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Aranyani - Goddess of the Forest


Aranyani, a luxury fashion brand based out of Bangalore, unveiled its flagship collection of bags in upscale VR Bangalore. 
Here's a photo tour of the evening of fanfare that included live mannequins, music and dance...



In Hinduism, Aranyani is a goddess of the forests and the animals that dwell within them. Beautifully hand crafted bags with exquisite hand painted motifs are Aranyani's signature look...


Resonating a myriad of colors, textures and moods from the flowers of rhododendron and poppy, in search of the Himalayan snow leopard and musk deer, right into the land of the Gompas with the ibex, this sprightly collection resonates its desire to communicate the beauty of nature to all human being...







"At Aranyani, we believe that nature is the best designer and if we, being a part of that same nature that we truly are, can reconnect and make it as personal as it should," said Haresh M Mirpuri, CEO, Aranyani, at the launch...



The evening featured a special performance by Dance Maestro Madhu Natraj and team...


Here's a video of one of the dance performances...






A pretty dancer...



The live mannequin...



The dancers continued to mesmerise...


Each Aranyani item is handcrafted to be one of its kind. No more than two items per design are released at any point for each city...


Showstopper of the evening was the beautiful, Ankeeta Rani Maharana. She was Miss Bangalore 1st runner-up in 2016...











Aranyani, the 'Goddess of the Forest' in Hindu mythology, is a personification of elegance, royalty and individuality. This amalgamation of creativity and sophistication is the result of handpicked and handcrafted leather, elegantly painted by world class Indian artisans...


I was glad to finally make the mannequin give a real smile...


Aranyani works closely with Arsutoria, the world's leading shoe and bag creation trainer and developer. Since 1947, Arsutoria has been in collaboration with companies such as Nine West, Timberland, Nike and LVMH. The cost of most of these luxury brands is prohibitive and out of reach for even upper class Indians. Aranyani sees an opportunity in this segment by manufacturing in India and utilizing the global expertise and latest technologies...



Aranyani has opened one store in Surat and two stores in Bangalore at Church Street and VR Bangalore in Whitefield.
Leaving you with my picture with Ankeeta Rani Maharana...



Tiny things at home

Rains kept me indoors last Sunday. I photographed some small subjects at home and garden. Here are the photos...


My 3 year old gave the idea...








Just a wee bit...


Claws...


Oh I forgot...





The Ivy Gourd plants in the garden saw some brown soft scale (Coccus hesperidum) attack. I was happy because they and weaver ants make great subjects for Macro photography...








City lights bokeh and rain...





Rainy day birding

The heavy rain all through the night had almost washed out my plans for a Sunday early morning birding trip. 

The rain finally stopped at 7:30am and I rushed to Hoskote lake, hoping against hope that it will stay dry. 

Here's a photo tour of the difficult nature walk...



The heavy rains of the past week had inundated the grassland around the lake...


A Plain Tiger butterfly brought the elusive joy and I decided to venture into the messy and muddy path to search for more beauties...


Plain Tiger is the easiest butterfly to photograph. Its weak flight and fearlessness indicate that it is a protected butterfly. It is protected from attacks due to the unpalatable alkaloids ingested during the larval stages. Inexperienced predators will try attacking it, but will learn soon enough to avoid this butterfly as the alkaloids in its body cause vomiting... 


The view was good as I squished noisily through mud and mire...


A green bee eater was not perturbed by the noise...


A kite was wearing a feather kaftan...


Purple-rumped sunbird was happily exploiting a bike stuck in mud, abandoned by its owner...


I was sucked into its narcissistic play...






The play continued and I voyeuristically watched the self-discovery...












Even the farmland was inundated...



A moth...



Common Lime butterfly...


Mimosa pudica flower...




Clouds...


The overly shy Greater Coucal...


It flew far away just as he sensed my presence...





Iridescent green jewel bug












Ashy Prinia...



















Spider...











Danaid eggfly is notorious for its ability to mimic and resemble toxic butterflies...