A Pose By Any Other Name

Dress in all your finery, grab a guy who can work a turban, park your tushy on a velvet upholstered high back chair and smile the same smile for about three to four hours. If you don’t have the time, inclination or velvet throne to pose for an oil painting, send your photograph to Your Portrait and they’ll get an artist to do you on canvas (oil or acrylic).

Recently started by Tripti Kedia, ex broadcast journalist with Bloomberg UTV, this venture hopes to revive a dying technique and add a little art to your room. Kedia works with a bunch of struggling artists in the city to convert photographs of everything from babies and yachts to celebrities and couples into paintings. While the pictures on Your Portrait’s homepage are a little, how do we put this delicately, garish, their technique seems sound. And since the subject will be you, pretty reader, we’re sure it will turn out great.

Getting there: www.yourportrait.in, visit the Facebook page here, prices start at Rs 5,000. Order oils in advance (3-4 weeks) or acrylics (7-10 days) if you're in a rush .

Auto Pilot

“Ay Auto!” When MBA students Vikas Menon, Gopi Arvind and Shreyas Parekh shouted these two words on the desolate night street outside their campus, no black and yellow came. This happened numerous times and then desperate times called for desperate measures. The trio put their heads together and came up with something to make the lives of every Punekar easier: Ay Auto, a week-old dial-a-rickshaw service that operates from 7 pm to 7 am.

Two Pack Shakur

That Amruta Walvekar is one mean wrapper. The sound of paper rustling is like music to her ears, and the way she dresses up a gift in it, sheer poetry. Under her newly-launched label Wrapistry, the Pune resident crafts and sells boxes with bows (sheets and cards coming soon), a hand-made guarantee that your gift will never be dissed.

In the UK, Amruta studied the art of jazzing up paper under “wrapping gurus” Jane Means and Arona Khan. She then earned an MBA and worked a corporate job, but couldn’t really get her head out of the ribbon drawer. As a result, she recently moved back to Pune to purse presents.

What: Newsdrink.com, invite code: brownpaperbag, free membership.

Why: Newsdrink.com is the new Marie biscuit. A fresh aggregator site for newspapers, magazines and blogs from around the world, it’s the perfect accompaniment to your morning cup of tea. We love: Foreign Policy, Reuters’ Oddly Enough Blog and Two Guys Around TheWorld Photo Blog. What would be really fun, however, is if Newsdrink gives us access to paid subscriptions. Just a suggestion. Indian publications will be out next week, and a mobile app, next month.

When: You need a free press journal.

What: Wall tattoos by Shellyswall, visit www.shellyswalls.com or call 9821458112, same week installation, start at Rs 500.

Why: Get driven up the wall in a vintage jalopy or perch a flock of birds over your bed with these fun wall stickers that come in a ton of different colours, sizes and designs. You can customise your own as well, and just peel them off when you’re ready to move on.

When: You want to answer the wall of the wild.

What: Crafty alphabets and borders from Scrap Korner by Vaibhavi Gala, order via catalogue here, call 09730077168 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , Rs 595 for a set, home delivery across Pune.

Why: Paper peddler Vaibhavi Gala sources cool stationery from the US and UK - her latest acquisition includes a batch of kooky buttons - and sells them through her blog and website. bpb loves cut-out alphabets and ornate borders. In the pipeline: two-day D-I-Y retreats with bungalow stay and workshops. Can we stay for the cr-after party?

When: You want to make the cut.

What: Personalised Bollywood Poster Art, Limona Studio, email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it to order, price varies with size of canvas.

Why: Email the French Limona Studio your photos, along with the classic Hindi film poster you like – you can pick from the many options on their website, or send in your own – and they’ll ship you an oil painting, rendered by old-school Bollywood poster artists.

When: You want to star in movies like Mughal-E-Azam and Julie, even if it’s just on paper (or canvas).

What: Dial-A-Book, call 9650457457 / 9971243364, view the Facebook group here, free delivery, shipped in 2 to 3 working days.

Why: We’ve already established that reading is sexy, and now it comes with a hotline. This dial-a-novel extension is answered not by Madame Bovary but a certain Mr Mayank, who is well-versed enough to give you recommendations and track down titles that are hard to find in Mumbai bookstores. We even got a discount on our order of The Great Indian Novel by Shashi Tharoor.

When: You want a sigh-fi story.

What: I’m Yours postcards, email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , call 9884239270 or visit her blog here, Rs 150 for a pack of five, next day delivery.

Why: On these pretty cards, adorably rendered stick figures frolic in the snow, stretch out their arms, shred flowers and hold on tight to runaway hearts. Swoon.

When: You want her to love you pen-fold.

What: Fat Beds from Chrome Hotel Kolkata, to order email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , available in Fat King, Fat Queen and Fat Solo sizes, start at Rs 35,000, shipped nationally.

Why: Earn some serious bed-cred with these super luxurious cloud-like mattresses especially sourced by a cool Kolkata hotel. On your back, get set, go!

When: You want motee, kapda aur makaan.