Hey fellas! I hope you all are doing good. I've been so excited to publish this post today as its a dedication to the amazing work of art and the creative minds behind two successful ventures I absolutely adore! One being FUNKFEETS - the ultimate e-commerce shopping portal for customised t-shirts and shoes, and the other one being my most favorite hangout spot in Lucknow - PLANTERS TEA BAR & CAFE. These two projects as I mentioned, define the true meaning of creativity and design aesthetics and hold a very special place in my heart!
In 1956, Mr. Roop Narayan Gupta started Planters Tea Shop which was Lucknow's first tea shop selling loose Darjeeling tea and serving thousands of tea lovers in town. As progressing with the years, his grand son Vasu Gupta along with his father Mr. Rajendra Kumar Gupta and mother Mrs. Sunita Gupta continued the legacy by expanding Planters with a cafe they recently opened in the Gomti Nagar area of Lucknow which is one of the most popular cafes not only amongst the youth but the middle aged men and women as well. From self-customized interiors, to unique, handpicked cutlery makes Planters different from other cafes and restaurants in town! Since I myself have been a part of the making of the cafe, I have some of my personal favorite corners there which I'm sharing with you below. Scroll down to take a look now..
The Singer's Spot : I won't be wrong if I say this spot is everyone's favorite who has visited Planters Tea Bar & Cafe at least once. The multi color wall sends out such positive and energetic vibes that you can keep looking at it all day without getting bored! And, this is the corner where Vasu (the owner and an amazing musician) sits with his guitar every single day and plays LIVE for all his guests at the cafe, entertaining them personally. Also, its an open spot for all the people who have a hidden entertainer in them and like to share their talent with others.
PS : The next time you visit Planters, do try singing some songs and trust me, you'll feel amazing by the encouraging response!
The Reader's Nest : While Planters was under construction, Vasu told me once he wants to gift a Library to all the book readers in the town who could have a free access to the books they love and read it without any time boundations sitting there. During the launch of the cafe, I saw hundreds of Lucknowites donating books to the library at Planters to share the love of reading, and I being a non-reader have started loving spending time there reading some of the coolest authors as well!
The Galaxy Wall : Along with the library, there's an attached study room for students and anyone who wants to sit in peace and work a bit. And, right there, on a black wall you find this magnificent piece of art which is a graffiti designed by artist Ayushi Singh making not only me but every single visitor pose in front of it leaving us to dream about the heaven above!
The Tea Lovers' Wall : Planters tea bar does not serve any drink except different varieties of tea, and you should've understood that by its name by now! Serving over 150 types of tea, Planters dedicated a special customised corner for tea lovers to sit at, and that's a very creative tea cup and saucer wall which you see in the picture above. Its one of my favorite decorations there and make me feel so homely.
The Unmovable Counter : This is my ultimate favorite corner at Planters Cafe, and anytime you see me there, you'll find me sitting here only (until I'm with a bunch of amigos wanting to sit on a couch like lazy). I love sitting at this wooden setup near the window because I can always get a view of both the in and outside world and you gotta believe me when I say, this corner is the best you'll find there! - Also, you must try the pizza at the cafe because its just too good and truly irresistible.
Coming to why I love Funkfeets so much, its solely because this brand has always surprised me with their top-notch collection of hand painted clothing and footwear. What else surprised me more was that the three men behind this amazing concept were a mix of an engineer (Sanatt Srivastava co-founder), a banker (Shubhendu Shukla, co-founder) and a dentist (Sachin Kumar, design head) who had passion for graphics and designing more than what were actually pursuing!
Started in February this year, Funkeets first gifted me a t-shirt from their minion collection that had #PickerAtPace painted on it, and they won my heart with that in the first go itself! With all the pictures you've seen above of me wearing different tees, are all the ones I've got from this super brand. I just had to tell them a little about myself and they delivered the wackiest hand painted designs every time. The Crazy Insomniac Lady tee, the Fries Before Guys tee, and my favorite PEACE-ZA tee, I love each one of them! Also, not to forget the customised shoes they made for me. The coolest of all, the Pizza Freak sneakers and the Laughing Minions, both these pairs are an exquisite part of my footwear collection. ------- PS : The quality of all the tees and shoes is excellent so if you're thinking to get something designed for yourself, please go ahead guilt-free!
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Just because I feel really excited about it, I'd share with you that Planters Tea Bar & Cafe was launched on my birthday this year and Vasu made sure we had the craziest party of all time with the best decoration and I cannot complete this post without stating that the little corner beside the kitchen/near the stairs where my photo booth was set up is something I'll recommend to all if you're hosting your party there! You can literally do magic with that little space.
To end, a lot of you keep watching me hanging out here quite often and ask me on social media how economical this place is. To be honest, its the most inexpensive cafe with the best food, tea variety and ambience in town currently and also offers LIVE music every day free of cost! If that invites you, please do visit it and you can always thank me later.
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Photographed by : Shubham Bhasin
~xoxo~
