The Ethnic State of Mind

Urban Poor this festive season ?

Are you wondering what Urban Poor is ?

Haven’t you heard about the buzz-feed article on ” The Urban Poor You Haven’t Noticed : Millenials who’re Broke, Hungry, But on Trend “. These are what we call the first world problems in a third world country. It spoke about how a woman bought a car with her first salary and then makes it her home in Mumbai, where living life is pretty tough. How a young professional, despite of the affordable & subsidised office canteen would refuse to eat the entire day, goes to a 5-Star hotel to have a 200 Rs. sandwich. These are the urban poor – not poor at all but lost financially in a metro city trying to calibrate their lifestyle according to the surroundings. The urban poor leave behind roti-sabji for burger-coke. That’s the perception we live with. I am not encouraging it but having a general discussion. It’s always right to be smart when it comes to money. We work hard to be safe financially and live a comfortable life. The people in the article sound irresponsible rather that hip & cool. I sure don’t want to be one of them, but I have . There were times when just to pay my bills, I would starve myself but not anymore.

It’s festive season and some of you might be struggling to pay your bills and still want to look fresh and alluring. This month is all about Goddess Durga and The Festival of Lights. My heart and soul belongs to my beautiful town called Durgapur. A city that has taught me a lot. Made me fall in love with food and the bong culture. The Bengali in me is super excited for the Durga Puja . From the dhak sound to the stalls filled with inviting dishes. Last year, I wrote a post on The Bong Connection, you can read it if you are clueless about the festival. It’s that time when we spend four days of the year, enjoying good food & music. When friends get together and all the pandal hopping starts. A new tinder location spotted !! Since childhood, we always got four pair of new clothes for those four days of Durga Puja. That tradition followed us even after 27 years.

Some of you might be wondering how to make amends with just one outfit or maybe none. But you can always style clothes with whatever you already have in your closet and look amazing !! There is a world full of prints and patterns.

Relax ! I have just the right post for you – Durga Puja Hacks. You can always jazz up your clothes with accessories which wouldn’t cost you more than 500 Rs. Here in this post, I have a simple red Kurta and black legging from Fab India. Will show you three ways of styling the same Kurta and leggings. All you would need is different jacket (Nehru jacket or Blazer) and accessories. I have realised that it doesn’t matter if its new or old, all that matters is how you style !! I practically live in long sleeve or quarter sleeve Kurtas all the time and also feel extremely comfortable. My go-to and the easiest looks ever !! Earrings are always the perfect accessory to enhance your look. Wear blazer for that office – appropriate look . Great news – investing in a blazer or jackets are always worth the splurge because you can wear the Jacket over and over again with different outfits.