Day 410- Sarees And The City

I had planned this for a while, making a box vignette for Winni on her birthday the way I did for Uncle Vasu's 80th  just a few months back.

I wanted to make a box that is essentially her, someone who wears the most outrageously mini dresses but would occasionally don a traditional saree for her boyfriend (she a Catholic, he from a family of a devout Hindu); a beer guzzler who loves to dance but whom I have never seen drunk; immaculate hair except in the rain; a fierce foe but also a loyal and devoted partner.

One side of the box reads: I am not a sari kind of girl but sometimes for love, I kind of am.

I completed the vignette in an afternoon.

She wears a saree of course but it is one of glitter and suede with a veil in the boldest print and brightest blue. Like a leading lady in a Bollywood movie, she dances under a tree but her tree blooms in a burst of untamed hues and she has wild flowers in her hand and hair

 and yet.....I felt something missing.

Until I found this bottle of Tiger beer 

 and finally, I think I have made a box that is essentially her.

Sarees & The City

by
Sans!

Celebrating National Day

Mass rapid transit train (metro) running in front of a block of flats

We celebrate National Day today. 

Exactly 49 years ago, Singapore gained independence from Malaysia after a rather unceremonious expulsion from the Federation due to racial tension.

Flat with playground featuring Dragon slide

Since then, this country celebrates the 9th of August, rejoicing in how through the very difficult early years, we have built a nation where people of different races now call home.

Flat with clothes hanging out- a typical sight

Typically, in the days leading up to our National Day, many events with themes revolving around the country's achievements are organised. 

Of special interest to me this year is the Recycled Project organised by Yeo's, a  Singapore company that pioneered the use of tetra pak .

Hundreds of kindergarten children came together to build miniature blocks of  HDB flats (our public housing) using Yeo's tetra pak drinks packaging.

90% of Singaporeans live or have at one point in their life, lived in such a flat. Today, more than 80% of us still do. 

Looking at how creative the little ones were with these recycled packaging truly inspired and amazed me. All the attention to details made me want to build one too.

Vertical gardens are more and more common in our high rise these days

Most of the material used was the packaging of course but there was also paper, plastic, straws and strings.

The children even used little cut-outs of themselves to illustrate how myriad the households in a flat can be.

Many of the flats were of course decorated with flags and string pennants to commemorate the National Day.

What I especially love though are the playgrounds, so many of them reminiscent of my own childhood.

Playground with Dragon Slide

Park made entirely with paper

"Water Tanks" and "Pipes"

Walking through rows of these miniature structures, I was brought back immediately to all of my childhood homes, the last of which I left for good only after I turned 26. 

A real life dragon playground from 1970

Ten storey flats from 1960s

Colourful flats close to where I live today

So kudos to all the little children and their teachers and thank you for the special memories. You are all creative geniuses.

HAPPY 49TH!