Electrifying Encounter

There is something alluringly fascinating about every place, that makes you fall in love with it. We quiz four celebrities and they talk about their fancies, be it captivating caves, wild and wilderness, mystic meadows or art installations for that matter.

Turkish Delights

Kabia Grewal, founder, Outhouse Jewellery

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One of my absolutely favourite and memorable travel experiences, which also happens to be one of my most recent, is my trip to Cappadocia in Turkey. To begin with, we lived in an actual cave hotel, where the structures of the rooms date back to the 5th and 6th centuries. The stunning views of the fairy chimneys made every second spent there, unforgettable. We began one of the days at sunrise, around 5:30 am, when we took the hot air balloon ride. It was a hypnotising encounter with the spectacular and surreal landscape, as we drifted through the valleys, chimneys and pigeon houses. Another exhilarating experience was riding the quad bikes through the valleys and dunes during sunset; something I’ve always had on my bucket list. The rush of riding through the extraordinary landscape provided another experience all together.

When Africa Came Calling

Tarun Tahiliani, designer

I have always been crazy about Africa. It’s probably the last and only untamed destination I’ve been to; both for its game and more important, the people, who till now, have lived in tandem with the rhythm of the land. The horizon seems wider; the sky belongs to a bigger globe. Walking up and looking down into Gorongosa (in Mozambique) is something, I will never forget. Since, I’ve always been passionate about the humble handmade authenticity of tribal artefacts, this continent is a treasure trove of creativity and ingenuity. I’ve driven for days, flown hundreds of miles through untamed Africa on microlights and landed when cold, on land with wild horses. This is how it all began. It summed up in a few words of my brilliant writer and friend, Adam Levine who talks of being sick of drumming on dark disco floors and foraging in super market shelves, and his longing to walk, where he turns the tar road back to dust and his dogs can run wild and free. That’s Africa for me.

Of Dragons & Bats

Gaurav Gupta, designer

I always love going to obscure places. There is a really beautiful place called Rinca Islands, a small island near Komodo islands, in Indonesia. There were beautiful hilly landscapes submerged in the ocean, where we also happened to see the famous Komodo dragons. Another incident that is etched in my memory is the time when, one of the days, we were on a boat. We were only a few hours away from our island, and we stopped by at a meadow at dusk. We saw a million bats that came out of the meadow and filled up the entire sky. That moment for me, was magical.

Electrifying Encounter

Manish Arora, designer

Inspiration can strike anywhere; there are no set rules for it. A prime instance of this would be, when I went to the Burning Man Festival in Nevada in the summer of 2012. The perceptions, principles and the radical thinking of the community, left me spellbound. The whole festival was constructed around a magnanimous 50-foot tall art installation 'Anubis' themed around Fertility 2.0, (in honour of the female form and other artistic imprints). It was set on fire, while people danced rhythmically around the burning installation, it was absolutely insane!

One of my favourite art installations during the festival was ‘The El Pulpo Mecanico’, an amalgamation of a robot and an octopus, the fire breathing piece of art was several feet tall and it ejected fire through its tentacles and mouth. Paying homage to the art around us, many people could be spotted in various costumes and headgears ranging from creatures of Pixar movies, to original and never-seen-before ‘expressions of their creativity’. I was so besotted by it that, it not only became the inspiration for my Fall/Winter 13 line but also, for my apartment in Paris. Also, the Robot Heart camp is one of the better known art collectives, popular for some of the best electronic music in the festival, and also one of my favourite haunts. Each year presents a unique and crazy experience that undoubtedly is the highlight of my entire year.