Colour stories: Turquoise!

Have not written a colour post for a long time ..Not that one needs to make an excuse for Turquoise anyway.. It's one colour like pink, I absolutely love, but have not imagined dedicating entire walls to!- yet  :)

Today's post is about the colour, used in a mostly traditional, ethnic scheme.... 

Turquoise in all its shades- wether  an intense burst of blue or a softer and paler version- is so unique to the gem stone it derives its name from, that the stone and the particular shade of blue are now synonymous to each other...

Called Turquoise as it was thought to have originated from Turkey at first, the gem stone hails from the Alimersai Mountain in Persia (now in Iran). The best quality Turquoise to this date  is credited to the region.

The intense shades of turquoise have endeared it to many ancient cultures:  Ancient Egypt, Aztec, Mesopotamia, Indus Valley and China. Despite being an old gemstone, it was introduced to Europe via Turkey only with the silk road novelties and  not until the 14th century was it used commonly in jewellery. The stone was introduced in India only during the Mughal times and remained unknown to the far east until the 18th century..

The color to me, denotes a relaxed, fresh and contemporary feel ..  It goes well with a bunch of warm colours, reds, oranges, pinks and yellows,  and provides a fun visual pop against muted, earthy tones of natural materials- stone and wood. It also provides a lovely foil for ethnic objects like baskets, textiles and jewelry..

Every once in a while, I change up the accessories around the bedroom and more private 

spaces of the house to make way for the Turq :)

Hopefully  in some near future, I will gather the guts for an all turquoise wall .. until then, this will have to do ..!

Design in focus: A labour of love : UDD

Yuti and Atul: the heart and brain behind UDD

The name Udd meaning `fly’, evokes many images. That of soaring the skies,  to venture where most people resist, unshackling and taking flight.. It does not surprise me in the least that the name of the label under which husband and wife duo—Yuti Shah Edward and Atul Edward - decided to float their new venture a year and a half back was Udd.

For the incredibly talented Yuti and her adventurous husband Atul, Udd has meant crossing crucial boundaries and breaking quite a few chains in the pursuit of a dream.   "I had had enough of deadline based design,’’ says Yuti, a graphic designer by training. This was also around the time the couple had decided to tie the knot.

"We both quit our steady jobs, with very little idea about our future was going to be " adds Yuti.  It was on the couples many travels that Yuti’s constant doodling struck Atul as something they should take on for a new venture.

It was with this germ of an idea and little else that Yuti quit her four year old job at Freedom Tree Design  and started to draw in all earnest. Important learning from an exhibition later, Udd came into being.. A label that boasts Yuti’s folk art based graphics digitally printed on to fabrics with bold, primary colours.

The array of dupattas, scarves, skirts and sarees Yuti designs , speak volumes on her strong sense of colour besides  her expertise at drafting her designs.


Having spotted her range for the first time at an exhibition in Mumbai, I was completely hooked!.. So when an opportunity presented itself to me, I found myself at the door of Udd’s Andheri based workshop, a tiny hole in the wall where the incredible range of clothing is put together.

With enough room for just three or four people to sit at one time, the tiny sun filled space was a pleasure to hang around at,  take photographs and listen to Yuti and Atul wax eloquent about the passion that they invest into their work.


Today’s is going to be a series of posts on the bright brilliant people I have met over the last two years. This one about Yuti has been a long time coming! Part of the trouble I had with writing this was how I was going to manage all that I wanted to say about Udd in one post !

Am taking the plunge today wholly knowing there is no way to do complete justice to her work.

Yuti Sporting a Udd Matsya Dupatta. The range features graphics of mythical half man half fish figures

The tailors

Sewing up the vibrant squares

The embroiderer at work

Devil in the finest details !

The Master Draft's Man, Islam Bhai models for the camera :)

Colour, colour and more colour !

A skirt bearing the peacock motif 

Buttons, trinkets and baubles