Vignettes from my Birthday.

Turning 26 Turning 26 Turning 26 Turning 26Turning 26

AJIO dress // Zara wooden minaudiere // Daniel Wellington classic petite ashfield wrist watch // BCBGeneration sandals

Photos by Sheila Vaz in Coonoor


Exactly one month & ten days ago, I turned 26! Summers in Mumbai are no fun, so since 25th birthday in Bangkok last year, I decided that I would bring in every birthday at a new destination. This year’s destination wasn’t really new – we’ve stayed at Coonoor once, three years ago & I’ve also visited on two other occasions. It’s a charming hill station in the Nilgiri region of Tamil Nadu, kind of a hidden gem – the ‘town’ area is really populous, but the region around Sim’s Park is lovely & quaint.

I found an amazing little homestay on airbnb, a room in a century old colonial era bungalow. We had arrived the previous day from Ooty. I actually sat & filmed a chatty video in the late morning & it ran a lot longer than expected. After I was finally done, we started out for lunch, but not before seeing a gorgeous ginger cat sitting in front of a little bush of flowers; he was very loving & receptive to pets & scritches – I truly believe meeting him was my birthday gift from the universe.

As luck would have it, we didn’t manage to get a rickshaw to take us to lunch & ended up having to take a bus & walk. Luckily, I picked a truly gorgeous spot with a panoramic view (the name 180° McIver is very apt!) & we were also blessed with amazing weather. We crashed almost immediately after, because I left very early next morning for a quickie trip to Delhi with Google – but that’s a story for another day.

If makeup is your thing, you can watch my birthday get ready with my video below.

Turning 26

Also here’s a rare picture of mom, she takes almost all of my pictures but has to be forced to let me take hers. I asked her to wear this top, so we could match.

Turning 26

It was a truly lovely day, & I know I’ll probably visiting that charming town again sometime. Now for something absolutely random – I’ve recently gotten a steam account & really delved into gaming again, after years! I’ve been obsessed with this sim called Stardew Valley, it’s really calming but it sort of sucks you in. Do you game? I’d love to hear about your all time faves! x