Namaste

“Your little boat goes west and you congratulate yourself, “What a navigator I am!” And then the wind blows you east.” ~ Katherine Boo, Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity

I have been reading Katherine Boo’s book about a “slum” in Mumbai, which is on the edge of the airport behind an ad for ceramic floor tiles, advertised as “Beautiful Forever.” It’s an amazing book, both in the writer’s understanding of the many influences on one group of people in a small community in a very large and diverse city in an even larger diverse country. It won the National Book Award for good reason. It’s an enjoyable read if nothing else. She writes fabulously.

We tend to have a very monolithic view of India in SL (and I speak of “India” not as a country as it is now but as that region, which could include Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka). My Indian friends in SL, the ones who live in India or abroad, seem to have no qualms about this, possibly because India is just too damn big to wrap their heads around much less expecting anyone else to. Whether you speak Marathi or Tamil or Bengali or Urdu or English, whether you eschew eating cows or pork or believe in many Gods or One or a Holy Trinity, you can be Indian.

So I gathered all these items from this month’s Genre, which is themed “South Asian,” and assembled them in a celebration of this amorphous beautiful place that spreads itself not only over South Asia but throughout the world. (My son’s Urdu-speaking preschool teacher grew up in Uganda, for example. My Hindu-speaking friends spent their childhoods in Singapore.) First, Hadarah Steamer’s beautifully textured set in mesh with glorious patterns and colors and jewelry and even a bindi! Add Plurabelle Laszlo’s slip on wedges and a nose ring from Photos Nikolaidis and the outfit is complete.

Lumiya Rae has made a sublime skin for this round with luscious chili-spiced lips and beautifully defined brows. I added Constance Daehlie’s gorgeous eye makeup, also available at Genre. My lovely wavy locks are MissAllSunday Lemon’s hair for Fameshed, which worked perfectly with the head scarf from Hadarah’s set.

Genre is all about entire immersion, so gorgeous furniture from Spooky Mistwallow and a scattering of pillows with poses and rugs from Cherelle Capra completes the South Asian theme. Namaste.

Hair: /Wasabi Pills/ Roberta Mesh Hair – Black coffee by MissAllSunday Lemon for Wasabi Pills, available at FaMESHed *

Skin: L ~ Eliana : 5 – Caramel / Priya {Mid Cleavage} by Lumiya Rae for Lumae, available at Genre *

Makeup: #adored – kali eyeshadows – gold by Constance Daehlie for #adored, available at Genre *

Eyes: #adored – dream eyes – black coffee by Constance Daehlie for #adored

Outfit (with bracelets and bindi): Saima Golden Outfit by hadarah Steamer for Sweet Lies Designs, available at Genre *

Nosering: A:S:S deLuxe – Mayur by Photos Nikolaidis for A:S:S, available at Genre *

Hands:Slink Avatar Enhancement Hands – Elegant and Elegant1 by Siddean Munro for Slink

Hand tattoo: Jalwa – Khaliji 5 Henna Applier Hands by Chandra Masala for Jalwa

Feet: Slink Female Feet (AvEnhance) – Mid by Siddean Munro for Slink

Shoes: Bliensen + MaiTai – Giddha – for Slink Mid – black by Plurabelle Laszlo for .Bliensen + MaiTai, available at Genre *

Poses: {NanTra} Bollywood Dreams by Nancoix Urquan for {NanTra} Poses, available at Genre *

Background: =Mirage= India Wall Unit (9LI) by Spooky Mistwallow for =Mirage=, available at Genre *

Furnishings by Cherelle Capra for [CIRCA], available at Genre *

• [CIRCA] – “Journey” – Floor Pillow – South Asian Green
  [CIRCA] – “Journey” – Floor Pillow – South Asian Brown
  [CIRCA] – “Journey” – Floor Pillow – South Asian Red
  [CIRCA] – “Journey” – Floor Pillow – South Asian Autumn
  [CIRCA] – “Journey” – Floor Pillow – South Asian Khaki
  [CIRCA] – “Journey” – South Asian Area Rug Set