heaven is now

of plays

2009-07-04T00:22:00.003+05:30

you cannot engrave on water

nor wound it with a knife,

which is why

the river

has no fear

of memories.

- bhagvata, hayavadana

A narration with such wit, conflict, amusement and self mockery, i feel so insignificant in all my possible literary pursuits.

From Jokumaraswami, to Pebet, to Hayavadana, I have been amazed at their imagination.

leave home

2009-06-29T18:17:00.002+05:30

there is a boy who barks

he does not fight

he knows not how,

so he never leaves

for the life unkown

and lives in misery

of his own

he just gets fed

and fed at home

he barks and barks

and say's he'll go,

but go he doesnt

and fight he doesnt,

though he has it all

that it takes

to survive

fireflies

2009-06-23T23:42:00.008+05:30

There is so much to say. But, everyone's got a story to tell. From the Queen of England to the House of Hell... said jack white. And i can't agree more. So, I'll express thoughtfully-briefly.

I have been to an elegantly shaped part of India, without which the physical map would be imbalanced. A tribal culture so rich and so unique, it was a discovery for my senses. An innocent me wanted to do social communication, for I was clueless of what the term means (and I still am). A craft seeker me wanted to learn weaving (cant wait to build a loom). An experience seeker me wanted to enter the 'north-east' and understand what the fuss is all about.

I realised that NGOs are but doing social communication themselves, weaving is learn't and not taught (like many other things in life), and my experience will be impaired if I begin my journey with a term like 'north-east'.

Nonetheless, it was an experience that inspired me. I saw an India I hadn't seen till now. The beauty of Boro women, their fields extending till the horizon , cattle grazing on expansive open valleys, streams in perpetual perpendicularity to roads, homes in large compounds, built with fine craftmanship, the mahajans living in farmhouse like splendour for my taste... saw a burst of fireflies in the night, after nearly 2 decades.

An organisation which took root there and grew strong and synonymous with Boro weaves was started by Jenny (along with others ) who has a fresh, energetic, and pleasant presence and influence. I adore her and her lovely daughter Aman, whom I had once asked to write her name in Hindi, and she wrote shanti (in hindi). As a resource base, the ant is mature and constantly growing.

Meghalaya was breathtaking, from the little I saw. It is the Nagas who fascinate me though, for some undefined reason. Shillong, I'd say, is the fashion capital of India! Especially on a Sunday, tastefully dressed girls, guys with funky hairdo's, all over the town...

Kolkata fascinated me for a day (while changing trains). I was there last- eighteen years ago. Found the places imprinted in my memory. Saw what I didn't see or recall as a child, a city with much breadth, width and depth. The ferry, the bus, the oldest lanes, the new market, very modernly vintage for me.

Yes, I must return, but is there an end to being in awe?
I hope not!

finito

2009-04-29T13:40:00.003+05:30

some tangible outputs, though not on screen,

i loved making these,

an elementary popup/ kirigami book, on a poem by yeats.

more here

An interesting illustration exercise:
We proposed an elementary education system in India, wherein a child can learn whatever he wants, whenever, from whomsoever and wherever.
So, if i were a child who grew up like that, and i kept a diary on all that I learnt on a day... how would i depict it?
And how would i show the same 'learning' of the child as an artist?

more here

tummy talk

2009-04-25T21:58:00.004+05:30

Had my first cornetto of the season

and it was oh so synthetic.

what makes my day here?

- a glass of thick delicious mango juice from bjc

- a warm chocolate brownie from ccd

- unlimited watermelon juice in the mess

- a bowl of budhani namkeen in my room

- cream of chicken soup from gulmohar

umm, damn, my delights are full of starters. only.

Saw a series of '50 things to eat before you die' by BBC maybe

and there is so much to try!

hmpf

firsts

2009-04-15T22:56:00.002+05:30

a lot of firsts today

rode my cycle hands free, hands folded

bought paan and got it packed for my roomie and me

left my mobile in the drawer of my classroom

wore a long L-sized t-shirt untucked in both private and public!

did not refer to any images form the internet for an assignment

there should be as many firsts everyday :)

to be a storyteller

2009-04-08T20:05:00.004+05:30

One warm summer afternoon, in the study of a thinker's room, stood a table and a chair. The paper weight on the table pinned down a thought, and held it tight. The thought had to flee itself from files and weights. It prayed for a breeze or a monstrous sneeze. The thought was miserable with the sweat and the crease, and the ironing of its fine fiber. The paper weight was in love with the thought. It felt complete only when it could pin something down.
Soon came in the thinker, with more thoughts to be pinned. He picked up the hard, cold weight and in that very moment, the thought was free. It plopped by sideways, and nobody noticed.

~ my 100th published post :D

sing

2009-04-04T19:05:00.001+05:30

When repeating om for a few minutes,

a resonance fills my head

makes it heavy

like a drunk high

the vibration

numbs the noises

in my head

from mars

2009-03-29T22:14:00.002+05:30

yippee

2009-03-27T22:49:00.002+05:30

welcome dear scanner,
with tea and ink

the cream coloured city of reflections

2009-03-13T17:21:00.004+05:30

the cream coloured hills, the cream coloured palace walls
voluptuous hillocks lined with shrubs for demarcation

there are no boundaries, the morphology is seamless

a lake being the nucleus of the city, meandering along

inner city gets customised to foreign choices

windows not meant for ventilation, but for diyas

a sea of colourless, vacant, dome shaped samadhi's

staircases meant for one person to climb at a time

the village deity is locked and devotees are given to keys

udaipur

taps

2009-03-13T17:14:00.001+05:30

We have a Changing Display Wall outside our auditorium. My first, modest installation.

/
This exhibit has no name.
This wall is yours. Make your meaning.
I am just the installer of the visual in my head.
Which is unfaithful to a single interpretation.

I see a lot of water, but I know there isn't any.
I see a lot of consumers, but no receivers.
I see an army of taps, wars waiting to be fought.
I see no end to meaning - making.

chor-craw-fort

2009-03-13T11:41:00.002+05:30

:) finally on a saturday, we made it to the golden shopping-roaming-seeing-photographing trio of mumbai. yes yes, i know there is more to mumbai. we iitians, the disconnected ones, have hardly seen a third of mumbai. i speak only for myself :)
a tobacco pipe from chor bazaar, my first ever antique purchase.
khadi gramudyog, your runners and dhurries are lovely!
cotton cottage, you rock. i love your kurtas, they all have pockets!

sound

2009-03-02T23:42:00.006+05:30

your argument is sound,

nothing but sound

-benjamin franklin?

museum musings

2009-02-24T22:42:00.003+05:30

aditi says its the ideal place for a first date.
i say no, because i wouldnt pay any attention to my date! I'd rather be consumed by the artefacts.
we are talking about the chattrapati shivaji maharaj vastu sanghralaya.

its took me 4.5 hours. 3 chota pepsi's and 2 sandwiches. I'll make the description very brief, ony of the things I took note of:
Starting with the huge, captivating sculpture of Dwarpala Yaksha made of granite; he seemed to have just seen a ghost.

Brahma with his four heads, seemed a biological catastrophe at one point, with all due respect, and no snobbishness.

The Harappan civilization section was small and nice. Their pottery cup were interesting- it did have a handle, but not the kind you can slip any of your fingers through. I now know how to make bangles out of conch shells!

The best displayed section of the museum goes to Assyrian artifacts with engravings of Griffin (a mythological creature) on alabaster stones. Alabaster is so beautiful, the way its texture changes, with slight colour. The reason this section rocks is because of its seclusion, the yellow lighting and fake black walls within which the engraved stones are embedded... all of it creating a glowing aura.

The Krishna section has the works of artists who have depicted him in various art and craft styles. The one i couldn't take my eyes off was a larger than A0 sized Madhubani (forest of honey) painting by Satyanarayan Lal Karn. Lately i have seen so many madhubani artists going modern, giving their painting a fake, roughly done look. This one was truly finely drawn, with imaginative representations of crocodiles, elephants, birds, butterflies...

There was a set of miniature paintings (for which i have very little taste) describing the seasons of the year (Kartika, Pausha, Magh, Phalgun...) as wet, cold, dry etc and that a woman would always persuade her lover to not leave her alone in such a season. I found it a little funny.

The Tibetan mantra of Om Mani Padma Hum (the jewel in the lotus) and their script in general, is beautiful in how in varies fluidly from being voluptuous and very fine.

a sculpture of Vishnu in his Ardhanarishvar avataar, that is half male and half female.. the only way i could see it through was that there was only one breast. It might seem cheeky that such things attract me, but these are the only things that are different from what we are used to seeing.

Tibetan depiction of Jambhala (or Kuber) who kept jewels in a mongoose pouch.

The Green Tara, Madonna of Tibetan buddhism... sounds very glamorous. But Tara, they say, protects travellers in particular. And my matlabi/ representational mind thought, she would be a good tattoo symbol for those backapackers i saw in auroville in goa.

The glass encased chinese porcelain and japanese sculpture section is something i have absolutely no taste for, which makes me doubt my desire of japan jana hai. But the tiny scent bottles in all possible colours and shapes were a delight to watch.

The European art section displayed a portrait of Mrs Carpenter by Glyn Philpot from the British School. The moment i saw it, I felt, ah! This is the kind of portrait I'd want mine to be like :) Sadly I have no photos to support my description.

All this while, i constantly bumped into these ancient Adler India labeled one legged fans which blew me away.

Now comes the Museum of natural history.
I think I saw real animals (stuffed and preserved) for the first time in the memorable part of my life.
And I was in AWE.
I could see the magpie's, jay's, Babbler's and Thrush'es, Bulbul's and Flycather's, Drongo's (I hope to see them in Assam) and Oriole's, Flamingoes, Falcons and Eagles, the elaborately decorated variety of pheasant's.... the enormous kashmir stag.

I lost a little awe in the marine section. They had lost ALL their colour. The fishes and turtles... all of them looked like plastic, I still bet so! But there was a nice try at visual explanations for snakes, frogs, lizards, and tortoises. I now know how to differentiate between a male and female tortoise :)

All in all, i had an awesome time. But i dont seem to have enough time (lan ban in campus) for bitching about the stagnating prints and designs FabIndia has on offer for an XS customer like me; the terrible Bose curated exhibition at Bodhi(yeah yeah, in my amateurish taste), and the fascinating Julian Opie's hologramic dancing women in black on white acrylic (its just the circular heads that i find extremely odd).

Hmm, now i need to devote another day to Crawford. and only crawford... even chor bazar!

its so hard to find*

2009-02-22T17:45:00.010+05:30

to find what you like,

and still there is a huge chance

of it not looking good on you!

http://www.polyvore.com

* this is my fifth post in a single day. God i need a break! And my choices above are a tad too strangulated :(

tp

2009-02-22T16:51:00.003+05:30

The most beautiful things are those that madness prompts and reason writes.
Andre Gide, Journal 1894

toilet paper font: source unmemorable

you bet!

2009-02-22T16:43:00.000+05:30

infinite

2009-02-22T15:44:00.002+05:30

We are the time. We are the famous.

We are the time. We are the famous
metaphor from Heraclitus the Obscure.

We are the water, not the hard diamond,
the one that is lost, not the one that stands still.

We are the river and we are that greek
that looks himself into the river. His reflection
changes into the waters of the changing mirror,
into the crystal that changes like the fire.

We are the vain predetermined river,
in his travel to his sea.

The shadows have surrounded him.
Everything said goodbye to us, everything goes away.

Memory does not stamp his own coin.

However, there is something that stays
however, there is something that bemoans.

Jorge Luis Borges

sunday

2009-02-22T13:52:00.005+05:30

i'd be standing in a gallery, facing a wall hung with a thought that's not mine

or strolling in the cool colonial corridors of fort

and choosing a vase from a glass shop for a fern in my room

if only i'd wake up at 10 am on a sunday.

today being the twelfth sunday (i guess) when once again i haven't been able to break the sleeping spell.

i have now decided to read, and put movies on a long pause.

movies that are a download+click away to another world, are a passive form of enjoying and believing that it has changed your present. they dont change anything. they just reconnect with what's already within you, and make the moment feel magical.

here is the memory of my last loved movie frame~

Now its time for Charles Dickens and Bhagwad Gita, for Naruto and Moby Dick. I dont want to be the next Wiki, and I do believe that books, like movies... do not change you.

But between the two, written words make me linger and ponder; while moving images make me wander.

open close

2009-02-09T22:07:00.003+05:30

today i took my game to 5th standard kids and watched them play it

they understood the rules quickly, applied it and passed it on to other students as well

then i saw the 9th graders soak the rules

they took twice as much time

they questioned 'why'

a batch-mate of mine wanted to know what the game is about

it took me 20 minutes, and an unsatisfied unconvinced player to try it

she refused to understand and loved to contradict

the point is, its not about her

i think its about the age.

zzz

2009-02-04T22:20:00.002+05:30

what state are you in?
sleepy
since 2 weeks
its weird
no sleep is enough

I think you are being told to hibernate and then bloom into a butterfly
by?
by your body, nature and the universe

beast rocks again!

2009-01-26T18:18:00.006+05:30

the won they won they won!!!

my bro is a star.

his team mates are solid. second year in a row, they won the full throttle: earth bound competition @ techfest iitb

yey yey yey

what more can i say, papa is proud mommy is gay (happy :P)

≈≈≈ rest ≈≈≈

2009-01-22T11:22:00.007+05:30

To be the dreamer or the dream, goodnight!
A serious study of the comics recomposes me.
Being consistently subjective, objectifies my views. Beware!
Intellect is an objective understanding, says the dictionary. Alas.
To defamiliarise the familiar and familiarise the unfamiliar is the real deal. What have I been doing until now is to fully familiarise the familiar. Gosh!
Reflex and reflect accordingly. Physically and mentally, hmm, that should be easy. Ha!
My parker has drained. Context is conducive. Who needs balls when you have boobs.

Do i seek knowledge-wisdom-information
or an unthinking mind
or a superbly reflexive smooth shuttle between the two.

To be momentarily connected to Yourself and not the world around for some peace of mind.
What if the differences dilute.
Will it be Chaos or will it be an indifference felt by the Tick in the Tock.

rest your head, rest will follow ~ Hush pillows

He is a Walking Wiki, a true scholar. His presence morsel-ifies us.
But he is him and I am me.
I walk run cycle swim and I want to glide.

In the last 6 months I have been deeply influenced by many. This steroidal existence has give me much joy. I am not guilty of being fed. Because I find and absorb only what I seek. Of all that I see, hear and touch, only that rings true to an honest me.

And when I am gone, so are we
on my own will i finally be!

The joy I get from my 20 day grown nails (first time in the last 12 years!) is phenomenally feminine.

It is the Change I live for, yet I live on breath.

body

2009-01-21T23:48:00.004+05:30

humans are the only animals who eat when its time for breakfast/lunch/dinner

otherwise, animals hunt only when hungry

~ my roomie, rohini