography; gypsy music; brass bands and travel forums, all in the artistic hub of Europe. The heat and rush of early summer, the Bauhaus aesthetic, and the air of international artistry and vagabondery.

REYKJAVIK Only a five hour flight from New York. A long weekend soaking in geothermal pools, with a face-full of Icelandic mud. A few evenings of pickled fishes and honey mead. Rent a car for a day and drive in a big beautiful circle.

BOMBAY Just left, can't wait to return. Bombay is a steaming hothouse of art and energy. Next time, I'll stay somewhere overlooking the Arabian Sea, develop an architectural walking tour company, finally visit Elephanta Island even though it smells like guano, and star in a Bollywood film with Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan, Salmaan Khan or John Abraham.

VENICE Carnival, 6-16 February 2010. If only it weren't so cold in northern Italy in February. An afternoon in the Guggenheim and the other museum that I recently read about and have forgotten the name of but is curated by a 35 year old and I thought I could do that, a Bellini at Harry's and a few wrong turns up and over a canal, I'd slip on a black lace mask and wander the streets during Carnival in a trench coat and my imaginary bespoke hightops. If Venice doesn't work out, then I'll take Colombia.

BARANQUILLA Colombia: my ancestral homeland; the second largest Carnival party outside of Rio de Janeiro; and a short drive to gorgeous Cartagena. The Carnival in Baranquilla was brilliantly dubbed one of the "Masterpieces of the Oral Intangible Heritage of Humanity" - the meaning of which both totally eludes and totally delights me.

Bombay: Marine Drive at Night

Bombay, INDIA

Bombay Electric

Bombay, INDIA

Walking through Colaba, in the shadow of the Gateway of India, I realize how much I love the sea. How deeply the sea is part of me. Something shifts in my gait, my bearing, when I smell the salt air, when the humidity sinks under my skin and explodes my curls. I become softened, sensual. The warm breeze from the Arabian Sea in the early evening and the play of lights on the harbour are visceral experiences for me.

And I realize that my favorite cities in the world are port cities: Tel Aviv, Barcelona, New York, Bombay. There is magic in the combination of urban environments ripe with sea salt. The kind of magic which makes one want to jump ship and swim ashore.

In port cities, the energy is electric and palpable. Alive. One can swear like a sailor, dress like a bombshell, eat fried fish in the sand, and be surrounded by art at every step.

And people. People everywhere.

Ten reasons to love India

1. Persimmon Lassis

Sweet Jesus, could anything be more delicious than a persimmon lassi? Do persimmons even grow in India? Who knows? And who cares? All I know is that Dokebi Korean Restaurant in McLeod Ganj serves them fresh, in front of a roaring fire. Yum.

2. The Mumbai art scene

Mumbai is absolutely fucking fabulous. One can spend days wandering the new and established modern art galleries of Kala Ghoda, and balmy nights in Colaba antiquing or trying on Rs 25,000 dresses in restored lofted Raj-era buildings. Or at least, that's what I'm doing these days.

3. Kai's street photography




4. Indian Mithai: Kaju Burfi

To me, fresh homemade Indian sweets (mithai) are the most delicious sweets in the world. My colleague Shivani's mother-in-law, Prem-ji, taught me this recipe. It is a traditional mithai, often exchanged during Diwali, the Festival of Lights.

You can substitute pistachio or almond instead of cashew. Both require being soaked overnight and peeled the following morning, before beginning the process, and are equally as delicious. Burfi can also be enhanced with with subtle, aromatic masala, such as cardamom, saffron or a few drops of rosewater.

Ingredients
1 cup raw cashews
3/4 cup sugar, to taste
1/4 cup water

1. Finely grind the cashews to a powder, using a coffee grinder.
2. Mix the sugar and water in a wide saucepan.
3. Heat until small bubbles begin to appear on the surface.
4. Stir gently and let it come to a rolling boil.
5. Pour in the cashew powder and stir well to avoid lumps.
6. Keep stirring for a few minutes and you should notice the mixture getting a little thicker.
7. Put a drop on a chilled plate and test to see if it hardens slightly. You should be able to roll it into a loose ball.
8. If it does, switch off the heat and move the pan away from the hot surface.
9. Let it cool slightly and transfer mixture to countertop.
10. Knead well with your hands to make it smooth and glossy.
11. Roll out with a rolling pin into 1/4 inch thick sheet and cut into diamond shaped pieces.
12. Gather all the end bits and knead again and repeat the process.
13. Let cool and pack between sheets of waxed paper.
14. Optional: Garnish with grated pistachio and a dash of saffron water.
    
    
    
    
    5. Big sky, big mountains.
    
    
    
    6. Because Diwali in Jaipur is like Chanukah in Jerusalem.
    
    
    
    7. Shah Rukh Khan.
    
    
    
    8. Curious children.
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    9. Spontaneous dancing. India: all music, all the time.
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    10. Riding in auto rickshaws: how else to navigate the streets of India?