THE ISPRAVA INSIDER 2020 | VOLUME THREE | www.isprava.com 1 We are excited to announce two big updates since the last edition of The Isprava Insider. 1. Isprava has now launched in Alibaug! It’s our third destination on the map and is pegged to be as promising as ever. With cool beaches, abundant greenery and chic spots dotting the land, we look forward to building our fully {luxury villas for sale} serviced homes here! 2. We have launched Lohono Stays, GOA | COONOOR | ALIBAUG a new hospitality brand that offers fantastic service in beautiful homes. We currently have some of the most stunning serviced villas in Goa, Alibaug, Phuket, India’s leading luxury home developer Koh Samui, Bali, Lonavala, Coonoor and more. In the third edition of The Isprava Insider, you will discover the movers and shakers from the worlds of art, architecture and design. Learn about how Baroness Andrea von Gleichenstein spends her time in Munich. Jump aboard entrepreneurial rollercoasters with Samyukta Nair, Soumya Rajan, Iman Allana and the men behind The Bombay Canteen. Set your health and fitness goals right with Alekha Engineer. Take fun quizzes, check out Isprava’s newest villas and get updated on what’s next on the horizon with Lohono Stays. All this and more, sure to inspire you to make your own unique stories. Happy reading! Nibhrant Shah Founder & CEO of Isprava and Lohono Stays FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @ISPRAVA AND INSTAGRAM @ISPRAVA OR +91 8080808 797 | [email protected] EMAIL US AT [email protected] www.isprava.com 2 THE ISPRAVA INSIDER 2020 | VOLUME THREE | www.isprava.com THE ISPRAVA INSIDER 2020 | VOLUME THREE | www.isprava.com 3 Getting candid with Isprava’s inner circle on their new decade resolutions and how they con- {contributors} tributed to shaping this issue into {contents} a true page turner WHO: ANJALI MERCHANT & DIVYA SABANAYAGAM WHAT THEY DO: Co-founders of DryFix 3 CEO’S NOTE NEW DECADE RESOLUTION: Our new decade resolution for dryfix is to concentrate on providing a high quality service, and 4 CONTRIBUTORS the rest will follow. Being entrepreneurs, you have to pull out all the bells and whistles to create and promote your vision. With IN FASHION + ART + DESIGN dryfix we realised partnering with the right people and brands 6 This fashion designer pulls no was key as it mutually helped us grow. Collaborations where stops at attention for detail the goal is clear and beneficial for all parties involved proves highly beneficial because it allows the mini networks created 10 Discover the inner depths of by these brands to collide and expand. In this issue we speak art curator Farah Siddiqui’s life about this art of collaboration. 13 On a journey with gemologist WHO: TARANA SHETH SABHARWAL and writer — Richa Goyal Sikri WHAT THEY DO: Creative Head, Isprava 15 Are you bold or subtle, take the NEW DECADE RESOLUTION: This quiz to find out! decade I plan to be more in the now. Be it at work or at home, I intend IN TRAVEL to be more present. Life is short, 18 An illustrative escape with decades pass us by and we end up, Maleka Shah Patel. Flip the pages just being. I hope to change that for to see where she takes you me, at least for a little while. I want to do, I want to be. For this magazine, I 24 Everything you need to know have done what you see... designing about what to do in Munich, every page with as much love for the straight from the heart of a brand as I have ever felt. baroness WHO: TANYA BREJA IN INSPIRATION WHAT THEY DO: Marketing 32 What is a family office and its Head, Isprava need, explained exclusively by NEW DECADE RESOLUTION: Soumya Rajan The Fairview Estate, Goa WHO: KINJAL VORA I want to focus on self WHAT THEY DO: Freelance Lifestyle development and self care. 35 Give your fitness quotient Writer Travel, learn new skills, read, a beaming head start this new IN INDULGENCE IN TECHNOLOGY NEW DECADE RESOLUTION: This year I lead both brands I work on decade with Alekha Engineer 50 Next time you’re in Coonoor, 66 Have you met India’s digital want to keep it simple, stop procrastinating to greater heights and spend don’t miss Radhika Shashtry’s transformer? Meet Jaspreet Bindra and pursue my dreams, whether it’s in time on my health, fitness IN ISPRAVA’S WORLD cool cafe my career, life or relationships. I want to and do things every week to 38 Isprava launches Lohono Stays, IN COLLECTION make small changes that will make big pamper myself. In this issue, are you excited? 54 The wine rules you need to 69 Enter the hot sauce station differences for me and those around me, I have contributed to the know and the ones you can break pushing myself harder than ever before. hustle... curating the list of all 43 Lohono Stays goes by connoisseur James Forsyth 70 What to binge watch while on Writing for the third edition of the Isprava the right influencers, putting Insider has been a joyful experience as it all the pieces of the puzzle international, are you ready? lockdown always is. From ideating story concepts to together in terms of design, IN BEAUTY AND HAPPINESS interviewing interesting personalities and content and getting the best 48 Are you eco-friendly and 62 A space exclusively dedicated 72 Memories with Lohono are illuminating their stories through words people on board to create this conscious, or a guzzler, take the to hairstyles and good times, yes always timeless; Here’s what our has been fun and enlightening. Until next masterpiece! Hope you enjoy it. quiz to find out! please guests have to say... time... 4 THE ISPRAVA INSIDER 2020 | VOLUME THREE | www.isprava.com THE ISPRAVA INSIDER 2020 | VOLUME THREE | www.isprava.com 5 IN{fashion+art+design} KEEPING UP IN STYLE AND DETAIL he words Kresha and ex- traordinary are synony- mous, whether it’s in refer- ence to her fairytale-esque fashion escapades and creations or her exotic ex- plorations under the sea. She has always been unique in her ways: as a Tkid, while most of her friends would be spend- ing their time outdoors playing, Kresha would transform her father’s tailoring shop into her own little playground, experiencing the nuanc- es of fine tailoring first hand, and understand- ing the fight for perfection. Keeping that ideal of perfection in her mind, when she couldn’t find an outfit that satiated her bridal expecta- tions, she designed her own wedding lehenga that featured motifs describing her love story, subsequently making LoveStory lehengas a real thing. On her honeymoon, unlike most newly wedded women, she spent hours in her hotel room studying for tests and waking up early to jump into the freezing cold sea in an effort to attain her dive license. It’s safe to say, anything is possible for Kresha Bajaj. And whatever she did, she did with an unwavering conviction, dedication, passion and unapologetic effort. She went from launching an e-commerce website, Koecsh, a brand with no name or face, to soon being invited to showcase at Lakmé Fashion Week and finally bringing to life Kré- sha Bajaj, her namesake brand, followed by her majestic Victorian-inspired boutique. But at the centre of it all, we discover, is her unequiv- ocal love for travel that inspires everything she does and creates. She quips, “Every garment I make is inspired by my travels or experiences, BEYOND each one having a unique story to tell. Without the travel I don’t think I would be able to be half as creative as I am.” Well, we find that hard to believe. Kresha is a talent powerhouse, and has ORDINARY been right from the beginning. Turning back the hands of time, Kresha India’s maestro fashion fondly speaks of her humble and curious be- designer, Kresha Bajaj goes ginnings, “From my childhood days spent around Badasaab, my father’s tailoring brand, the whole nine yards in I knew that designing was my calling. I have everything she does, and her always been attracted to everything to do with Victorian-inspired boutique cloth and thread, and transforming my mind is just the tip of the ice berg. to paper, and paper to reality.” To further her interest, she went on to study fashion for eight We dive into her life’s journey gruelling years at London College of Fashion, and see what extraordinary lies Parsons New York and Paris, and FIDM Los → beneath the surface 6 THE ISPRAVA INSIDER 2020 | VOLUME THREE | www.isprava.com THE ISPRAVA INSIDER 2020 | VOLUME THREE | www.isprava.com 7 IN{fashion+art+design} KEEPING UP IN STYLE AND DETAIL Angeles, all of ing over designs mak- outfit is designed to be styled in several ways, which contributed ing sure the first Kré- and features outfits that will never go out of to giving her a better sha Bajaj boutique was style. There is a patio which features a small insight into the tech- everything the brand garden where various installations are dis- niques that were re- aspires to be: delicate, played depending on the season and festival. quired for her to start whimsical, sexy, femi- Recently it was decorated with a lot of under- her fashion label. She nine, exceptional.” We water shells and starfish keeping in theme with pulled no stops, study- for one have to admit the brand’s collection launch, Acropora. “We ing everything from her boutique is all that want people to feel like they are stepping into design, marketing and and more.