Istanbul in a day and half!

Work is tough. It's starting to swallow my life. In my own battle to try and find time for self, relationship and a place to live in, in London, I squeezed in a little weekend away to Istanbul. And what a welcome respite this trip was! I got back home today and before I get back into the concrete jungle that I call office, I decided to write this post while the memory is raw and while I can still taste the last Turkish cay (tea) I had.

Turkey is a juxtaposition of modern and the old, divided by the Bosphorus. Both the worlds nestle in perfect harmony and transitions from Europe to Asia like perfect shades of ombre. Of the cobbled streets of Sultanahmet to the unreal smoothness of the narghile (sheesha/waterpipe), its a city one instantly falls in love with. The Blue mosque, the Hagia Sophia and the Bascilica Cistern are the stamp of the rich Turkish culture and history. The most interesting to me of course was the Hagia Sophia. The Mosque which was a church! The Hagia Sophia at a glance looks like a mosque with its domes and minarets, but if looked closely, it looks like a church. The conversion of Hagia Sophia from a church during the Byzantine empire to a mosque later during the Ottoman rule is so fascinatingly visible inside the mosque.

Apart from the history and delightfully Mediterranean cuisine, Istanbul is also a city for the romantique. A quiet walk along the picturesque Sea of Marmara, enjoy the well lit Turkish lanterns in the night markets, enjoy a cup of Turkish tea or coffee in one of the many cafes lined on the streets of Sultanahmet, sit down for a long chat with sheesha as your only other third company in Tophane.....the list is blissfully long. And I did it all in one single day!

 Pic- Evil Eye safety pins

Pic- The Blue Mosque in the evening

Pic- The serene atmosphere in the Blue Mosque

Pic- Christianity and Islam under one roof

Pic- Painted ceramics

Pic- Decorative lanterns

Pic- My first meal in Turkey

London love?

It had been a week since I've moved to London. The city of grandeur, riches and the royalties. The city where one has to chase life just to catch up with it. Every day travels to the office, watch people walk like they have a mission to accomplish. And then the unaccountable number of coffees, the sigh of relief when you had sent that last email, wrap up your work and head back home. Head back home in the reverse tube ride with a cup of tea and bed in mind. I live in a city so beautiful yet so cold with buildings so big and condescending. The city where you are never alone yet you feel lonely. This city that I love and hate, must have seen everything from beautiful sunsets, to dark stormy days to two people falling in love right under its roof. I know for sure that it will be one hell of a relationship between us. :)

Fatima Bhutto

I've got a girl crush on Fatima Bhutto and am completely obsessed with her style! She is the granddaughter of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (Pakistan's fourth President) and niece of the infamous late Benazir Bhutto. They say pressure makes diamonds. Fatima is a diamond surely! Although she was born into such privileges and wealth, she didn't grow up in the most conventional way. Her parents separated when she was 3 after her uncle Shahnawaz Bhutto was poisoned. Her father was shot outside the family home in Karachi when she was just 14. She suspected her aunt Benazir Bhutto (who was assassinated in 2007)  of being responsible for the murder. She has been against her aunt and her widower, Asif Ali Zardari who is now the President of Pakistan.  She believes power should not be 'hand-me-down' through generations like how it happens in the Bhutto family.

She may not be into politics even though the Bhuttos have dominated the Pakistan political scene, but she has equal or more power of thousands of words. She is fearless and speaks her mind only through her books. Her book A Daughter's Memoir was written to capture the memories of his father for ever.

Her relaxed style commands independence and that of a woman who has seen it all. What I love about her may stem from her intelligence more than her sartorial choices yet our girl is stunning! Sometimes dressed soft and sometimes with oodles of attitude, she has everybody's eyes without moving a finger. Love.

PS- I do not take any credits for the photographs. The photographs have been randomly collected from the internet for illustration purposes only.