Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Bringing India Home!

It is often rare to find a friendship that transcends decades of life’s milestones …that shares common aspirations and passions…and forges such a strong bond, that two people seem like parts of the same whole. It is one such friendship that led me to this Home Tour! The story of the friendship of Rashmi and Sushma.

Rashmi wrote to me from Hong Kong one day - “Suppi..the Aalayam feature on Sridevi’s house was awesome! That gave me an idea..I have a friend in Texas, who has just bought and done up her house beautifully…painstakingly collected pieces. I was wondering if her home could be featured on your blog?”. 

And my answer to Rashmi was a resounding Yes!!! Not only was I humbled at her feedback about Aalayam, I considered it a privilege to bring to our readers a poignant story about two friends who have grown up together, and are sharing their everyday lives with such zing, color and passion, even though separated by tens of thousands of miles!


Rashmi even wrote a blurb about Sushma’s home –

"Madhurageethe" in Austin, Texas, is a beautiful home named after Ramesh's and Sushma's loving mothers respectively. It is a haven built in 2012. Sushma likes to keep things simple, elegant, functional and Indian. The living/family room is their favorite place to hang out in their home. A touch of easy-to -maintain greenery sprinkled around the home keeps Sushma’s green thumb satisfied and adds a live energy to every room. Warm and vibrant colors are her type and she loves to keep moving things around in her home, cushion covers change to brighten up the room according to the season. These pictures were taken in Fall of last year, as you can probably see from the light streaming into her rooms!”


Thank you Rashmi, for introducing Aalayam to Madhurageethe. Maybe we can tempt you to share pictures of the corners from your home on Aalayam sometime. That is what Aalayam is all about, sharing glimpses of real people, their spaces and their inspirations. And this story touched our heart.

Let’s hear from the home owners themselves..about how they have brought INDIA home!


We (Ramesh and Sushma) are basically hard core 'Bangaloreans'-Simple and Cosmopolitan. Yet we are very 'Indian' in whatever we do-be it our way of life, the food we eat and the home we live in :)

We moved to Austin in 2007 and lived in an apartment till 2011. We eventually fell in love with the City and wanted to buy our home here, simply because it was so culturally close to the Bangalore we LOVE. Then began our home search…we looked for about 6 months to find the right kind of a house, not too big, not too small and not “over the top”. After a couple of compromises, we eventually settled for this one. We were lucky to have at least a couple of things the 'Karnataka' way-we did a traditional 'Bhoomi Puje' or the ground breaking ceremony, and then when the house was built and ready, we did our own private 'Gruhapravesha' :). Private because, the 'Muhurtha' fell on a working day when all of our dear friends were at work !! The priest doubled as our photographer :) which was actually interesting because he was clicking pictures from our mobile phone as and when he was saying the 'mantras'- amusing nevertheless!!


Since we knew we would move in after Christmas 2011, I began looking at all the Thanksgiving sales and the Christmas clearance stuff. We got some very nice buys from World Market (the lovely daybed, coffee table, dining chairs) and they were kind enough to store it in their warehouse till our house was ready. So, like a true Indian, I am very proud to say that I managed to shop on a budget and yes stick to it :) Like this dining table - The dining table is from a local Indian design store in Austin and so is the 'Sandooku' atop the table. The table is made of mango wood and encases an old door from rural India. I keep 'adike' and 'saunf' in the 'Sandooku'.


This absolutely stunning 'Buddha' was the first housewarming gift I got from my best buddy-Rashmi. She got it custom made from a local artist in Hong Kong and it arrived via UPS just days before my house warming. It beautifully adorns the entrance to the master bed room.. :) I love it !!!!


I did majority of the furniture shopping here, in the USA, however, I was looking at some accessories for the house. Although I did find some at Pier One and of course World Market, I really wanted some stuff from back home. So, we went to India in the summer of 2011 and I spent all of my 3 weeks-SHOPPING :) 



Hopping from one emporium to another, from one exhibition to another with my in-laws and my mom in tow…we had to just soak up all the time together!!!! The trip was extremely tiring but I found such nice pieces-like the beautiful Saraswathi statue, the endearing 'Kalamkari-Krishna', the crisp 'Kora' painting…Colorful, cottony bedspreads from 'Desi', those beautiful trinkets….aww want to go back again right now-Sigh :)


This is the Kalamkari- Kalinga Mardhana. I am still hunting for that perfect color on the wall which would highlight this beautiful piece of art. I picked this up from India at one of the exhibitions...



This Kathakali painting that I got as a housewarming present from my darling Brother in Bangalore...


It has been about a year now in our new house. Its 'Austin-TX' outside my front door but inside the house-It screams INDIA :)


All, I can now say is..Way to go Sushma and Ramesh!! You have truly brought INDIA home! Thank you for letting us into your home and your heart.

Love,
Supriya

21 comments:

  1. Beautiful and warm house Sushma and Ramesh..and Thanks Supriya for the tour.love love that Buddha painting..

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  2. Nayana, me too! All things Buddha! I was absolutely floored by this home myself. This was such a wonderful confluence of colors and cultures. Truly an Aalayam home! Thank you Sushma and Ramesh!! and of course Rashmi.

    Love,
    Supriya

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  3. What a lovely home! Esp love the sunny yellow room! I wish I could be that bold and do up a room in that color! Sigh!

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  4. Reshma, I agree. I have painted a wall in our home a golden yellow which lends a glowy texture to the walls, in addition to doing wonders in the evening light! What colors are your walls? Off-whites and pearlies also work great to showcase vibrant colors of the Indian artifacts right?

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  5. Wonderful blog post. I, personally knowing Sushma and Ramesh can say that their beautiful and cozy house reflects their hospitality,warmth and kindness.

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  6. This house is put together with so much love.. I was smiling while reading the entire post.... how beautiful :)...good job guys!!

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  7. Suranumi, Thank you!! We value your insider's perspective :) Please do join the Aalayam family. We would love to have you. We have an exciting line up of design, cuisine and cultural topics in the pipeline!!

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  8. Shaz..this home touched our hearts too! Thank you for stopping by!!

    Love,
    Supriya

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  9. What a lovely home Sushma and Ramesh! Thank you for sharing it with us and the readers of Aalayam - it takes a keen eye for detail to cohesively put together a gorgeous home like this and you guys have done an amazing job! Rashmi thanks for bringing this home to our attention!

    ~deepa

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  10. I can proudly say I have been in Sushma and Ramesh's home and the pictures don't do enough justice! The decor is minimalist, yet tasteful, uncluttered, yet cozy. Congratulations Sushma & Ramesh!

    -Vyshali

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  11. I agree Deepa! This home is indeed a delight for our readers! Dear Aalayam family, coming up next is a very interested design feature by Deepa that I am sure you will love!

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  12. Vyshali! Thank you for sharing your thoughts on Sushma and Ramesh's home. Welcome to the Aalayam family! We hope you come back and visit us again. Your design view points are refreshing :)

    Love,
    Supriya

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  13. Thank you all for the lovely comments! We are really very humbled :)
    Thanks a bunch Supriya and Deepa for featuring our home.
    Sushma and Ramesh

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  14. We have known Sushma and Ramesh for many years and we can only say that the house and interiors truly reflect their personality - Beautiful, Warm, Vibrant, Colorful and Pleasing to say the least! Absolutely Lovely Home!!! We are soooo happy to see Sushma & Ramesh's new home "Madhurageethe" featured on this platform! Thanks Rashmi & Supriya! Your site is very impressive! We are now part of the tribe :)
    Keep up the wonderful work!!

    - Raaji & Srikanth

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    1. Thanks Raji and Sriki :) A bigg thank you to each one of you for such nice comments and a BIGG thank you to Rashmi, Supriya and Deepa :) This has been an awesome experience!!!
      Sushma

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  15. Aalayam's Facebook family say:

    Aparna Rao: Really nice home!! Enjoyed the whole post, loved the Buddha and the yellow room..

    Archana Ganesan: Beautiful home...nicely featured. Well done Aalayam and Madhurageethe!

    Mallika Vinayak: Beautiful home! Really enjoyed the photos and the blog!

    Rashmi Srinivas Thanks Suppi, for featuring my buddy's lovely home in your creative space! Sushma and Ramesh Murthy have lovingly put together every twig in this nest with so much eye for detail, balance of colours and oodles of warmth. I'm thrilled that "Madhurageethe" is having a virtual "gruhapravesham" worldwide through your fantastic blog!

    Thank you all for your support and for your feedback. This means the world to us!!

    Dear Aalayam readers, help us get to the 100+ following and 30,000 page views milestone with your support this weekend! Join the Aalayam family!!

    Love,
    Supriya

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  16. Very nice home! great post. Thanks for stopping by Deepa.

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  17. Valuable information ..I am delighted to read this article..thank you for giving us this useful information. Great walk-through. I value this post.

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  18. very nice.thanks for stopping by celebrations decor

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  19. stunning house...from using Buddha painting to living room to dinning room, all look awesome and so perfect. Being an interior designer I really appreciate this work. Painting are really beautiful.
    Mamta Bajaj
    Interior Designer
    http://www.futomicdesigns.com

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