Babushkas and Anadems

a sad day

2012-01-01T23:32:00.002-05:00

auroville, dec '11

November image

2011-11-22T03:45:00.001-05:00

november

2011-11-21T01:12:00.001-05:00

Workspace, noon

2011-10-17T05:44:00.002-04:00

For some comfort food

2011-09-13T01:35:00.002-04:00

Look at this..... :)

...

2010-07-21T05:24:00.002-04:00

tea

2010-04-30T09:19:00.000-04:00

april

2010-04-28T08:50:00.001-04:00

gummygirl

2010-03-24T03:00:00.003-04:00

Saw this on Sagar's blog
and thought I should try it.

It's awesome!

On another journey

2010-03-14T03:05:00.002-04:00

Atleast several times I have thought about blogging in the past some months since I haven't been blogging. And the thought would slip away so easily, I decided this is it.
And then some friends asked me to get back to it. I thought again, but ti seemed to me a closed chapter.

Well I guess it isn't anymore.
I reopen this book here.

On another journey.

It's a wrap. or Packing up for good.

2009-11-12T00:44:00.002-05:00

How do you say bye to a city you love?

I've been delaying packing and actually, delaying dealing with the fact that I'm saying bye bye to Ahmedabad. But now there's only a week left and I have to be real.
Don't want to pack. Will have to begin to call movers and packers today.

And winter's finally here (even though it took a dizzy Phyan to bring it over). It's grey and cold.
Nice change.

Nice change.

...

2009-11-06T05:55:00.001-05:00

hot chilli peppers in the blistering sun

2009-10-12T13:59:00.001-04:00

another ode, some more yellow flowers

2009-09-30T05:55:00.001-04:00

neighbors...

2009-09-01T18:00:00.001-04:00

workspace ~ goodnight

2009-08-22T01:03:00.002-04:00

views

2009-07-21T13:45:00.001-04:00

something sumptious

2009-07-21T07:48:00.000-04:00

sometimes

2009-07-16T12:03:00.001-04:00

looking back

2009-07-08T07:30:00.003-04:00

these past few months have been heavy.

and these coming months are going to haphazard too considering the plans i'm making.

but it's always a good feeling to look back at my sketchbooks once the storm has passed.

this, from my new house

2009-07-06T02:58:00.003-04:00

waiting to experience this house in the rains...

The end of last month's sketchbook

2009-06-30T06:12:00.001-04:00

How things had become

2009-06-27T08:49:00.001-04:00

I've done this before

2009-06-26T07:58:00.000-04:00

two chairs

2009-06-23T01:08:00.002-04:00

A brother for poetry

2009-06-14T02:24:00.002-04:00

Something new is going to come up.
But as of now I'm doing my best to stay afloat.

My four brothers (according to Indonesian culture) and a blue stone are taking care of me and this time around, the first time ever I swear, I am taking care of me, too.

Old pages

2009-05-19T01:03:00.004-04:00

I haven't drawn or photographed anything in really long.
Was busy busy with house-hunting and then packing and then moving and still the new house is too isolated and cold. I think I'm going to look for another place still.
I tried to feel okay in the new house but I resented going back there each evening, feeling such a sigh of relief as soon as I locked the door and walked out of it. But still, each time I walked up the stairs and unlocked the door, that stupid little sense of belonging tried to get into the house too.
Sigh, too much confusion.
And so I came home, to my parents' place to relax for a bit.

Soliloquy on this Sunday

2009-04-12T11:52:00.000-04:00

yesterday

2009-04-10T00:18:00.000-04:00

tea under the tree etc

2009-04-06T15:06:00.005-04:00

A friend came over, we had tea and chatted. Lots of us were there. Then he shared with us the story of his short film that he's making. We discussed it for a good part of the hour and then we went out for dinner.
At one of the traffic signals a little boy was selling something that flashed lights. This is what it is! :)

And we ate yummy kebabs.

Still in a funk

2009-04-05T11:17:00.001-04:00

It's a late afternoon

2009-04-04T02:22:00.003-04:00

I haven't been enjoying my work lately.
So today I've decided to paint a little, draw and doodle a little, read a little and think a little. Hope I can relax and think clearly about everything today. Will try and find some good Assam tea that dee's asked me to taste.

Have a nice day everyone :)

In Bombay for the day, enroute to Goa

2009-03-30T14:02:00.002-04:00

Cherry tree, Saal, Goa

2009-03-26T02:00:00.001-04:00

girl, water

2009-03-18T02:39:00.003-04:00

Meet Suzanne

2009-03-05T09:32:00.002-05:00

She'll be coming around soon!

It's all been white

2009-02-27T01:49:00.001-05:00

for sometime now and I'm soaking myself in this whiteness.

21st feb

2009-02-21T13:13:00.000-05:00

untitled -9

2009-02-17T09:39:00.001-05:00

Untitled-8

2009-02-16T10:56:00.000-05:00

After

2009-02-06T01:07:00.002-05:00

Finding peace

Sunday with A ching um

2009-01-22T23:30:00.002-05:00

one

2009-01-01T11:33:00.000-05:00

This year I'm going to try to post something on my blog everyday.
Let's see how it goes!

Food for thought

2008-12-31T09:30:00.003-05:00

When the putrid smell of urine and goo and shit from this side of the road where slum children defecate,
mixes with the aroma of hot halwa being cooked in the sweet shop on the other side of the road,
what does it smell like?

Happy new year!

Here I am

2008-12-11T04:40:00.002-05:00

A journey has ended today.
I'm back here, absorbing the sounds, warm sun, chatter, conversations, mania, smells, familiar sights and the world at large, slowly.
Feels good to be here.

The autorickshaw driver who got me home this morning, wasn't even an autorickshawwala. He said he has a restaurant near the airport and uses the auto to cart his stocks. A 'Punjabi Chinese' restaurant. I dread to think what that must taste like but he gave me his card before leaving.
I like this place :)

The trees in Charlotte

2008-12-01T21:53:00.003-05:00

The trees in Charlotte are beautiful. They're leafless these days and I've been trying to draw them eversince I got here...they mesmerise me.

Journal here

2008-11-20T18:16:00.000-05:00

The end of the world?

2008-11-16T13:07:00.001-05:00

The thing to notice

2008-11-16T00:11:00.001-05:00

babushkas and anadems

2008-11-15T01:15:00.001-05:00

adopt your own virtual pet!

November...

2008-11-10T13:39:00.001-05:00

From another happy land I post this

2008-10-30T21:08:00.000-04:00

Work in progress

2008-10-19T17:23:00.003-04:00

Hands

2008-10-16T12:53:00.002-04:00

Not willowy
or reminiscent
of sunrises,
not typical
lady's hands
garnished with
feisty colours
on fingertips.

Carpenter's hands
sculptor's clay molding
from mud to bands.
They have no particular hour
of awakening.
The morning does little
to make them tingle,
yes,
tingle
they must.
Nighttime is perfect
to raise a requiem.
We sing together
in perfect raw harmony
these ten digits of mine.

You may not like the sound.
It may be din to you.
This cacophony
is the birth
of activity.
They seldom clap
to announce their
arrival.
Hence,
no garlands
are brought out
and no
rings laid fresh.
Could diamonds
make them pretty?
Could diamonds
ornament a
block of wood,
a bump of clay
that is drying in the sun?
If yes,
then yes.

This was written some years ago.

too much noise

2008-10-15T13:10:00.001-04:00

White

2008-10-12T10:43:00.000-04:00

6. (tick)

2008-10-11T03:47:00.000-04:00

and later in the evening

2008-10-03T10:58:00.001-04:00

I'm enjoying these.

And later in the evening...

hello

2008-09-30T07:45:00.000-04:00

2008-09-27T08:09:00.000-04:00

Good morning

2008-09-24T23:27:00.003-04:00

Ah, approaching old age, I woke up at 4:30 am today. I still can't believe it.
The maid rang the bell and I opened the door. She smiled and said, "you're awake today!".

I wish I could wake early every morn but I just can't.
Sigh.

Anyway, Made use of the morn and shot some photos of ants for the new book I'm working on. Feeling good. Off to work now. Have a nice day!

From long long ago

2008-09-19T10:41:00.000-04:00

little

2008-09-12T05:58:00.001-04:00

2008-09-07T15:20:00.000-04:00

This funny business

2008-08-31T11:15:00.002-04:00

Yesterday I went to a play by the Budhan theatre group.
Was lovely to meet Nitin who performed in one of the plays, and all his friends who also performed. They asked me to perform with them.
I said I'm not an actor, I can't act.
They said that's what even they said till they begun to work together...and look at them all now!
I didn't know what to say.
They said, come by to our library where we all practice every evening.
I said I'd try.

It's very far. The other side across town. And I'm not going to be an actor anyways.

But I'd love to meet the kids again and share their energies.

Coming soon!

2008-07-30T08:23:00.003-04:00

Some of the jewellery I've been making...

some

2008-07-08T00:44:00.000-04:00

silly billy!!!!!

2008-06-23T06:47:00.001-04:00

just some

2008-06-11T04:52:00.001-04:00

my room

2008-04-25T05:17:00.001-04:00

2008-04-02T04:03:00.001-04:00

2008-03-13T02:44:00.000-04:00

Jaisalmer

2008-02-22T08:15:00.002-05:00

Near the windmills, a picturesue pit stop for chai, ofcourse.

And then....an endless sea of windmills...

Automato

2008-02-02T04:08:00.000-05:00

glimpses

2008-01-27T05:18:00.000-05:00

from a friend

2008-01-24T06:06:00.000-05:00

Uttarayan, the kite festival in Ahmedabad

2008-01-21T06:49:00.000-05:00

........

2008-01-15T07:12:00.000-05:00

peace

2008-01-09T02:42:00.000-05:00

a good night's sleep

peppered with some peace

2007-12-13T06:53:00.000-05:00

2007-12-08T03:03:00.000-05:00

propaganda

propaganda

disgusting,
propaganda.

i'm so sick of it all.

Something warm

2007-12-03T23:44:00.000-05:00

And to what do I owe this honour?

2007-11-28T01:47:00.000-05:00

4

2007-11-20T08:55:00.000-05:00

4 bushels full of work.
And nothing else to do.

perform

2007-10-22T10:37:00.000-04:00

Big fruit shares its aura

2007-10-15T10:28:00.000-04:00

2007-09-17T03:40:00.000-04:00

And when an autorickshaw full of little schoolgirls, decides to shout a jingle across the crossroads while you're walking in the morning, what can you do but smile.
:)

Heritage walk in Ahmedabad

2007-09-06T06:18:00.000-04:00

An exploration for a book

2007-08-30T02:11:00.000-04:00

The strange things

2007-08-18T00:29:00.000-04:00

This ennui leads us to strange things. Ennui and a bit of fear of the unknown.

Unknown

2007-07-29T11:19:00.000-04:00

My friend made this

2007-07-27T06:04:00.000-04:00

That's my friend and I..

Ducky

2007-07-05T03:52:00.001-04:00

Here's what I made for a dear friend who's going to have a baby next month.

I had so much fun making it!

colour

2007-06-28T09:33:00.000-04:00

The fledglings are ready to fly.

Gosh, it makes me so sad, you know.

That's the way it is, then.

A little busybody :)

2007-06-07T03:46:00.000-04:00

Back from Diu!

2007-05-22T03:19:00.001-04:00

It was superb, as always.

Had a fall, but I'm almost fine now.

Here's some photos!

Untitled

2007-05-12T09:29:00.000-04:00

A quiet has descended.
Clouds have risen.
Empty empty empty
empty empty
empt
empty empty.

No, not a soul in sight.
Each activity in the day is complete in itself.
Chai comes and goes like a faithful lover doting on me.

This joy?
This sorrow?
This anxiety?
This calm?
This hallucination?
How do I name it?

And where?
I spent some hours in the bookstore today but it wasn't there either.

So then?

2007-05-11T03:48:00.000-04:00

The day starts off a peach.
Somewhere
around noon
it becomes about four shades darker.
How do you explain this?

2007-05-04T02:52:00.000-04:00

I have noticed one thing lately, pondered over it, and come to this conclusion.
People who do not read literature or almost any other kind of books are 'different' from those who do, in moral character.
I would elucidate and give fresh examples from my chai break only minutes ago but that is another matter.
No literature = Strange moral character.

Sunday

2007-04-25T07:38:00.001-04:00

Out on the road today
I met
an afternoon so easy and personal,
it made me want to
walk barefeet.