CTS 1

Rings

Rings are believed to have originated in Egypt, where pharaohs wore them to represent eternity, as circles don’t have a start nor an end.

I was never a jewellery person.

Until a few years ago when I visited my relatives for Diwali and my elder sister gave me a ring to wear to complete my outfit. It felt uncomfortable at first but grew on me over the night. Since then, shopping has always involved seeking jewellery stalls for rings.

I’ve bought rings from all the places I’ve visited. I’ve realised that different places have different aesthetics/designs of rings which express their culture and how they want to present themselves to the world. Excluding common rings sold everywhere, the majority of rings sold in Thailand are very different from those in India. In my country itself, rings vary from north to south.

I’ve collected various rings over the years and they’ve become a significant way to express myself. They’ve helped me find my style and and helped me discover colour.

Cats

Since I can remember, my elders have always kept me away from cats and only let me play with dogs. As I grew older, I began to think that I liked dogs better. And I could not have been more wrong.

During the pandemic, there was a sudden increase in stray cats in my neighbourhood. Without having anything else to do, one day I decided to try and pet the cats. I instantly fell in love.

I like observing how different each cat is, both in appearance and personality. From the colours and patterns of their fur to the colour of their paw pads. I try to take pictures of them in their most candid form but they sometimes spot me.

Recently, I even adopted one of the stray kittens in my locality and named her Miso. She’s a calico and the sweetest cat you’ll ever meet.

This is a collection of photos of some cats I’ve had the pleasure of meeting.

Kpop Visuals

The k-pop industry has its own feel to it, its outfits, music videos, merchandise, etc, one look and you’ll know its k-pop.

I was interested in k-pop album covers even before I heard any k-pop music. I like how k-pop merchandise has a totally different feel and look, and they’re also very different to western ones. As I’ve further gotten into the culture, I’ve come to appreciate the set designs, makeup and overall art direction of every album by idols.

Album covers are usually very bright and colourful to catch the eye, except rarely they do look sombre because of the concept of the album. In the past few years, I have realised that they either have the idol on the cover or an illustration related to the concept. And I personally like the illustration ones more.

From the marketing point of view, Albums don’t only have CDs in them, they have idol photocards, an entire photo-book and other merchandise related to the concept like notebooks, etc so that more people are compelled to buy them.

I think people like buying albums for various reasons, the most prominent would obviously be because they like a certain music artist but they also buy albums for their design and for the personal satisfaction of owning them.

I currently only have one album, BE by BTS. This is because albums are very difficult and expensive to get in India, but I’ve recently been to a k-pop store and will get more.