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Once upon a time I was in love with an Indian man and lived with him and his family in Calcutta. He was a very sought after bachelor, got propositions from young ladies and their families all the time. 

One particularly persistent one was a dancer who had two nieces in London. The girls had come to visit Calcutta in search for an appropriate husband, and their aunt was relentless in her pursuit for my boyfriend. She  made it clear he could choose between either one of her nieces.  

My boyfriend, I'll call him R, was furious. People constantly trying to fix him up drove him crazy. And he was worried all these approaches might offend me. 

To the contrary.. Knowing that our relationship could not be threatened by anyone from the outside, I found it all rather amusing. Very culturally educational in fact. 

One night at dinner time we got ambushed. As R kept refusing to meet them, the dancer just showed up to display her nieces. There we sat, R's whole family and I, over a cup of tea, this dancer enthusiastically pitching the girls - their education, sophistication, financial status, family pedigree...

It was like watching cinema unfold in our living room.

The girls did their best to be charming, tried to lure R into the conversation. He was just fuming, I could almost see smoke rising from his head. 

Another person didn't leave it at fuming. R's grandmother had refused to come and meet our visitors at all, but as they didn't get the hint she took matters to her own hands, quite literally. 

This little elderly lady walked into the room - everybody tried to touch her feet as is done to elders out of respect - and she refused them all. She came to me, took me by the hand and walked me to our dinner table. 

We didn't speak a word of the same language but it wasn't needed. We sat by the table, she held my hand in hers and smiled at me. This little nonverbal gesture was the final word to that mating dance. 

The way that dancer stared at me - if only looks could kill. This didn't fit into the equation at all - an unwed foreign woman staying with this highly respected, honorable family. And the grandmother choosing me... She didn't have a box for for me - well, in Calcutta there was no box I could fit into.

In brief, the text above says that life is a necklace of pearls - each pearl an experience. Whatever kinds of pearls you choose to gather, just make sure your necklace won't be too short.

Reading this made me relive this very special pearl of my necklace.

 

 

 

I treasure moments of unexpected kindness, when someone offers you their help without any expectation of reciprocity, any agenda.

Today I was very much alone, and my heart escaped to an encounter in faraway Morogoro. I've written about this before but today I felt it so strong, this everlasting impression just one real meeting of souls can bring. This one of mine was one lonely night in the middle of literally nowhere, Tanzanian countryside.

That night, I was given a standard of hospitality and kindness I've held as benchmark ever since.

My team, such an interesting combination of cultures and experiences, had arrived to a new town late in the evening and it took me forever to set up our office (I was an assistant in a World Bank project during my studies) . As I finally finished I found myself abandoned by everyone else who'd gone off searching for dinner somewhere. The only street in town was lit by nothing but stars. I was simply too exhausted to brave the scorpions, snakes and other creepy-crawly surprises alone. My room had no light either... I couldn't sleep. I opted for our hotel's ragged bar and tried to kill time and hunger with a few crackers. Telephone didn't work outside the capital, I had no books to read, no newspapers.

Suddenly I felt very small and very much alone.

Until - a sweet looking young woman came to my table, shyly asking if I'd like to join her for a cup of tea. It turned out that Agnes - a delightful 23-year-old schoolteacher - and her husband - had seen me sitting there all alone feeling sorry for myself, and felt bad for me. Agnes had sent her husband off for a while, thinking it might be easier for me to join another woman alone. How very thoughtful. They didn't even let me pay for my own cup of tea. In their culture it simply was sad for a person to sit in a bar or restaurant alone.

We had so much fun together that evening... And when our team returned to the capital Dar es Salaam a month later, Agnes came to our hotel to meet me again. She wanted to check up on me, that I wasn't lonely. Who does that to someone, practically a stranger...

And this I am forever thankful for, she wanted to show me a place that left an everlasting impression on me.

Off we went by a loud, crowded, shabby bus filled with animals and people up to the roof, to a location unmarked by any tourist guide or map. Well, the bus route was marked as a place not to go to. On the bus, I felt why. 

This was a location where slaves had been gathered. Remains of tiny windowless huts filled by heavy rusty shackles on the way to oceanfront. Haunting as Auschwitz.

There we sat in silence for a long time, Agnes and I. We didn't speak at all upon our return to Dar. It felt somehow inappropriate. We hugged, and I never saw her again. But I'll never forget her kindness, and the unity we felt sitting next to those shackles.

There's such beauty, such kindness, such suffering... Such deep life everywhere. If you only dare to get out of your comfort zone and open your eyes.

In Morogoro, Agnes opened mine.  
~*♥*~

Now that I have closed the actual LadyBohemia Boutique so many people are asking me how it feels. And I'm not going to lie. Before and during the decision making I was so alone and lost. Tears and sleepless nights.  

But then, on our moving day, I received this message from a lovely woman who had just visited us for the first time, upon closing time. And somehow, through her sweet words, I got closure. 

It doesn't hurt any more.
 

How many people write to a store... It's magic that just on that day, she actually did.  

Thank you so much, you sweet soul - you know who you are - for your healing words. Both me and my mother wept when we read your message.  We had received such unfair criticism just earlier that I actually dare to publish also something that may seem self complementary - very un-Finnish.
But who cares. Here goes: 

Hei Kaisu,

Kaunis kiitos eilisestä: oli todella hienoa saada jakaa lämminhenkinen hetki sinun ja äitisi kanssa. Upeita ja niin kauniita, valoa ja lämpöä säteileviä, sielukkaita naisia olette kumpikin. Sen aisti vahvasti jo heti, kun astuin sisään, ennen kuin ensimmäistä sanaa oli sanottu. Hyvä energia ja ainutlaatuinen tunnelma. Kuten taisin mainita eilen, mietin jo ulkopuolella, että pitää mennä käymään sisällä, koska siihen on joku syy. Nämä odottamattomat, intuition ohjaamat "sattumat" ja kohtaamiset ovat elämän parasta antia; lämpimiä läikähdyksiä, jotka jättävät jäljen sydämeen. Kaikki herkkä ja kaunis tapahtuu yleensä elämän normaalien uomien ulkopuolella, kun vaan antautuu hetkien ja polveilevien sivupolkujen vietäväksi.

Pysäyttävä tarinasi on kulkenut tosi vahvasti mukana tässä eilen ja tänään. Elämä on niin musertavan raadollista välillä ja jäljelle jää vain kysymys, miksi herkimpien sielujen kohdalle sattuu usein niin paljon... Sanat jäävät ohuiksi eikä niillä koskaan pysty kyllin hyvin tavoittamaan surun syvyyttä. Korkeavuorenkatua kulkiessa tuli tunne, että pitää lähettää sinulle tämä ao. Elisabeth Kübler-Rossin kaunis kiteytys. 

"The most beautiful people we

have known are those who have 

known defeat, known suffering,

known struggle, known loss, and

have found their way out of the

depths. These persons have an 

appreciation, a sensitivity, and

an understanding of life that fills

them with compassion, gentleness,

and a deep loving concern.

Beautiful people do not just happen."

Olisin niin suonut teidän rakkaudelle tässä ulottuvuudessa paljon, paljon enemmän aikaa. Olet taatusti ollut aivan riittävän kaunis ihminen ja enemmänkin jo ennen viimeisiä käänteitä. Sanat eivät riitä kertomaan, kuinka syvästi pahoillani ja surullinen olen puolestasi. Luin joitakin blogitekstejäsi eilen: aitoja, elämänmakuisia hetkiä ja ajatelmia ilman mitään päälleliimattua roolia tai nykyään paljon peräänkuulutettua henkilöbrändiä (joka mielestäni tarkoin rakennettuna peittää todellisen ihmisen ja on vähän tylsä markkinointikikka - ontto, hajuton ja mauton). En ehtinyt lukea kaikkea, mutta pienen otannan perusteella olet ehtinyt olla monessa mukana. Vahvasti elossa, etkä pelkästään olemassa. Kaltaisiasi ei ole maailmassa liikaa.

Ihana oli eilen huomata, että on muitakin, joiden mielestä yrittäjyys voi perustua "sydämen asioihin", kuten sen kauniisti puit sanoiksi. Näin uskon itsekin. Se, miltä "liikeidea" päälle päin näyttää, voi sen lisäksi perustua vielä syvemmille arvoille ja elämäntehtävälle. Jotkut sen tunnistavat heti, jotkut ehkä eivät, mutta samapa tuo. Kaunista yhtä kaikki - pinnalla ja pinnan alla, kuka milläkin tasolla resonoi. Pääasia, että itse tietää paikkansa tässä maailmassa. Kaikkea hyvää uuteen alkuun ihastuttavalle LadyBohemialle.

Kerrohan lämpimät terveiset äidillesi! Rauhallisia, rentouttavia hetkiä pienten kullanmurujesi kanssa. Toivottavasti saat aikaa ja tilaa olla ja palautua.

Auringonsäteitä ja sydänvaloa <3

The circle is now full.
I feel free. 

Now that I'm shifting totally to the webshop (and pop-ups) Oona and I have had some hard core photographing days. Plenty of coffee, many laughs. But just wait till the end of this post to see the gorgeousness we created...

Making a studio at my home... Out of a vintage table cloth, a bedsheet and some gauze :). 

Unfortunately, the bedsheet was too short for the frame... But we didn't give up.

Last touches... And this is what we came up with:

This dreamy outfit is actually custom made for me, but should you want to order one do send me a message, at the comments section of this post or at LadyBohemia Boutique in fb <3. 

We did good on our first photoshoot for this project, no? There are so many more photos and clothes coming to the webshop soon... 


Even my sweet perfectionist friend was happy... So after a couple of days, oops we did it again. And will do soon... Stay tuned <3

Much love, 
Kaisu / LadyBohemia

Model: Oona Elena Kassila
Photography: Kaisu Haumont

 

 

As many of you know, LadyBohemia is continuing with a whole new idea, quite adventurous but it feels so right... I'll be concentrating on the international webshop and hosting pop-ups for my loyal customers here in Helsinki <3. 

I'll try to post something lovely to the webshop every day so if you like the LadyBohemia style, do check it out <3. 

So, this is just a little taste of what's about to come....

This unique piece is already at the webshop, one piece in old rosa, one in black: https://ladybohemiashop.com/products/a-dusty-rosa-little-fairy-dress

These dresses are on their way to the webshop: 

Boho maxidress with gorgeous lace detailing, coming as soon as I find larger pictures..

Sweetest romantic poncho, 45e in soft white, old rosa, mauve and soft grey. Soon from the webshop.

Bohemian wrap maxidress, in olive green and soft white. 

Lovelies decorated lace skirt, with a delicate lace hemline. 

All this and plenty more, I'll do my best to surprise you with something beautiful every day.

Thank you sweet friends for following LadyBohemia's path and supporting our new way of bringing beauty and inspiration to each and every day <3. 

With love, 
LadyBohemia